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Nature and Science October 2019
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| Wildhood: The Epic Journey from Adolescence to Adulthood in Humans and Other Animals by Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and Kathryn BowersAn evolutionary biologist and a science journalist explore adolescence across species. Despite varying lifespans -- days for a fruit fly, decades for a human, centuries for a Greenland shark -- most species must achieve similar milestones of safety, status, sex, and self-reliance before they're considered adults. Whether you're in the throes of adolescence yourself, or know someone who is, you'll be reassured by the authors' conclusion that this stage of life "make[s] exquisite evolutionary sense." |
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The Universe Speaks in Numbers: How Modern Math Reveals Nature's Deepest Secrets
by Graham Farmelo
With unprecedented access to some of the world's greatest scientific minds, award-winning science writer Graham Farmelo offers a vivid, behind-the-scenes account of the blossoming relationship between mathematics and physics and the research that could revolutionize our understanding of reality. A masterful account of the some of the most groundbreaking ideas in physics in the past four decades. The Universe Speaks in Numbers is essential reading for anyone interested in the quest to discover the fundamental laws of nature.
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| Strange Harvests: The Hidden Histories of Seven Natural Objects by Edward PosnettSeven rare and expensive natural products that represent the "commodification of the natural world" are explored in this inquisitive work. Inspired by the curiosity cabinets of natural philosophers, author Edward Posnett entertainingly delves into the history and folklore surrounding the items he discusses: eiderdown, vicuña wool, sea silk, tagua nuts ("vegetable ivory"), civet coffee, bird guano, and edible birds' nests. |
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| Gender and Our Brains: How New Neuroscience Explodes the Myths of the Male and Female Minds by Gina RipponA 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. 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. |
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| Inconspicuous Consumption: The Environmental Impact You Don't Know You Have 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 an eye-opening assessments of the (steep) environmental costs of our technology, food production, fashion, and fuel, presented in conversational style. |
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Deep Creek: Finding Hope in the High Country
by Pam Houston
On her 120-acre homestead high in the Colorado Rockies, writer Pam Houston learns what it means to care for a piece of land and the creatures on it. Elk calves and bluebirds mark the changing seasons, winter temperatures drop to 35 below, and lightning sparks a 110,000-acre wildfire, threatening her century-old barn and all its inhabitants. In essays as lucid and invigorating as mountain air, Deep Creek delivers Houston's most profound meditations yet on how "to live simultaneously inside the wonder and the grief...to love the damaged world and do what I can to help it thrive."
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Visit Sunny Chernobyl: And Other Adventures in the World's Most Polluted Places
by Andrew Blackwell
A thought-provoking tour of the world's most environmentally compromised regions. Visit Sunny Chernobyl provides satirical analysis of "destinations" ranging from hidden bars and convenience stores to radioactive wildernesses, and the waters of India, providing measured consideration of the relevance of degraded ecosystems.
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| Horizon by Barry LopezFrom the National Book Award-winning writer, humanitarian, environmentalist and author of the now-classic Arctic Dreams: a vivid, poetic, capacious work that recollects the travels around the world and the encounters--human, animal, and natural--that have shaped his extraordinary life. Poignantly, powerfully, it also asks "How do we move forward?" The Guardian hailed the book as: "a contemporary epic, at once pained and urgent, personal and oracular." |
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A Window on Eternity: A Biologist's Walk Through Gorongosa National Park
by Edward O. Wilson
Featuring beautiful full-color photographs by two of the world's best wildlife photographers, a world-renowned biologist and Pulitzer Prize-winner tells the extraordinary story of how Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique was destroyed, restored, and continues to evolve.
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Renewal: How Nature Awakens Our Creativity, Compassion, and Joy
by Andrés R. Edwards
Renewal explores the science behind why being in nature makes us feel alive and helps us thrive. Backed by cutting-edge research in cognitive science, Edwards weaves stories that reveal nature's genius, its effect on our lives, and how cultivating an emotional bond with nature benefits us and the natural world.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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