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Nature and Science August 2025 |
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| More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley's Crusade to... by Adam BeckerMany of today’s tech industry leaders advance wildly optimistic visions of a future in which people will live on Mars, become immortal, and exist in simulation. Interrogating these scenarios with real science, journalist Adam Becker runs through the multitude of reasons why they aren’t achievable, and why we wouldn’t want them to be. Try this next: Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism by Yanis Varoufakis. |
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| Unshrunk: A Story of Psychiatric Treatment Resistance by Laura DelanoLaura Delano shares her experiences as an over-prescribed psychiatric patient. After being diagnosed with several psychiatric “conditions” starting in her teens, Delano came to the stark realization in her late twenties that the combination of psychotropic drugs that she was taking was causing a cascade of interrelated symptoms. Unshrunk is an emotionally powerful cautionary tale, suitable for readers who enjoyed Sociopath: A Memoir by Patric Gagne. |
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The salmon cannon and the levitating frog : and other serious discoveries of silly science
by Carly Anne York
In The Salmon Cannon and the Levitating Frog, Carly Anne York shows how unappreciated, overlooked, and simply curiosity-driven science has led to breakthroughs big and small. The research itself can seem bizarre, but it's important. And it's fun at the same time. York invites readers to appreciate the often unpredictable journey of scientific exploration, highlighting that the heart of science lies in the relentless pursuit of knowledge for its own sake. Accessible and story-driven, this book that shows how important and exciting it is to simply let curiosity run wild.
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| Slither: How Nature's Most Maligned Creatures Illuminate Our World by Stephen S. HallScience writer Stephen S. Hall has been fascinated by snakes since childhood, and his enthusiasm comes through in this sweeping overview of all things herpetological. Hall covers topics including people’s fear of snakes, snake venom, locomotion, evolutionary history, religious symbolism, and the ease with which snakes adapt to their surroundings. An enticing choice for snake lovers (and haters!). |
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Ocean : Earth's last wilderness
by David Attenborough
Drawing a course across David Attenborough's own lifetime, Ocean takes readers on an adventure-laden voyage through eight unique ocean habitats, countless intriguing species, and the most astounding discoveries of the last 100 years. Ocean reveals the past, present and potential future of our blue planet. It is a book almost a century in the making, but one that has never been more urgently needed.
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| In Praise of Floods: The Untamed River and the Life It Brings by James C. ScottAgrarian scientist James C. Scott urges the reader of his posthumously published book to think of a river watershed as a vast organism, expanding and contracting with an annual flood pulse, and supporting a complex biodiverse ecology through the seasons. This biome enables the flourishing of humans and other animals, but is grievously harmed by dams, levees, and artificial canals. Try this next: Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane. |
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| Nine Minds: Inner Lives on the Spectrum by Daniel TammetEssayist and memoirist Daniel Tammet, a writer who is himself on the autism spectrum, focuses on the lives of nine autistic individuals, highlighting the diversity of their various talents. It’s a sweeping and inspiring own voices journey that “captures the unique modes of autistic thought with sensitivity and lyrical flair” (Publishers Weekly). For fans of: We’re Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation by Eric Garcia. |
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Nature at night : discover the hidden world that comes alive after dark
by Charles Hood
Nature doesn't simply stop when the sun goes down. In Monterey, night-feeding dolphins chase nocturnal squid which have made a vertical migration to the surface while manta rays beat the waves with their wings to make the bioluminescent plankton light up so they can see (and eat) it. High above the Indian Ocean, transcontinental dragonflies migrate from India to Africa. Desert plants pulse and flex as they mend tissue and redistribute water in the darkness. Author Charles Hood takes us on several journeys to observe the rich, diverse wildlife that come alive under the cover of night.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Henrico County Public Library
Administrative Offices1700 North Parham Road | Henrico, Virginia 23229
(804) 501-1900henricolibrary.org | |
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