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Nature and Science October 2019
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10 women who changed science and the world
by Catherine Whitlock
Celebrates the lives and hard-earned accomplishments of ten women from around the world, including two-time Nobel Prize winner Marie Curie, physicist Chien-Shiung Wu and Virginia Apgar, MD, who forever changed our thinking in astronomy, physics, chemistry, medicine and biology.
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The Neuroscience of Mindfulness : The Astonishing Science Behind How Everyday Hobbies Help You Relax by Stan RodskiNeuroscientific studies are finding that our brain circuits for emotions are just as tangible as circuits for our other five senses. Advanced imaging techniques can now observe this. Recent fascination with colouring-in for adults joins a long list of techniques that have been employed by humans to calm the brain and help us with our emotions. Our ways of dealing with this intuitively have included tasks like knitting and gardening with some return for our time and effort. But, we now enter a world where these tasks are redundant for many of us. The discoveries of focused activities which take our minds away from the emotions of day-to-day living are returning again, but in new formats such as colouring-in books and even lego building blocks for adults. In this book, Dr Rodski explores the science behind these activities and many others which we humans crave for to help us through our emotional world.
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Smart Mothering : What Science Says About Caring for Your Baby and Yourself by Natalie Flynn"Psychologist Dr Natalie Flynn has examined all the research on key baby topics such as feeding, sleeping and crying. The result? Smart Mothering, a revolutionary book that separates the facts from the opinions. Find out what research says about the dilemmas so many parents face: What if I can't breastfeed? Is it best to feed on demand? Can I leave my baby to cry? Should I vaccinate my baby? Is bed-sharing a good idea? Smart Mothering is objective, accessible and practical. With helpful tips, succinct summaries and clear diagrams it demystifies the often confusing and overwhelming world of parenting. This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to make informed decisions about how best to care for their baby."
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Cultured : how traditional foods feed our microbiome
by Katherine Harmon Courage
The science journalist author of Octopus! draws on ancient food traditions and the latest research on healthy gut maintenance to explain the role of the microbiome and how to adapt a diet to promote optimal microbiome balance
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Space atlas : mapping the universe and beyond
by James Trefil
In this guided tour of our planetary neighborhood, the Milky Way and other galaxies, and beyond, detailed maps and fascinating imagery from recent space missions partner with clear, authoritative scientific information. Starting with the sun and moving outward into space, acclaimed science writer and physicist James Trefil illuminates each planet, the most important moons, significant asteroids, and other objects in our solar system. Looking beyond, he explains what we know about the Milky Way and other galaxies--and how we know it, with clear explanations of the basics of astrophysics, including dark matter and gravitational waves. For this new edition, and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his moonwalk, astronaut and American hero Buzz Aldrin offersa new special section on Earth's moon and its essential role in space exploration past and future
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Climate : a new story
by Charles Eisenstein
"Flipping the script on climate change, Eisenstein makes a case for a wholesale reimagining of the framing, tactics, and goals we employ in our journey to heal from ecological destruction With research and insight, Charles Eisenstein details how the quantification of the natural world leads to a lack of integration and our "fight" mentality. With an entire chapter unpacking the climate change denier's point of view, he advocates for expanding our exclusive focus on carbon emissions to see the broader picture beyond our short-sighted and incomplete approach. The natural and the material world--the rivers, forests, and creatures--are sacred and valuable in their own right, not simply for carbon credits or preventing the extinction of one species versus another. After all, when you ask someone why they first became an environmentalist, they're not likely to cite humanity's existential crisis, or our society going up in flames; they're likely to point to the river they played in, the ocean they visited, thewild animals they observed, or the trees they climbed when they were a kid. This refocusing away from impending catastrophe and our inevitable doom cultivates meaningful emotional and psychological connections and provides real, actionable steps to caring for the earth. Freeing ourselves from a war mentality and seeing the bigger picture of how everything from prison reform to saving the whales can contribute to our planetary ecological health, we resist reflexive postures of solution and blame and reachtoward the deep place where commitment lives"
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Nga Uruora / The Groves of Life : Ecology & History in a New Zealand Landscape by Geoff Park Originally published: 1995. "Part ecology, part history, part personal odyssey, Nga Uruora offers a fresh perspective on our landscapes and our relationships with them. Geoff Park's research focuses on New Zealand's fertile coastal plains, country of rich opportunity for both Maori and European inhabitants, but country whose natural character has vanished from the experience of New Zealanders today. Beginning with James Cook's Endeavour party on the Hauraki Plains, and then the New Zealand Company's arrival in the valley that became the Hutt, Park takes us through the river flatlands where the imperatives of colonial settlement transformed the original forests and swamps with ruthless efficiency. Nga Uruora's primary journey is to four auspicious places - Tauwhare on the Mokau River, Papaitonga in Horowhenua, Whanganui Inlet and Punakaiki on the South Island's West Coast - where small remnants of the plains forests' indigenous ecosystems of kahikatea and harakeke still survive. The histories of these places, what they mean to Maori, their ecological vulnerability and their significance for conservation are major concerns. Park ties these issues together through the experience of the places themselves, their magic, immediacy and beauty."
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| The Sun is a Compass: A 4,000-Mile Journey into the Alaskan Wilds by Caroline Van HemertWhat it's about: wildlife biologist Caroline Van Hemert's six-month, 4,000-mile trek across the Alaskan wilderness with her husband, a journey undertaken without motorized transport.
Why you might like it: Van Hemert interweaves vivid descriptions of the natural world with her memories of growing up in Alaska, her anxieties about her career, and her reflections on life and love.
Word of the day: Zugunruhe, a German word referring to the migratory restlessness of birds. |
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Our planet
by Alastair Fothergill
A companion guide to the Netflix series showcases the nature's beauty, the surprising lives of animals and the destruction that humans have wrought on wildlife and habitats with photos of the world's rarest animals and previously unseen parts of Earth.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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