Nature and Science December 2025 |
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| Shade: The Promise of a Forgotten Natural Resource by Sam BlochIt’s a simple, ancient idea whose time may have come again: if you want to cool down on a hot day, find some shade. Environmental journalist Sam Bloch argues for numerous strategies to use shade to offset the environmental impact of air conditioning in urban heat islands but also discusses the associated cost and policy barriers in this thoughtful, urgent book. For more on this topic, try After Cooling: On Freon, Global Warming, and the Terrible Cost of Comfort by Eric Dean Wilson. |
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| 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. |
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| 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). |
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| The Last Extinction: The Real Science Behind the Death of the Dinosaurs by Gerta KellerIn geologist Gerta Keller’s debut book, she shares her groundbreaking theory that the extinction of the dinosaurs did not stem from an asteroid colliding with Earth, but rather from extreme volcanic activity in present-day India. At first facing widespread criticism and now widely accepted as fact, her work is accessibly presented in a book that foregrounds women scientists and the difficulty of overturning entrenched theories. Try this next: Otherlands: A Journey Through Earth’s Extinct Worlds by Thomas Halliday. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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Doctors by Nature: How Ants, Apes, and Other Animals Heal Themselves
by Jaap de Roode
The astonishing story of how animals use medicine and what it can teach us about healing ourselves Ages before the dawn of modern medicine, wild animals were harnessing the power of nature's pharmacy to heal themselves. Doctors by Nature reveals what researchers are now learning about the medical wonders of the animal world. In this visionary book, Jaap de Roode argues that we have underestimated the healing potential of nature for too long and shows how the study of self-medicating animals could impact the practice of human medicine. Drawing on illuminating interviews with leading scientists from around the globe as well as his own pioneering research on monarch butterflies, de Roode demonstrates how animals of all kinds--from ants to apes, from bees to bears, and from cats to caterpillars--use various forms of medicine to treat their own ailments and those of their relatives. We meet apes that swallow leaves to dislodge worms, sparrows that use cigarette butts to repel parasites, and bees that incorporate sticky resin into their hives to combat pathogens. De Roode asks whether these astonishing behaviors are learned or innate and explains why, now more than ever, we need to apply the lessons from medicating animals--it can pave the way for healthier livestock, more sustainable habitats for wild pollinators, and a host of other benefits. Doctors by Nature takes readers into a realm often thought to be the exclusive domain of humans, exploring how scientists are turning to the medical knowledge of the animal kingdom to improve agriculture, create better lives for our pets, and develop new pharmaceutical drugs.
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| The Arrogant Ape: The Myth of Human Exceptionalism and Why It Matters by Christine WebbPrimatologist Christine Webb’s debut calls out humanity for its ego trip regarding its place in the world. The fact that humans have climbed to the top of the world’s food chain is often taken by Western science as evidence that we are the smartest, most capable beings on earth. But as humans continue to make their own survival more tenuous through destruction of the environment, the anthropocentric viewpoint loses traction. A thought-provoking book that “makes a convincing case for humility” (Publishers Weekly). |
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| If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: Why Superhuman AI Would Kill Us All by Eliezer Yudkowsky & Nate SoaresAI researchers Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares sound a strident alarm over the race to design the ultimate machine intelligence. While corporations and governments everywhere push relentlessly toward the development of “artificial superintelligence” (ASI), the authors warn that current industry safeguards are insufficient to contain a program that is “optimized for efficiency and unconstrained by human ethics” (Booklist). For further predictions of terrifying techno-disasters, check out X-Risk: How Humanity Discovered Its Own Extinction by Thomas Moynihan. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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