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Nature and Science August 2019
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The uninhabitable earth : life after warming
by David Wallace-Wells
"It is worse, much worse, than you think. If your anxiety about global warming is dominated by fears of sea-level rise, you are barely scratching the surface of what terrors are possible. In California, wildfires now rage year-round, destroying thousandsof homes. Across the US, "500-year" storms pummel communities month after month, and floods displace tens of millions annually. This is only a preview of the changes to come. And they are coming fast. Without a revolution in how billions of humans conduct their lives, parts of the Earth could become close to uninhabitable, and other parts horrifically inhospitable, as soon as the end of this century. In his travelogue of our near future, David Wallace-Wells brings into stark relief the climate troubles that await--food shortages, refugee emergencies, and other crises that will reshape the globe. But the world will be remade by warming in more profound ways as well, transforming our politics, our culture, our relationship to technology, and our sense of history. It will be all-encompassing, shaping and distorting nearly every aspect of human life as it is lived today. Like An Inconvenient Truth and Silent Spring before it, The Uninhabitable Earth is both a meditation on the devastation we have brought upon ourselves and an impassioned call to action. For just as the world was brought to the brink of catastrophe within the span of a lifetime, the responsibility to avoid it now belongs to a single generation"
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Falter : has the human game begun to play itself out?
by Bill McKibben
The prizewinning author of Eaarth and The End of Nature shares cautionary insights into how emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence and robotics, are being developed through fervent ideologies that are threatening the diversity of human experience
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| Slime: How Algae Created Us, Plague Us, and Just Might Save Us by Ruth KassingerWhat it's about: the 3.7 billion-year history of algae, "Earth's authentic alchemists": powered by sunlight and water, these organisms play a vital role in turning carbon dioxide into organic matter.
Why you might like it: Science writer Ruth Kassinger travels the world to learn about algae's culinary uses, its role in everyday consumer products, and its potential as a renewable fuel.
Don't miss: a selection of tasty, easy-to-prepare seaweed recipes. |
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| Underland: A Deep Time Journey by Robert MacfarlaneWhat it is: a lyrical and wide-ranging exploration of the world beneath our feet from tunnels and caves to catacombs and burial chambers to underground vaults and bunkers.
Why you might like it: Nature writer Robert Macfarlane embarks on a journey both literal and metaphorical, connecting real-world observations to representations of the underworld in mythology, art, and literature.
Want a taste? "Into the underland we have long placed that which we fear and wish to lose, and that which we love and wish to save." |
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| Neil Armstrong: A Life of Flight by Jay BarbreeWhat it is: an engaging biography of astronaut Neil Armstrong, who, on July 20, 1969, made history as the first person to walk on the moon.
About the author: During his 50-year career as a journalist, veteran NBC space correspondent Jay Barbree reported on every single crewed launch of the U.S. space program.
You might also like: James R. Hansen's First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong, which delves into the personal life of a very private individual. |
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| Shoot for the Moon: The Space Race and the Extraordinary Voyage of Apollo 11 by James DonovanWhat it is: a comprehensive history of the space race, beginning with the 1957 launch of Sputnik and culminating in the Apollo 11 Moon landing.
Reviewers say: "[Author James] Donovan knows how to tell a gripping story" (NPR).
Further reading: Chasing the Moon by Robert Stone and Alan Andres, American Moonshot by Douglas Brinkley, and Apollo's Legacy by Roger D. Launius. |
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| Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, From Missiles to the Moon... by Nathalia HoltIntroducing: Barby Canright, Macie Roberts, Helen Yee Chow, Barbara Lewis, Janez Lawson, Susan Finley, and others.
Why they matter: This talented group of women calculated rocket trajectories, designed satellites, and analyzed massive amounts of experimental data for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
For fans of: Margot Lee Shetterly's Hidden Figures, another collective biography of the unsung heroines of the U.S. space program. |
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| Rocket Men: The Daring Odyssey of Apollo 8 and the Astronauts Who Made Man's First... by Robert KursonIntroducing: Apollo 8 astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders, who carried out one of NASA's most challenging missions.
What they did: Given 50-50 odds of returning safely, the trio risked their lives to complete the first crewed lunar orbit in December 1968.
Why you might like it: Rocket Men contrasts the lofty achievements of the astronauts with historical events of a turbulent period in U.S. history. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Richmond Public Library 101 East Franklin Street Richmond, Virginia 23219 (804) 646-7223rvalibrary.org/ |
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