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Nature and Science April 2023 |
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| The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration by Jake BittleWhat it is: a human-focused examination of internal migration in the United States as the effects of climate change threaten to render entire regions of the country uninhabitable.
Try these next: Nomad Century: How Climate Migration Will Reshape Our World by Gaia Vince; The Next Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move by Sonia Shah; or Move: Where People are Going for a Better Future by Parag Khanna. |
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| Koala: A Natural History and an Uncertain Future by Danielle ClodeWhat it's about: an Australian zoologist looks at the 37-million-year evolutionary history, unique biology, cultural significance, and future prospects of this iconic marsupial.
Did you know... that koalas are the only non-primate species known to have fingerprints?
Reviewers say: Originally published in Australia as Koala: A Life in Trees, this book takes readers on a "vivid journey into a fascinating corner of the natural world" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures
by Sabrina Imbler
What it is: a collection of ten essays by science journalist Sabrina Imbler that focuses on marine creatures that live and thrive in hostile environments.
Includes: self-cloning jellyfish, the terrifying sand-striker worms; and self-sacrificing octopus parents.
What sets it apart: Imbler pairs their reflections on being a queer, mixed race person (in a field dominated by white cisgender men) with lyrical observations on distinctive sea creatures.
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Beaverland: How One Weird Rodent Made America
by Leila Philip
What it's about: The North American beaver (Castor canadensis) and its outsized impact on the history, culture, and physical landscape of what is now called the United States.
Why you might like it: Guggenheim fellow and Boston Globe columnist Leila Philip draws on a range of sources, from Algonquian legends to scientific studies, to illuminate the importance of beavers.
Further reading: Ben Goldfarb's Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter and Frances Backhouse's Once They Were Hats: In Search of the Mighty Beaver.
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| The Devil's Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance by Dan EganWhat it is: Journalist Dan Egan (The Death and Life of the Great Lakes) examines the environmental costs of phosphorus.
Did you know... phosphorus was discovered by an alchemist boiling his own urine in search of gold? Or that the Victorian fertilizer industry depended on the skeletons of dead soldiers?
For fans of: John Emsley's The Thirteenth Element: The Sordid Tale of Murder, Fire, and Phosphorus. |
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| Lapidarium: The Secret Lives of Stones by Hettie JudahWhat it is: art critic Hettie Judah's "lively lapidary history" (Booklist) of 60 minerals that have had an outsized impact on human civilization.
Why you might like it: Judah teases out the connections between geology and culture in short, trivia-rich essays organized around six themes, including "Stones and Power" and "Stone Technology."
You might also like: Hugh Raffles' The Book of Unconformities: Speculations on Lost Time. |
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| Black Earth Wisdom: Soulful Conversations with Black Environmentalists by Leah PennimanWhat it's about: Farmer and activist Leah Penniman (Farming While Black) interviews 16 notable individuals to reveal the often untold story of Black environmental activism.
The big idea: "The voices and expertise of Black, Brown, and Indigenous environmentalists, amplified by all those who have eschewed white supremacy, must be heeded if we are to halt and reverse planetary calamity." |
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| A Hacker's Mind: How the Powerful Bend Society's Rules, and How to Bend Them Back by Bruce SchneierWhat it's about: Using examples from sports, finance, law, politics, artificial intelligence, and more, cybersecurity expert Bruce Schneier (Schneier on Security) explains the principles of hacking and reveals how the wealthy and powerful game systems at society's expense.
Reviewers say: This "excellent survey of exploitation" (Publishers Weekly) offers readers "hope for leveling a badly tilted playing field" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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