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Nature and Science June 2019
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| Down from the Mountain: The Life and Death of a Grizzly Bear by Bryce AndrewsWho is she? Millie, a 500-pound grizzly sow (and mother of two cubs) from Montana's Mission Valley.
What does she want? Corn! Montana's grizzly bear population is addicted to the crop, which lures them from their isolated habitats into more populous areas, resulting in conflicts with local farmers.
You might also like: Nate Blakeslee's American Wolf, which similarly explores tensions between humans and wildlife by recounting the life and death of a charismatic animal. |
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Symphony in C : carbon and the evolution of (almost) everything
by Robert M. Hazen
A leading earth scientist presents a lyrical history of the essential chemical element of carbon, tracing its origins from shortly after the dawn of creation and the first Big Bang-created atoms to the improbable natural carbon structures of the Earth.
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| The Human Swarm: How Our Societies Arise, Thrive, and Fall by Mark W. MoffettWhat it's about: the development of human civilization from "individual recognition societies" characterized by small and intimate groups (think chimpanzees) to modern-day "collective marker" societies based on distinctions between in-groups and out-groups.
Further reading: For other recent perspectives on this topic, check out Edward O. Wilson's Genesis: The Deep Origins of Societies or Nicholas A. Christakis' Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society. |
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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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| Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah HarariThe big question: So now that we've mitigated the effects of famine, plague, and war, what's next for human beings?
About the author: Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari is the author of the bestselling Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind.
Is it for you? Believers in the march of human progress should be aware that Home Deus forecasts several possible futures for our species, most of them downright dystopian. |
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Wayfinding: The Science and Mystery of How Humans Navigate the World
by M.R. O'Connor
What it is: a multidisciplinary examination of wayfinding, which includes spatial orientation, navigation, perception, and culturally specific practices of interacting with one's environment.
What else it is: a thought-provoking book that frames maps, compasses, and other navigation technologies as tools of European imperialism.
Read it for: the author's interactions with experts in traditional navigation from the Arctic, Australia, and the South Pacific.
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| Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst by Robert M. SapolskyWhat it is: an interdisciplinary study of human behavior by neurobiologist and primatologist Robert Sapolsky.
What it does: Behave explores human behavior by taking a single (re)action and examining what's going on in the brain and body in the seconds, minutes, hours, days, and even years before it occurs.
Don't miss: the author's top ten strategies for reducing violence in our species. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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