|
Nature and Science October 2019
|
|
|
|
| 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. |
|
|
Why You Like It: The Science and Culture of Musical Taste
by Nolan Gasser
What it's about: the science of music (what it is) and the sociology of musical taste (why we like what we like and what it says about us).
About the author: Musicologist Nolan Gasser is the architect of Pandora’s Music Genome Project.
Is it for you? Readers with some background in music theory or practice will get the most out of this eclectic and comprehensive book.
|
|
|
The nature cure : a doctor's guide to the science of natural medicine
by Andreas Michalsen
A leading professor of clinical complementary medicine reveals natural approaches to improving health, drawing on cutting-edge scientific research and practical case studies to identify the wellness benefits of sunshine, water, fresh air, proper nourishment, medicinal plants and companion animals. Illustrations.
|
|
| 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. |
|
| 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. |
|
| 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. |
|
| A Song for the River by Philip ConnorsThe person: veteran fire lookout Philip Connors, author of the National Outdoor Book Award-winning Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout.
The place: New Mexico's Gila National Forest.
The prose: "To watch a mountain you love murmur and chirp and howl and green up from rain and bloom with flowers, then see it succumb to flame and be blackened by heat only to live once more from the ashes, was to absorb an object lesson in transience and renewal." |
|
| 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." |
|
Contact your librarian for more great books!
|
|
|
|
|
|