Nature and Science
April 2023
Recent Releases
The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration
by Jake Bittle

What it is: a human-focused examination of internal migration in the United States as the effects of climate change threaten to render entire regions of the country uninhabitable.

Try these next: Nomad Century: How Climate Migration Will Reshape Our World by Gaia Vince; The Next Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move by Sonia Shah; or Move: Where People are Going for a Better Future by Parag Khanna.
Koala: A Natural History and an Uncertain Future
by Danielle Clode

What it's about: an Australian zoologist looks at the 37-million-year evolutionary history, unique biology, cultural significance, and future prospects of this iconic marsupial.

Did you know... that koalas are the only non-primate species known to have fingerprints?

Reviewers say: Originally published in Australia as Koala: A Life in Trees, this book takes readers on a "vivid journey into a fascinating corner of the natural world" (Kirkus Reviews).
The Wise Hours: A Journey into the Wild and Secret World of Owls
by Miriam Darlington

What it's about: British nature writer Miriam Darlington embarks on a far-ranging quest to learn about owls, one that takes on special significance when her son develops a mysterious illness.

Destinations include: England, France, Serbia, Spain, Finland, and Lapland.

For fans of: Jonathan C. Slaght’s Owls of the Eastern Ice or Helen Macdonald's H is for Hawk.
The Devil's Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance
by Dan Egan

What it is: Journalist Dan Egan (The Death and Life of the Great Lakes) examines the environmental costs of phosphorus.

Did you know... phosphorus was discovered by an alchemist boiling his own urine in search of gold? Or that the Victorian fertilizer industry depended on the skeletons of dead soldiers?

For fans of: John Emsley's The Thirteenth Element: The Sordid Tale of Murder, Fire, and Phosphorus.
Lapidarium: The Secret Lives of Stones
by Hettie Judah

What it is: art critic Hettie Judah's "lively lapidary history" (Booklist) of 60 minerals that have had an outsized impact on human civilization.

Why you might like it: Judah teases out the connections between geology and culture in short, trivia-rich essays organized around six themes, including "Stones and Power" and "Stone Technology."

You might also like: Hugh Raffles' The Book of Unconformities: Speculations on Lost Time. 
Walking With Gorillas: The Journey of an African Wildlife Vet
by Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka; with a foreword from Dr. Jane Goodall

Meet: Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Uganda's first wildlife veterinarian and a staunch advocate for her country's "One Health" approach to conservation, which emphasizes the role of public health for humans in promoting better outcomes for both people and wildlife.

Read it for: Dr. Kalema-Zikusoka's account of how she created her dream job, as well as her vivid, if often heartbreaking, descriptions of providing emergency care to endangered mountain gorillas.
Black Earth Wisdom: Soulful Conversations with Black Environmentalists
by Leah Penniman

What it's about: Farmer and activist Leah Penniman (Farming While Black) interviews 16 notable individuals to reveal the often untold story of Black environmental activism.

The big idea: "The voices and expertise of Black, Brown, and Indigenous environmentalists, amplified by all those who have eschewed white supremacy, must be heeded if we are to halt and reverse planetary calamity."
A Hacker's Mind: How the Powerful Bend Society's Rules, and How to Bend Them Back
by Bruce Schneier

What it's about: Using examples from sports, finance, law, politics, artificial intelligence, and more, cybersecurity expert Bruce Schneier (Schneier on Security) explains the principles of hacking and reveals how the wealthy and powerful game systems at society's expense.

Reviewers say: This "excellent survey of exploitation" (Publishers Weekly) offers readers "hope for leveling a badly tilted playing field" (Kirkus Reviews).
A Darker Wilderness: Black Nature Writing From Soil to Stars
by Erin Sharkey (editor)

What it's about: Black writers explore their relationships with the natural world in this thought-provoking essay collection.

Why you might like it: Inspired by archival objects, from photographs to family heirlooms, these essays present a "well-curated assemblage of Black voices" (Kirkus Reviews) reflecting on a broad range of themes.

You might also like: The Colors of Nature, edited by Lauret Savoy and Alison Hawthorne Deming; Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors by Carolyn Finney.
Contact your librarian for more great books!