| Immune: How Your Body Defends and Protects You by Catherine CarverWhat it's about: The "hidden army" that protects us from disease, better known as the human immune system.
Did you know? One kiss can transfer 80 million bacteria. (Happy Valentine's Day!)
Why you should read it: lt's flu season, the perfect time to dive into this comprehensive survey of the immune system, which presents serious science in an entertaining style that should appeal to Mary Roach fans. |
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The stowaway : a young man's extraordinary adventure to Antarctica
by Laurie Gwen Shapiro
It was 1928: a time of illicit booze, of Gatsby and Babe Ruth, of freewheeling fun. The Great War was over and American optimism was higher than the stock market. What better moment to launch an expedition to Antarctica, the planet’s final frontier? There wouldn’t be another encounter with an unknown this magnificent until Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon.
Everyone wanted in on the adventure. Rockefellers and Vanderbilts begged to be taken along as mess boys, and newspapers across the globe covered the planning’s every stage. And then, the night before the expedition’s flagship set off, Billy Gawronski—a mischievous, first-generation New York City high schooler desperate to escape a dreary future in the family upholstery business—jumped into the Hudson River and snuck aboard.
Could he get away with it?
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The Biological Mind : How Brain, Body, and Environment Collaborate to Make Us Who We Are
by Alan Jasanoff
To many, the brain is the seat of personal identity and autonomy. But the way we talk about the brain is often rooted more in mystical conceptions of the soul than in scientific fact. This blinds us to the physical realities of mental function. We ignore bodily influences on our psychology, from chemicals in the blood to bacteria in the gut, and overlook the ways that the environment affects our behavior, via factors varying from subconscious sights and sounds to the weather. As a result, we alternately overestimate our capacity for free will or equate brains to inorganic machines like computers. But a brain is neither a soul nor an electrical network: it is a bodily organ, and it cannot be separated from its surroundings. Our selves aren't just inside our heads--they're spread throughout our bodies and beyond. Only once we come to terms with this can we grasp the true nature of our humanity.
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| The Last Man Who Knew Everything: The Life and Times of Enrico Fermi... by David N. SchwartzWhat it is: the first English-language biography of Italian-born physicist Enrico Fermi to be published in nearly 50 years.
Why you should read it: Despite impressive accomplishments in experimental and theoretical physics, Fermi hasn't received nearly as much attention as some of his Manhattan Project peers.
Reviewers say: In a starred review, Publishers Weekly praises this "scrupulously researched and lovingly crafted portrait" of a brilliant scientist. |
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| This is Your Brain on Parasites: How Tiny Creatures Manipulate Our Behavior... by Kathleen McAuliffeWhat it's about: Could microparasites influence our behavior? Science writer Kathleen McAuliffe seeks to discover whether we're in control of our bodies or just some protozoa's unwitting puppet.
Book Buzz: Expanding on the author's viral Atlantic article, "How Your Cat is Making You Crazy," this book offers intriguing ideas about the possible effects of microorganisms on human health.
Further reading: Rosemary Disdelle's Parasites: Tales of Humanity's Most Unwelcome Guests. |
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| Life on the Edge: The Coming of Age of Quantum Biology by Johnjoe McFadden and Jim Al-KhaliliWhat it's about: the nascent field of quantum biology, which applies principles of quantum mechanics to biological processes, ranging from our sense of smell (olfaction) to bird migration, which relies on the ability to sense the Earth's magnetic field (magnetoreception).
Read it for: the way the authors -- a theoretical physicist and a molecular biologist -- make a complex and challenging topic accessible to non-scientists. |
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| The Hidden Half of Nature: The Microbial Roots of Life and Health by David R. Montgomery and Anne BikléWhat it is: An engaging blend of science writing and memoir, written by a geologist and a biologist as they explore the roles played by complex microbial communities in everything from agriculture to human health.
Why you might like it: From vivid descriptions of the authors' quest to turn their barren Seattle backyard into a lush garden to reflections on Biklé's cancer diagnosis, The Hidden Half of Nature illuminates the intimate connections between humans and their environment. |
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| I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life by Ed YongIntroducing: the microbiome, a complex ecosystem of commensal, symbiotic, and pathogenic microscopic organisms living in and on our bodies.
Why you should read it: Science writer Ed Yong's accessible field guide to microorganisms reveals that they're more than just germs to be wiped out -- they form communities that help our bodies function, making them a promising subject for medical research.
You might also like: Rob Dunn's The Wildlife of Our Bodies or Rodney Dietert's The Human Super-Organism. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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