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Nature and Science February 2020
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| Heaven on Earth: How Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler, and Galileo Discovered the Modern... by L.S. FauberWhat it's about: four 16th-century astronomers -- Nicolaus Copernicus, Johannes Kepler, Tycho Brahe, and Galileo Galilei -- whose work transformed our understanding of the cosmos.
Why you might like it: This engaging collective biography reveals its subjects' feet of clay without shortchanging their scientific achievements.
Want a taste? "[Tycho Brahe] became the dean of astronomers, not by virtue of brilliance, but by hard work, constant reading, independent wealth, and the forced enslavement of a couple hundred peasants." |
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The pollinator victory garden : win the war on pollinator decline with ecological gardening : how to attract and support bees, beetles, butterflies, bats, and other pollinators
by Kim Eierman
What it is: an environmental horticulturalist and landscape designer shows us how to create a beautiful landscape that attracts and supports many different specials of pollinators so that we can win the war against the demise of these essential animals.
About the author: Kim Eierman is an environmental horticulturist and landscape designer specializing in ecological landscapes and native plants. She is the Founder of EcoBeneficial, a horticulture consulting and communications company in Westchester County, New York. Kim teaches at the New York Botanical Garden, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, The Native Plant Center, Rutgers Home Gardeners School, and advanced education classes for Master Gardeners.
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| Handprints on Hubble: An Astronaut's Story of Invention by Kathryn D. SullivanWhat it is: an engaging memoir by retired astronaut Kathryn Sullivan.
Why you might like it: Sullivan, the first American woman to perform an EVA (Extravehicular Activity, a.k.a. "spacewalk"), recounts her career at NASA, one inextricably connected to the development, launch, and repair of the Hubble Space Telescope.
Did you know? Unlike most satellites, the Hubble Space Telescope only improves with age, due to its "inherently maintainable design," which allows for periodic repairs and technological upgrades. |
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How we learn : why brains learn better than any machine ... for now
by Stanislas Dehaene
What it's about: a leading cognitive scientist reveals four algorithms behind the human brain’s remarkable learning capacities that maximize educational potential and cognitive capacity, exploring the last two decades of technological advances based on mental processes.
Reviewers say: "Dehaene concludes, In the Promethean battle between the computer chip and the neuron, the machine and the brain, the latter still has the advantage. Though it can be challenging, Dehaene's portrait of the human brain is fascinating."
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Humanimal: How Homo Sapiens Became Nature's Most Paradoxical Creature...
by Adam Rutherford
What it is: a thought-provoking look at human evolution that examines similarities and differences between humans and other species.
Reviewers say: "a refreshing and perspective-altering view of the complex history of life on Earth" (Publishers Weekly).
About the author: Geneticist and science journalist Adam Rutherford is the author of A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived.
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| A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived: The Human Story Retold through Our Genes by Adam Rutherford; foreword by Siddhartha MukherjeeWhat it's about: "Geneticists have suddenly become historians," observes author Adam Rutherford, citing discoveries that have transformed our understanding of human evolution.
Contains: the (roughly) 2 million year history of the Homo genus, an accessible primer on genomics, and a discussion of what DNA can (and can't) tell us about ourselves.
About the author: Geneticist and journalist Adam Rutherford is the author of Humanimal: How Homo Sapiens Became Nature's Most Paradoxical Creature. |
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| She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity by Carl ZimmerWhat it is: a comprehensive yet accessible examination of heredity that "masterfully blends exciting storytelling with first-rate science reporting" (Publishers Weekly).
Why it's important: In addition to exploding common myths and misconceptions about the science of biological inheritance, science writer Carl Zimmer also discusses its (often unsavory) cultural history.
Did you know? It wasn't until the 1830s that the word "heredity" acquired its present meaning of a biological inheritance (as opposed to a material one). |
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Pleased to meet me : genes, germs, and the curious forces that make us who we are
by Bill Sullivan
What it is: a professor of pharmacology and microbiology uses cutting-edge research and humor to describe how genetics, microbiology and psychology combine to influence our personality and actions, including why we like certain foods, prefer certain personalities and hold the beliefs we do.
About the author: Bill Sullivan is a professor of pharmacology and microbiology at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, where he studies infectious disease and genetics. An award-winning researcher, teacher, and science communicator, Sullivan has been featured in a wide variety of outlets, including CNN, Scientific American, Cosmos magazines, PLOS SciComm, The Naked Scientists, and The Scientist.
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