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Nature and Science October 2019
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| Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime by Sean CarrollWhat it's about: quantum mechanics, "the heart and soul of modern physics." Although we all appreciate the technologies it has brought us (smartphones, lasers), no one really understands it.
What sets it apart: While many books on this topic emphasize the magic and mystery of quantum mechanics, this one attempts to demystify a complex topic for general readers without oversimplifying.
About the author: Caltech theoretical physicist Sean Carroll is the author of the bestselling The Big Picture. |
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| Wildhood: The Epic Journey from Adolescence to Adulthood in Humans and Other Animals by Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and Kathryn BowersWhat it's about: An evolutionary biologist and a science journalist explore adolescence across species. Despite varying lifespans -- days for a fruit fly, decades for a human, centuries for a Greenland shark -- most species must achieve similar milestones of safety, status, sex, and self-reliance before they're considered adults.
Why you should read it: Whether you're in the throes of adolescence yourself, or know someone who is, you'll be reassured by the authors' conclusion that this stage of life "make[s] exquisite evolutionary sense." |
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Buzz, sting, bite : why we need insects by Anne Sverdrup-ThygesonWhat is it: An informative introduction to the world of insects discusses the extensive variety of insects and their role in pollinating crops and flowers, providing food for other animals, and controlling organisms that are harmful to humans Why it's important: Insects comprise roughly half of the animal kingdom. They live everywhere—deep inside caves, 18,000 feet high in the Himalayas, inside computers, in Yellowstone’s hot springs, and in the ears and nostrils of much larger creatures. There are insects that have ears on their knees, eyes on their penises, and tongues under their feet. Most of us think life would be better without bugs. In fact, life would be impossible without them.
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| Gender and Our Brains: How New Neuroscience Explodes the Myths of... by Gina RipponWhat it is: a neuroscientist's evidence-based debunking of sex- and gender-based myths about the human brain, many of which emerged centuries before scientists were actually able to study the brain.
Why you might like it: Incorporating terms such as "neurosexism" and "neurotrash" into thought-provoking discussions of neuroplasticity and socialization, author Gina Rippon takes both researcher bias and media misrepresentation to task. |
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| Inconspicuous Consumption: The Environmental Impact You Don't Know You... by Tatiana SchlossbergEveryone pollutes: From food waste to fast fashion, we're all guilty of destroying the Earth. Our video streaming habits alone pump 50.3 million tons (45.6 billion kg) of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually.
Includes: eye-opening assessments of the (steep) environmental costs of our technology, food production, fashion, and fuel, presented in conversational style.
For fans of: Rose George's Ninety Percent of Everything, another examination of the unseen environmental impacts of human activities. |
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| A Terrible Thing to Waste: Environmental Racism and Its Assault on the American Mind by Harriet A. WashingtonWhat it's about: environmental racism, which describes the legacy of racist environmental policies and practices that disproportionately harm communities of color.
Did you know? "Approximately 60,000 industrial chemicals commonly used in the U.S. have never been tested for their effects on humans," although that doesn't stop them from harming black, brown, and indigenous children.
About the author: Journalist Harriet A. Washington won The National Book Critics Circle Award for Medical Apartheid, a sobering look at the history of medical experimentation on African Americans. |
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What it's about: Woven throughout the book is the story of one of the most successful species in North America: the coyote. Once restricted to the prairies of the West, this adaptable animal now inhabits most of North America—urban and wild alike. DeStefano traces a female coyote’s movements along a winding path between landscapes in which her species learned to survive and flourish.
Reviewers say: "This is a delightful book. DeStefano takes you on an intimate journey across town and through back yards, discovering and enjoying our wild suburban neighbors. Since most of us live in suburbs, it's probably time we got to know them better. When such exciting entertainment is so close, why not enjoy!" --Richard L. Knight, Professor of Wildlife Conservation, Colorado State University
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| Horizon by Barry LopezWhat it is: a lyrical, elegaic autobiographical account of travels on six continents by the National Book Award-winning author of Arctic Dreams.
Reviewers say: "a contemporary epic, at once pained and urgent, personal and oracular" (The Guardian).
Want a taste? "To go in search of what once was is to postpone the difficulty of living with what is." |
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| The Sun is a Compass: A 4,000-Mile Journey into the Alaskan Wilds by Caroline Van HemertWhat it's about: wildlife biologist Caroline Van Hemert's six-month, 4,000-mile trek across the Alaskan wilderness with her husband, a journey undertaken without motorized transport.
Why you might like it: Van Hemert interweaves vivid descriptions of the natural world with her memories of growing up in Alaska, her anxieties about her career, and her reflections on life and love.
Word of the day: Zugunruhe, a German word referring to the migratory restlessness of birds. |
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What it's about: In The Grizzly Maze, Nick Jans, a seasoned outdoor writer with a quarter century of experience writing about Alaska and bears, traces Treadwell’s rise from unknown waiter in California to celebrity, providing a moving portrait of the man whose controversial ideas and behavior earned him the scorn of hunters, the adoration of animal lovers and the skepticism of naturalists.
Reviewers say: "Intensely imagistic, artfully controlled prose . . . behind the building tension of Treadwell’s path to oblivion, a stunning landscape looms."—Newsday
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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