|
|
|
|
Nature and Science December 2025 |
|
|
|
| The Story of CO₂ Is the Story of Everything: How Carbon Dioxide Made Our World by Peter BrannenScience journalist Peter Brannen elucidates the role of carbon dioxide on Earth, explaining the paradox that this substance is both an essential part of the carbon life cycle and the reason that our climate is in trouble. Brannen’s book is both alarming and fascinating and makes clear that it is only in the last couple of centuries that human activity has pushed the CO₂ equation out of balance. Read-alike: Elemental: How Five Elements Changed Earth’s Past and Will Shape Our Future by Stephen Porder. |
|
| The Call of the Honeyguide: What Science Tells Us About How to Live Well With the Rest of Life by Rob DunnThe evolution of life is mainly a story of competition. But this has caused scientists to miss the cooperation between organisms happening everywhere in nature. These “mutualisms” (mutually beneficial relationships between species) occur between animals and plants of all types on every continent, and biologist Rob Dunn’s vivid descriptions enable the reader to envision the complex interdependencies in nature’s ecosystems in his “triumph of popular science” (Publishers Weekly). |
|
| The Shape of Wonder: How Scientists Think, Work, and Live by Alan Lightman & Martin ReesPhysicist Alan Lightman and cosmologist Martin Rees mount a persuasive argument for trusting good science. By introducing readers to prominent scientists in various disciplines and showing the impact of the scientific method on everyday life, the authors hope to demonstrate the value of scientific research in policy-making and discourage the current rise in anti-science rhetoric. For fans of: The Premonition: A Pandemic Story by Michael Lewis. |
|
| Horses: A 4,000-Year Genetic Journey Across the World by Ludovic OrlandoFor geneticist Ludovic Orlando, what began as an investigation into a famous racehorse that died a century ago turned into a global collaborative study on the 4,000-year history of humans and horses. Including the novel theory that human domestication of horses began independently in several places scattered across Europe and Asia, Orlando’s book is brimming with data but still “a captivating, smooth ride” (Kirkus Reviews). For readers who enjoyed Domesticated: Evolution in a Man-Made World by Richard C. Francis. |
|
| The Big One: How We Must Prepare for Future Deadly Pandemics by Michael T. Osterholm, PhD, MPH and Mark OlshakerNot to sound alarmist or anything, but authors Michael T. Osterholm and Mark Olshaker concede that COVID-19 may have been merely a warm-up for the next pandemic. To that end, they construct some chilling real-world scenarios that they hope will urge government leaders to take communicable disease as seriously as any national security issue. For readers fascinated by World War C: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic and How to Prepare for the Next One by Sanjay Gupta. |
|
|
|
We Should All Be Birds: A Memoir
by Brian Buckbee
A charming and moving debut memoir about how a man with a mystery illness saves a pigeon, and how the pigeon saves the man. I loved every page of this book: funny, sad, romantic, and full of pigeons.--Sy Montgomery
|
|
|
|
Everything Evolves: Why Evolution Explains More Than We Think, from Proteins to Politics
by Mark Vellend
How the science of evolution explains how everything came to be, from bacteria and blue whales to cell phones, cities, and artificial intelligence Everything Evolves reveals how evolutionary dynamics shape the world as we know it and how we are harnessing the principles of evolution in pursuit of many goals, such as increasing the global food supply and creating artificial intelligence capable of evolving its own solutions to thorny problems. Taking readers on an astonishing journey, Mark Vellend describes how all observable phenomena in the universe can be understood through two sciences. The first is physics. The second is the science of evolvable systems. Vellend shows how this Second Science unifies biology and culture and how evolution gives rise to everything from viruses and giraffes to nation-states, technology, and us. He discusses how the idea of evolution had precedents in areas such as language and economics long before it was made famous by Darwin, and how only by freeing ourselves of the notion that the study of evolution must start with biology can we appreciate the true breadth of evolutionary processes. A sweeping tour of the natural and social sciences, Everything Evolves is an essential introduction to one of the two key pillars to the scientific enterprise and an indispensable guide to understanding some of the most difficult challenges of the Anthropocene.
|
|
|
|
Big Meg: The Story of the Largest and Most Mysterious Predator that Ever Lived
by Tim Flannery and Emma Flannery
A father-daughter scientist duo dives into the mysteries surrounding the giant prehistoric shark Otodus megalodon, the largest predator to ever live. You might also like: Susan Ewing's Resurrecting the Shark; Darren Naish's Ancient Sea Reptiles; Andy Secker's Travels with Trilobites.
|
|
|
|
The Secret History of Sharks: The Rise of the Ocean's Most Fearsome Predators
by John Long
Sharks have been fighting for their lives for 500 million years and are under dire threat today. They are the longest surviving vertebrate on Earth, outlasting multiple mass extinction events that decimated life on the planet. How did they thrive so long? By developing superpower-like abilities that allowed them to ascend to the top of the oceanic food chain. Yet they often found themselves in the shadows of larger, more formidable killers--and they not only survived, but also took their crown as the king of the sea. ... Because of recent technological breakthroughs, scientists' understanding of sharks has taken a quantum leap forward in the last decade. John Long has been on the cutting edge of this research and in this [book] weaves a fully updated and unexpected tale of shark's extraordinary evolutionary adventure--
|
|
|
|
A History of Dinosaurs in 50 Fossils
by Paul M. Barrett
A beautifully illustrated and definitive crash course on dinosaur fossils, from the Allosaurus that use their teeth and jaws to dismember prey to the Sinosauropteryx specimen that confirmed the existence of feathered dinosaurs For natural history buffs and Jurassic Park fans Dinosaurs have captivated the world since Megalosaurus was the first one named in 1824, and A History of Dinosaurs in 50 Fossils features fifty of the most momentous dinosaur findings from the fossil record. From rare fossil embryos that provide a glimpse into the early stage of dinosaur growth and development, to the claw of a Deinonychus, the dinosaur that served as a template for Jurassic Park's terrorizing raptors, the book illustrates the enthralling evolutionary history of animals that ruled the Earth for more than 150 million years with 75 full-color illustrations. Each stunning fossil photograph, magnified for optimal detail, includes an entry explaining the importance of the discovery and the fossil's significance in the larger evolutionary timeline. Themed chapters build off each other to depict a full and incredible story, including content on: the origin and rise of dinosaursan introduction to major groups biological characteristics like feeding, behavior, distribution, and locomotionthe first fossil birds, including the legendary feathered dinosaur, Archaeopteryx, considered widely to be the world's first bird species The book provides insight on what fossils tell us about dinosaur relationships, movement, diet, skin, teeth, and frills, and so much more. A History of Dinosaurs in 50 Fossils compiles centuries' of the most exciting fossil findings that helped earn dinosaurs an enduring place in the public imagination. This authoritative and visually beautiful book will delight and inspire readers young and old, and help them understand the rise and fall of some of the most amazing creatures to roam Earth.
|
|
|
Rochester Hills Public Library
500 Olde Towne Rd
Rochester, Michigan 48307
248-656-2900www.rhpl.org/ |
|
|
|