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Nature and Science June 2026 |
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| The Laws of Thought: The Quest for a Mathematical Theory of the Mind by Tom GriffithsTom Griffiths, director of Princeton’s Computational Cognitive Science Lab, fascinates with an accessible survey of the attempts to reduce human thought to a discreet set of mathematical principles. While some approaches have proved useful in modelling certain kinds of problem solving, the failure of any single framework to capture the mind’s versatility is at the center of Griffiths' book, and has implications for the development of AI. |
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Meat: How the Next Agricultural Revolution Will Transform Humanity's Favorite Food--And Our Future
by Bruce Friedrich
Good Food Institute founder and president Bruce Friedrich offers a hopeful and rigorously researched exploration of how science, policy, and industry can work together to satisfy the world's soaring demand for meat, while building a healthier and more sustainable world. The human love of meat appears to be hard-wired. The world consumes more than 550 million metric tons of meat and seafood each year. That number has been climbing for decades and is expected to continue to rise through at least 2050. What if we could give humanity the meat it craves, but produced differently? Plant-based and cultivated meat that are just as delicious as the meat you love, but more affordable and healthier.
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The Art of Biodiversity: Artists & Naturalists, 1700-1900
by Eric Himmel
Strikingly original and abundantly illustrated, The Art of Biodiversity surveys the golden age of natural history art, exploring the alliance between scientists and artists that first revealed the astonishing diversity of life on Earth.With more than 330 color illustrations of surpassing beauty, this book reveals a story about art that's not in the art history books, and a story about science that's missing from histories of science.
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| Beyond Inheritance: Our Ever-Mutating Cells and a New Understanding of Health by Roxanne KhamsiScience journalist Roxanne Khamsi’s well-researched debut offers a peek at cutting-edge genetics and the idea that our DNA is not static, as previously thought, but constantly mutating, in as many as trillions of occurrences daily. Geneticists hope that better understanding these naturally occurring mutations will give us a window into the cause of genetic diseases like cancer and, more importantly, how best to treat them. |
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| To Catch a Fish: Essays on the Joy, Frustration, Curiosity, and Allure of Fishing by Mark Kurlansky; illustrations by Bri DostieNonfiction author Mark Kurlansky (The Boston Way) proves an entertaining guide to his favorite pastime. Along with advice on how, where, and with what equipment to catch various species of fish, Kurlansky’s book of essays includes enlightening tangents about fishing in literature, cooking tips, fly-tying, and the obsessive nature of hobbies, as well as vivid paintings by artist Bri Dostie. |
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| The Edge of Space-Time: Particles, Poetry, and the Cosmic Dream Boogie by Chanda Prescod-WeinsteinPhysicist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein leverages her Black, Jewish, and queer identity to bring an adventurous cultural context to hard science. Through accessible explanations of theoretical physics concepts like relativity, dark matter, and quantum mechanics, and drawing parallels with ideas drawn from literature, Hebrew spirituality, and Indigenous folklore, Prescod-Weinstein rescues physics from its white, male, heteronormative enclave while stressing inclusion, wonder, and joy. |
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The Hidden Nations of Animals: A Grand Tour of Earth's Wild Civilizations
by Ryan Huling
From far-flung forest settlements in Canada's beaver belt to disputed territories of clashing Argentine ant armies, Ryan Huling's around-the-world odyssey takes us to places most people don't even know exist. Along the way, we meet renowned ecologists, anthropologists, geographers, and historians whose work has uncovered vast sub-Saharan tunnel complexes, booming animal metropolises nestled within the urban sprawl of the American Southwest, and ancient Silk Road-style migration routes that traverse the Eurasian Steppe. When humans settle in an area, it is deemed, by definition, populated. By contrast, the millions of other species we share this planet with have long been viewed as fleeting ephemera, living brief and transitory lives in uninhabited wilderness. Over the course of a year, Huling investigates how technology is rapidly changing that perception by deepening humanity's understanding of our fellow animals and their unique relationships with the land, air, and sea.
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| Becoming Martian: How Living in Space Will Change Our Bodies and Minds by Scott Solomon; foreword by Scott KellyHow living in space will affect future generations--and what the potential unintended consequences of space settlements are. We are on the cusp of a golden age of space travel in which, for the first time, it will be possible for large numbers of people to venture into space. Some intend to stay. But what happens--and will happen--to us in the extreme conditions of space? What should space tourists expect to happen to them during a journey to an orbiting space station, the Moon, or Mars? What would happen to children born on another planet? Would they evolve into a new species? In Becoming Martian, Scott Solomon explores the many ways in which humanity's migration into space will change our bodies and our minds. |
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| Insectopolis: A Natural History by Peter KuperEisner Award-winning graphic novelist Peter Kuper’s illustrated ode to insect life incorporates multiple timelines, talking bugs, and a human de-populated world where the insects happily visit museum exhibits devoted to them! Kuper provides a wealth of science information alongside his stunning illustrations in inventively arranged panels that will draw in readers who like graphic nonfiction. |
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| Alien Worlds: How Insects Conquered the Earth and Why Their Fate Will Determine Our Future by Steve NichollsFor 400 million years, insects have been the most numerous members of the animal kingdom and have spent that time developing incredible ways to crawl, jump, burrow, fly, hunt and reproduce in ways that perfectly suit virtually every environment on Earth. Yet, as documentary filmmaker and entomologist Steve Nicholls reminds us in his richly illustrated book, it is humans that are proving most problematic to insect survival. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Harford County Public Library
1221-A Brass Mill Rd Belcamp, Maryland 21017 410-273-5600
hcplonline.org
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