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Nature and Science December 2016
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Lost Among the Birds : Accidentally Finding Myself in One Very Big Year
by Neil Hayward
The author, at a crossroads in his life, found a calm among birds that had eluded him in the confusing world of humans and, entering a race to find the most birds in one year, shocked the birding world—and himself—by finding 749 species of bird and breaking the long-standing Big Year record.
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| The Pope of Physics: Enrico Fermi and the Birth of the Atomic Age by Gino Segrè and Bettina HoerlinThis biography of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Enrico Fermi, the first such account in English, recounts the Italian-born Fermi's life from his upbringing in Rome to his flight to the U.S. in the 1930s (spurred by the rise of Fascism) and subsequent involvement in the Manhattan Project. Emphasizing his unusual facility in both theoretical and experimental physics, the book also explores his scientific contributions to areas such as statistical mechanics, nuclear physics, and quantum theory. For an examination of Fermi's wartime work, try Richard Rhodes' sweeping history The Making of the Atomic Bomb or Brian VanDeMark's group biography Pandora's Keepers. |
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The Tide : The Science and Stories Behind the Greatest Force on Earth
by Hugh Aldersey-Williams
A sweeping exploration into the science and history of the earth's tides draws on centuries of intellectual thought, literature and folklore to chronicle humanity's efforts to understand its cycles as reflected by the strong tides of Nova Scotia's Bay of Fundy, Norway's Maelstrom tidal whirlpool, the Homeric tale of Scylla and other examples.
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| Welcome to the Universe: An Astrophysical Tour by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michael A. Strauss, and J. Richard GottThree astrophysicists join forces to present this accessible introduction to the cosmos, based on an introductory astronomy course they co-taught at Princeton University. Aimed at general readers, this book begins with an overview of the universe, examining its composition and structure, before tackling the physics of multiverses, superstring theory, M-theory, and more. For big ideas in a compact and digestible format, look no further than Welcome to the Universe. |
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Top 2016 Science Books from Booklist |
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Einstein's Masterwork : 1915 and The General Theory of Relativity
by John Gribbin
The astrophysicist author of In Search of Schr÷dinger's Cat discusses the origins of Einstein's General Theory to share insights into the scientist and man against a backdrop of history, detailing the paradigm-shifting relevance of an achievement that was overshadowed by his more famous theories.
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Lab Girl
by Hope Jahren
A debut memoir by an award-winning paleobiologist traces her childhood in her father's laboratory, her longtime relationship with a brilliant but wounded colleague and the remarkable discoveries they have made both in the lab and during extensive field research assignments.
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Pandemic: Tracking Contagions, From Cholera to Ebola and Beyond
by Sonia Shah
"The disease-causing microbe that will cause the next pandemic lurks among us today," explains science writer Sonia Shah, noting that between 1940 and 2004, some 300 infectious diseases (re)emerged in areas and among populations that had never seen them before. To demonstrate how pathogens become pandemics, Shah examines the history of Vibrio cholerae, a marine bacterium that spread from Southeast Asia across the globe during the 19th-century. Readers interested in Shah's argument that human incursion into wilderness areas makes the rise and spread of new diseases inevitable should check out David Quammen's Spillover, which provides an in-depth exploration of animal-to-human disease transmission.
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Physics : A Short History : From Quintessence to Quarks
by J. L Heilbron
Describes the history of physics, from the earliest Islamic astronomers and mathematicians who tried to calculate the earth’s size, to Galileo, Copernicus, Kepler and Newton, and up through the modern day’s hunts for fundamental particles in huge industrial laboratories.
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The Pope of Physics: Enrico Fermi and the Birth of the Atomic Age
by Gino Segrè and Bettina Hoerlin
This biography of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Enrico Fermi, the first such account in English, recounts the Italian-born Fermi's life from his upbringing in Rome to his flight to the U.S. in the 1930s (spurred by the rise of Fascism) and subsequent involvement in the Manhattan Project. Emphasizing his unusual facility in both theoretical and experimental physics, the book also explores his scientific contributions to areas such as statistical mechanics, nuclear physics, and quantum theory. For an examination of Fermi's wartime work, try Richard Rhodes' sweeping history The Making of the Atomic Bomb or Brian VanDeMark's group biography Pandora's Keepers.
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Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, From Missiles to the Moon...
by Nathalia Holt
Barby Canright, Macie Roberts, Helen Yee Chow, Barbara Lewis, Janez Lawson, Susan Finley...these are just some of the names science enthusiasts ought to know (but probably don't). Beginning in the 1940s, an era when the word "computer" referred to a skilled mathematician, this talented group of women calculated rocket trajectories, designed satellites, and analyzed massive amounts of experimental data. Despite their relative obscurity, their contributions played a crucial role in launching the United States' space program. Drawing from interviews with many of the "Rocket Girls" and their families, this collective biography of the women of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory finally offers readers a glimpse into the professional and personal lives of these extraordinary scientists.
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Time Travel: A History
by James Gleick
As he did in The Information, popular science writer James Gleick weaves together literature, science, and philosophy in this fascinating exploration of time travel in popular culture. Beginning with H.G. Wells’ 1895 novel The Time Machine, which Gleick describes as an attempt to "gin up a plausible-sounding plot device for a piece of fantastic storytelling," the book examines fictional time travel in the context of its scientific underpinnings. From going back in time to prevent one’s own birth to creating alternate timelines, no plot device or paradox goes unexamined in this concise and accessible, yet intellectually wide-ranging discussion.
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