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Nature and Science December 2020
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| The Secret Lives of Planets: Order, Chaos, and Uniqueness in the Solar System by Paul MurdinWhat happens: Astronomer Paul Murdin takes readers on an accessible tour of the solar system.
Further reading: Mark Thompson's A Space Traveler's Guide to the Solar System or Erik Asphaug's When the Earth Had Two Moons.
Did you know? "The bottom line is that our solar system has no parallel among the known planetary systems. Astronomy has no fully accepted explanation for this yet." |
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The Field Guide to Citizen Science
by Darlene Cavalier
The expert team at SciStarter present this interactive guide to citizen science in which they show how ordinary people can participate in scientific research and help change the world in meaningful ways.
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| Counting: How We Use Numbers to Decide What Matters by Deborah StoneThe big idea: numbers can't be objective, argues political scientist Deborah Stone as she examines the cultural assumptions and social norms underlying the data we rely on to make policy decisions.
Topics include: how unemployment is measured; the ever-evolving race categories on the U.S. Census; the increasing role of automated systems in assessing everything from credit scores to recidivism rates.
Food for thought: "If every number begins with a judgment, and if we allow numbers to determine people's fates, we should hold numbers to the same ethical standards we hold our judges to." |
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| Into the Planet: My Life as a Cave Diver by Jill HeinerthWho: Canadian cave diver, explorer, and filmmaker Jill Heinerth, who proudly claims that adventure is in her DNA.
Where she's been: Florida's extensive network of caverns; Mexico's Sistema Huautla, the Western Hemisphere's deepest cave network; the interior of Antarctic iceberg B-15, at the time the largest free-floating object on Earth.
You might also like: Julie Hauserman's Drawn to the Deep; William Stone's Beyond the Deep. |
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| How to Be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals by Sy Montgomery; illustrated by Rebecca GreenFeaturing: feisty Scottish terrier Molly; Christopher Hogwood, a pig with personality; a trio of emus; tarantula Clarabelle, friend to children in French Guiana; and more!
Is it for you? Author Sy Montgomery opens up about her difficult childhood and lifelong struggle with depression, which is exacerbated by the passing of some of the animals featured in the book.
Crossover alert: Fans of the author's National Book Award finalist The Soul of an Octopus will remember charismatic cephalopod Octavia, who makes an appearance here. |
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Be Water, My Friend: The Teachings of Bruce Lee
by Shannon Lee
The daughter of the legendary martial artist and president of the Bruce Lee Foundation shares insights into her father’s life-shaping philosophies while demonstrating how the martial arts can be both a metaphor and tool of personal growth.
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Bird Cloud
by Annie Proulx
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Brokeback Mountain describes her purchase of 600 wilderness acres in Wyoming and construction of a library-centric home where she contemplated her rich family history, including a river boat captain ancestor who met historical figures.
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Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love
by Dani Shapiro
The acclaimed author of Hourglass describes her staggering recent discovery that she is not biologically related to her father, tracing her efforts to uncover the truth from a half-century web of family secrets to reestablish her sense of identity.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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