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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. |
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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 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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| 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. |
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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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