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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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| Fatal Abstraction: Why the Managerial Class Loses Control of Software by Darryl CampbellTech insider Darryl Campbell concludes that the era of ubiquitous computing has so far failed to deliver on its promise to humanity due to lack of oversight and profit-obsessed executives. Without sweeping industry regulations, Campbell foresees a time when applications actually impede human well-being in this “disturbing look at the evolution of digital technology” (Kirkus Reviews). |
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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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| 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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| 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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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Pasadena Public Library 285 E. Walnut Street, Pasadena, California 91101 (626) 744-4066
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