Nature and Science April 2025 Recent Releases Superbloom: How Technologies of Connection Tear Us Apart by Nicholas Carr Journalist Nicholas Carr argues convincingly that social media has taken over our society and brains so rapidly that we haven’t been able to formulate a response, much less calculate the damage it’s wreaking. Carr points to research citing epidemic levels of stress, anxiety, and depression among users, especially teenagers. Other revealing reads on this topic include Alone Together by Sherry Turkle and The End of Absence by Michael Harris. Waiting for Robots: The Hired Hands of Automation by Antonio A. Casilli; translated by Saskia Brown According to expert Antonio Casilli, artificial intelligence, while saving labor for some, invisibly creates grueling, underpaid work for many others. The author points the finger at tech companies that require armies of “clickworkers” charged with endless, repetitive microtasks to create, maintain, and train AI platforms. Try this next: Feeding the Machine by James Muldoon, Mark Graham, and Callum Cant. Bite : an incisive history of teeth, from hagfish to humans by Bill Schutt A fascinating journey through the natural, scientific, and cultural history of something right in front of—or in—our faces: teeth. Illustrations. Sisters in science : how four women physicists escaped Nazi Germany and made scientific history by Olivia Campbell "In the 1930s, Germany was a hotbed of scientific thought. But after the Nazis took power, Jewish and female citizens were forced out of their academic positions. Hedwig Kohn, Lise Meitner, Hertha Sponer and Hildegard Stèucklen were eminent in their fields, but they had no choice but to flee due to their Jewish ancestry or anti-Nazi sentiments. Their harrowing journey out of Germany became a life-and-death situation that required Herculean efforts of friends and other prominent scientists. Lise fled to Sweden, where she made a groundbreaking discovery in nuclear physics, and the others fled to the United States, where they brought advanced physics to American universities. No matter their destination, each woman revolutionized the field of physics when all odds were stacked against them, galvanizing young women to do the same" Pillars of creation : how the James Webb Telescope unlocked the secrets of the cosmos by Richard Panek The James Webb Space Telescope is transforming the universe right before our eyes—and here, for the first time, is the inside account of how the mission originated, how it performs its miracles of science and what its revolutionary images are revealing. Love triangle : how trigonometry shapes the world by Matt Parker In this entertaining and educational ode to trigonometry, which underpins all modern data technology, the stand-up comedian shares plenty of relevant and irreverent reasons we should show a lot more love for the triangles in our lives, relating extraordinary stories of mathematicians, philosophers and engineers who dared to take triangles seriously. Illustrations. Cull of the Wild : Killing in the Name of Conservation by Hugh Warwick Book Annotation Vanishing treasures : a bestiary of extraordinary endangered creatures by Katherine Rundell "A tour of the natural world's most awe-inspiring animals currently facing extinction" A sea full of turtles : the search for optimism in an epoch of extinction by Bill Streever The best-selling author of And Soon I Heard a Roaring Wind shows how humans can help mitigate the extinction crisis through the story of efforts to save sea turtles in Mexico's Gulf of California. Illustrations. Why animals talk : the new science of animal communication by Arik Kershenbaum "From leading zoologist Arik Kershenbaum, a delightful and groundbreaking exploration of animal communication and its true meaning Animal communication has forever seemed intelligible. We are surrounded by animals and the cacophony of sounds that they make-from the chirping of songbirds to the growls of lions on the savanna-but we have yet to fully understand why animals communicate the way they do. What are they saying? This is only part of the mystery. To go deeper, we must also ask, what is motivatingthem? Why Animals Talk is an exhilarating journey through the untamed world of animal communication. Following his international bestseller, The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy, acclaimed zoologist Arik Kershenbaum draws on extensive original research toreveal how many of the animal kingdom's most seemingly confusing or untranslatable signals are in fact logical and consistent-and not that different from our own. His fascinating deep dive into this timeless subject overturns decades of conventional wisdom, inviting readers to experience for the first time communication through the minds of animals themselves. From the majestic howls of wolves and the enchanting chatter of parrots to the melodic clicks of dolphins and the spirited grunts of chimpanzees, these often strange expressions are far from mere noise. In fact, they hold secrets that we are just beginning to decipher. It's one of the oldest mysteries that has haunted Homo sapiens for hundreds of thousands of years: Are animals talking just like us, or are we the only animals on the planet to have our own language?" Kingdom of play : what ball-bouncing octopuses, belly-flopping monkeys, and mud-sliding elephants reveal about life itself by David Toomey Looks at the science behind why animals play that shows how life—at its most fundamental level—is playful. Illustrations. Contact your librarian for more great books! Duxbury Free Library 77 Alden Street, Duxbury, MA 02332 781-934-2721www.duxburyfreelibrary.org Mondays-Thursdays 10:00-8:00Fridays-Saturdays 10:00-5:00 You are receiving this email because you opted in.