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Nature and Science October 2020
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The southern wildlife watcher : notes of a naturalist
by Rob Simbeck
The joys and mysteries of wildlife are all around us-if only we would take a moment to stop, look, and listen. These heartfelt and informative and witty reflections by award-winning journalist and author Rob Simbeck, accompanied by stunning color photographs, open our eyes to creatures large and small, common and uncommon, drab and flashy, routine and mysterious.
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| The Last Stargazers: The Enduring Story of Astronomy's Vanishing Explorers by Emily LevesqueWhat it's about: an astronomer recounts her career in science while contemplating the past, present, and future of her field.
Don't miss: visits to Hawaii's Mauna Kea Observatories, Chile's Paranal Observatory, and the airborne Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA).
Did you know? Professional astronomers spend relatively little time looking through giant telescopes (and a lot of time on laptops). |
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| The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) by Katie MackWhat it is: theoretical cosmologist Katie Mack's engaging survey of five potential ways in which the universe could end: the Big Crunch, Heat Death, the Big Rip, Vacuum Decay, and the Bounce.
Reviewers say: a "rollicking tour through the nooks and crannies of physics" (New Scientist).
Further reading: Bob Berman's Earth-Shattering (for those interested in cosmic cataclysms); Brian Greene's Until the End of Time (for a more philosophical take on cosmology). |
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Vesper flights : new and collected essays
by Helen Macdonald
The award-winning author of H Is for Hawk presents a collection of top-selected essays about humanity's relationship with nature, exploring subjects ranging from captivity and immigration to ostrich farming and the migrations of songbirds from the Empire State Building
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| Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World's Largest Owl by Jonathan C. SlaghtWhat it's about: a conservationist's five-year study of the endangered Blakiston’s fish owl in its natural habitat, the Primorye region of Russia.
Read it for: an authentically detailed account of scientific fieldwork, vivid descriptions of the terrain and its inhabitants (both animal and human), and, of course, the quest for an elusive bird.
For fans of: ornithology-themed travelogues, such as Tim Gallagher's Imperial Dreams or Vernon R.L. Head's The Rarest Bird in the World. |
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| Tales from the Ant World by Edward O. WilsonWhat it is: a memoir by acclaimed biologist Edward O. Wilson, in which he shares his passion for myrmecology (the study of ants) while reflecting on a lifetime of studying the natural world.
Lessons learned? "There is nothing I can even imagine in the lives of ants that we can or should emulate for our own moral betterment."
Reviewers say: a "rapturously unapologetic hymn of praise to the roughly one quadrillion ants on the planet" (The Boston Globe). |
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Focus on: The Lighter Side of Science
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| Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? Big Questions from Tiny Mortals about Death by Caitlin Doughty; illustrated by Dianne RuzThe premise: a mortician answers children's questions about death in an engaging and matter-of-fact style.
About the author: Funeral director Caitlin Doughty is the creator of the web series "Ask a Mortician" and the author of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and From Here to Eternity.
So...will your cat eat your eyeballs? Not immediately. (Not when there are tastier tidbits like eyelids.) |
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| Liquid Rules: The Delightful and Dangerous Substances that Flow Through Our Lives by Mark MiodownikWhat it's about: Having tackled solids in Stuff Matters, materials scientist Mark Miodownik introduces readers to the unique properties of liquids from the confines of an airplane cabin during a transatlantic flight.
Why you might like it: Filled with fascinating facts (airplanes are essentially glued together), this accessible book pairs scientific principles (viscosity, vaporization) and their real-life applications (how ballpoint pens work, brewing the perfect cup of tea). |
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| The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth: And Other Curiosities from the History of Medicine by Thomas MorrisWhat it is: Historian (Matters of the Heart) and blogger Thomas Morris' well-researched and eye-opening compendium of medical oddities.
Is it for you? As you might expect from a book containing chapters dedicated to "Horrifying Operations," "Unfortunate Predicaments," and "Dubious Treatments," these case studies are not for the squeamish.
For fans of: Sam Kean's The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons or Arnold van de Laar's Under the Knife. |
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The body : a guide for occupants
by Bill Bryson
The award-winning author of A Short History of Nearly Everything presents an engaging head-to-toe tour of the human body that shares anecdotal insights into its functions, ability to heal and vulnerability to disease.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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