|
Nature and Science February 2018
|
|
|
|
|
The Seabird's Cry: The Lives And Loves Of The Planet's Great Ocean Voyagers
by Adam Nicolson
Did you know? A global tragedy is unfolding. Even as we are coming to understand them, the number of seabirds on our planet is in free fall, dropping by nearly 70% in the last sixty years - a billion fewer now than there were in 1950.
What it's about: How modern science has begun to understand the seabirds' epic voyages, their astonishing abilities to navigate for tens of thousands of miles on featureless seas, and their ability to smell their way towards fish and home.
|
|
|
I, Mammal: The Story Of What Makes Us Mammals
by Liam Drew
What it's about: A history of mammals and their ancestors and of how science came to grasp mammalian evolution.
Why you should read it: In his humorous and engaging style, Liam explores the different characteristics that distinguish mammals from other types of animals. He charts the evolution of milk, warm blood and burgeoning brains, and examines the emergence of sophisticated teeth, exquisite ears, and elaborate reproductive biology, plus a host of other mammalian innovations.
|
|
|
Leaving The Wild: The Unnatural History Of Dogs, Cats, Cows, And Horses
by Gavin Ehringer
What it is: A thought-provoking and surprising exploration of the ever-evolving relationship between humans and domesticated animals.
What it's about: The domestication of animals changed the course of human history. But what about the animals who abandoned their wild existence in exchange for our care and protection? Domestication has proven to be a wildly successful survival strategy, but this success has not been without its drawbacks.
|
|
| Reading The Rocks: How Victorian Geologists Discovered The Secret Of Life by Brenda MaddoxWhat it's about: In brief but informative vignettes, biographer and science writer Brenda Maddox profiles the Victorian geologists who revolutionized our understanding of Earth's history and human evolution.
Contains: Biographical portraits of notable figures such as Charles Lyell, Mary Anning, James Hutton, and Louis Agassiz, as well as historical context that puts their discoveries in perspective. |
|
|
Atom Land: A Guided Tour Through The Strange And Impossibly Small World Of Particle Physics
by Jon Butterworth
Why you should read it: Jon Butterworth, a leading physicist at CERN, guides you through the whimsical - and highly instructive - world of particle physics. Over a series of journeys, he shows how everything fits together, and how a grasp of particle physics is key to unlocking a deeper understanding of many of the most profound mysteries - and science’s possible answers - in the known universe.
|
|
| 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. |
|
|
Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs
by Michael T Osterholm
An epidemiologist describes what can be done to protect ourselves against fast-moving infectious diseases that can challenge world order, separating scientific fact from panic and fear and detailing the plans and resources that must be put into place before the next pandemic strikes.
|
|
|
Bugged: The Insects Who Rule The World And The People Obsessed With Them
by David MacNeal
Weaving together history, travel and culture, an off-beat scientific journey into the insects, which have been shaping our ecological world and plant life for over 400 million years, introduces a cast of mini-monsters that are necessary to life as water and the people who love them.
|
|
Contact your librarian for more great books!
|
|
|
|
|
|