Nature and Science
April 2023
Recent Releases
The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration
by Jake Bittle

What it is: a human-focused examination of internal migration in the United States as the effects of climate change threaten to render entire regions of the country uninhabitable.

Try these next: Nomad Century: How Climate Migration Will Reshape Our World by Gaia Vince; The Next Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move by Sonia Shah; or Move: Where People are Going for a Better Future by Parag Khanna.
The Wise Hours: A Journey into the Wild and Secret World of Owls
by Miriam Darlington

What it's about: British nature writer Miriam Darlington embarks on a far-ranging quest to learn about owls, one that takes on special significance when her son develops a mysterious illness.

Destinations include: England, France, Serbia, Spain, Finland, and Lapland.

For fans of: Jonathan C. Slaght’s Owls of the Eastern Ice or Helen Macdonald's H is for Hawk.
The Devil's Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance
by Dan Egan

What it is: Journalist Dan Egan (The Death and Life of the Great Lakes) examines the environmental costs of phosphorus.

Did you know... phosphorus was discovered by an alchemist boiling his own urine in search of gold? Or that the Victorian fertilizer industry depended on the skeletons of dead soldiers?

For fans of: John Emsley's The Thirteenth Element: The Sordid Tale of Murder, Fire, and Phosphorus.
Invisibility: The History and Science of How Not to Be Seen
by Gregory J. Gbur

What's inside: Gbur traces the science of invisibility from its sci-fi origins in the nineteenth-century to modern stealth technology, invisibility cloaks, and metamaterials, shows how invisibility has moved from fiction to reality, and questions the hidden paths that lie ahead for researchers. 

Reviewers call it: "a robust examination of a fascinating field of research" (Publishers Weekly). 
Walking With Gorillas: The Journey of an African Wildlife Vet
by Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka; with a foreword from Dr. Jane Goodall

Meet: Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Uganda's first wildlife veterinarian and a staunch advocate for her country's "One Health" approach to conservation, which emphasizes the role of public health for humans in promoting better outcomes for both people and wildlife.

Read it for: Dr. Kalema-Zikusoka's account of how she created her dream job, as well as her vivid, if often heartbreaking, descriptions of providing emergency care to endangered mountain gorillas.
The Power of Language: How the Codes We Use to Think, Speak, and Live Transform Our...
by Viorica Marian

What it's about: Viorica Marian makes a convincing case for multilingualism in her illuminating debut, which shows how using more languages opens doors to all kinds of creativity, brain health and self-control. 

Reviewers say: "Full of delightful insights, this book is thoroughly researched and compulsively readable" (Kirkus Reviews) and "Curious monolinguals will be inspired to expand their linguistic horizons" (Publishers Weekly).
Of Cockroaches and Crickets: Learning to Love Creatures That Skitter and Jump
by Frank Nischk

What it's about: Taking us along on his (mis)adventures as an entomologist, Nischk reveals his love and admiration for creatures such as cockroaches and crickets, sharing fascinating facts, incredible stories and unbelievable anecdotes about the wonderful world of insects.

Reviewers say: Nischk "makes a persuasive case that the smaller the worlds we can see, the bigger our world becomes" (Publishers Weekly). 

You might also like: Tales From the Ant World by Edward O. Wilson and The Language of Butterflies by Wendy Williams. 
The Key to Creativity: The Science Behind Ideas and How Daydreaming Can Change the...
by Hilde Østby

What it is: a deep-dive into why we are creative and what conditions must be present in order for us to make our best work: whether that be a painting, a piece of writing, or simply a good email.

Reviewers say: "Curiosity seekers will be enlightened" (Publishers Weekly). 

You might also like: Find Your Unicorn Space by Eve Rodsky. 
A Hacker's Mind: How the Powerful Bend Society's Rules, and How to Bend Them Back
by Bruce Schneier

What it's about: Using examples from sports, finance, law, politics, artificial intelligence, and more, cybersecurity expert Bruce Schneier (Schneier on Security) explains the principles of hacking and reveals how the wealthy and powerful game systems at society's expense.

Reviewers say: This "excellent survey of exploitation" (Publishers Weekly) offers readers "hope for leveling a badly tilted playing field" (Kirkus Reviews).
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