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Nature and Science April 2019
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| Europe: A Natural History by Tim FlanneryWelcome to: Europe, the tropical archipelago that formed 100 million years ago and, following floods, ice ages, and other events, transformed into the geographically and biologically diverse region we know today.
Look for: the "hell pigs" of the Oligocene period, the two-foot long proto-hedgehog Deinogalerix, and Europe's first hominids -- the human-Neanderthal hybrids that colonized the continent 38,000 years ago.
What's next? Confronting the existential threats of climate change, according to Australian author and paleontologist Tim Flannery. |
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| Never Enough: The Neuroscience and Experience of Addiction by Judith GriselWhat it's about: a behavioral neuroscientist with a history of substance abuse examines addiction from a scientific and personal perspective.
Media buzz: Author Judith Grisel appeared on NPR's Fresh Air to discuss both the book and her experiences with addiction.
Food for thought: Grisel notes, "The opposite of addiction, I have learned, is not sobriety but choice." |
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| No Beast So Fierce: The Terrifying True Story of the Champawat Tiger, The Deadliest Animal... by Dane HuckelbridgeWhat it's about: the notorious Champawat Tiger, which killed more than 400 people in Nepal in the early 1900s -- and the intrepid hunter that tracked her down and killed her.
Read it for: a suspenseful account of the hunt, evocative descriptions of the tiger's territory, and reflections on environmental issues.
For fans of: John Vaillant's The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival. |
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| Figuring by Maria PopovaWhat it is: a lyrical exploration of the connections between great minds throughout history.
Why you might like it: Starting with Johannes Kepler and concluding with Rachel Carson, Figuring's discursive narrative follows an idiosyncratic, erudite path that blends science and art.
About the author: Maria Popova is the creator of the popular and expansively multidisciplinary Brain Pickings blog. |
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| Humanimal: How Homo Sapiens Became Nature's Most Paradoxical Creature... by Adam RutherfordWhat 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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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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