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Nature and Science December 2018
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The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life
by David Quammen
What it's about: molecular phylogenetics, which uses biopolymers (DNA, RNA, and proteins) to study the evolutionary history of organisms and determine relationships between species.
Contains: three "big surprises" that will make you rethink your understanding of evolution: the domain of Archaea, the process of horizontal gene transfer, and a probable ancestor of humans previously unknown to science.
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Gross anatomy : dispatches from the front (and back)
by Mara Altman
A doodle-illustrated essay collection takes readers on an anecdotal tour of the female body that explores the social biases, self-maintenance practices and aesthetic realities that shape how women view themselves
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Brief Answers to the Big Questions
by Stephen W. Hawking
The world-famous cosmologist and #1 best-selling author of A Brief History of Time leaves us with his final thoughts on the universe’s biggest questions in a posthumous work. Illustrations
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Einstein's Shadow: A Black Hole, a Band of Astronomers, and the Quest to See...
by Seth Fletcher
The plan: to create a virtual telescope (the Event Horizon Telescope) the size of Earth by linking observatories throughout the world.
The goal: to observe supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*, which is thought to sit at the center of the Milky Way galaxy.
Further reading: Chris Impey's Einstein's Monsters, which offers an accessible introduction to the science of black holes.
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Did You Just Eat That? : Two Scientists Explore Double-dipping, the Five-second Rule, and Other Food Myths in the Lab
by Paul Dawson
A rollicking yet rigorous inquiry that follows the science of germs into the kitchen, restaurant, and everywhere else you eat and drink. Have you ever dropped a chip on the ground, picked it up after five seconds--then eaten it? Or debated which spreads fewer germs, paper towels or electric hand dryers? What about backwash? These are perennial questions when it comes to food and germs, and Did You Just Eat That? provides the answers. Food scientists Paul Dawson and Brian Sheldon take you into their labs to show how they have determined everything from how much bacteria gets transferred from sharing utensils to how many microbes live on restaurant menus. They list their materials and methods (in case you want to replicate the experiments), guide you through their results, and offer in-depth explanations of food safety and microbiology. Written with candid humor and richly illustrated, this fascinating book will reveal surprising answers to your weirdest and most commonly debated questions about food and germs--and then some.
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Plight of the Living Dead: What the Animal Kingdom's Real-Life Zombies Reveal...
by Matt Simon
Guess what? Zombies are real. But in this case, they're not the enemy -- they're the victims of parasites that have hijacked their brains.
Starring: a variety of microbes, fungi, worms, wasps, and other organisms who invade the bodies of their unsuspecting hosts.
Is it for you? While squeamish readers might want to pass on this book, fans of body horror may get a kick out of its detailed descriptions of zombification.
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When the Last Lion Roars : The Rise and Fall of the King of the Beasts
by Sara Evans
The 2015 killing of a much-loved lion called Cecil by an American big-game hunter in Zimbabwe sparked international outrage. It also drew world attention to shrinking numbers of the 'king of the beasts' and the facts that humans continue to hunt them for sport. There are no lions left north of the Sahara and their range in southern Africa has shrunk considerably. Two sub species have already gone. With numbers down to just 20,000, many experts believe, that without effective conservation plans in place, Africa's remaining lions will be wiped out by the mid half of this century. Sara Evans considers the cultural significance of the Lion over thousands of years as well as its historic rise and fall as a global species. She also explores the many, and often complex, reasons that explain why numbers have plummeted so catastrophically in recent decades. As humans are the lion's only predator, she asks what is being done to reverse, or at least stem this hemorrhage?
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Nine Pints: A Journey through the Money, Medicine, and Mysteries of Blood
by Rose George
What it is: a deep dive into the subject of human blood that encompasses history, science, politics, culture, and commerce.
About the author: From The Big Necessity (about human waste) to Ninety Percent of Everything (about the freight shipping industry), journalist Rose George specializes in the unseen aspects of everyday life.
Reviewers say: Nine Pints is an "absorbing, vital book by one of the best non-fiction writers working today" (The Guardian).
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| Chilled: How Refrigeration Changed the World, and Might Do So Again by Tom JacksonWhat it's about: Science writer Tom Jackson traces the multi-millennial history of artificial refrigeration from the ice pits of the ancient Persian Empire to today's "cold chain," the food industry's "temperature-controlled transport corridor" that links farms, fishing boats, supermarkets, and consumers.
Did you know? Refrigeration is responsible for more than midnight snacks! It has also made possible such scientific breakthroughs as in vitro fertilization, superconductors, and penicillin. |
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| Megafire: The Race to Extinguish a Deadly Epidemic of Flame by Michael KodasContains: Everything you ever wanted to know about megafires.
Such as: What are they? How do they start? Why are they so destructive? Can they be stopped? (Should they be stopped?)
Did you know? Research by the U.S. Forest Service suggests that by 2050, megafires could consume 20 million acres per year -- an area larger than the state of Maine. |
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| Heat: Adventures in the World's Fiery Places by Bill StreeverWhat it's about: Biologist Bill Streever, author of the bestselling Cold, embarks on a wide-ranging discussion of heat in all its forms.
Why you might like it: Whether hiking through Death Valley, California, or cooking popcorn on lava in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, Streever leaves no stone unturned in his quest to understand heat.
Want a taste? "After an hour, our gallon of water has become a half gallon. The breeze has died. I begin to wish that we had told someone where we were going." |
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| Antarctica: An Intimate Portrait of a Mysterious Continent by Gabrielle WalkerWhat it is: a literary tour of Antarctica by scientist and writer Gabrielle Walker, who explores the continent's geology, biology, climate, and recent history.
Did you know? First sighted in 1819, the continent known to the ancients as Terra Australis officially belongs to nobody, due to an international treaty that reserves it for "peace and science."
For fans of: James McClintock's Lost Antarctica; Werner Hertzog's documentary Encounters at the End of the World. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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