| The Secret Lives of Planets: Order, Chaos, and Uniqueness in the Solar System by Paul MurdinWhat happens: Astronomer Paul Murdin takes readers on an accessible tour of the solar system.
Further reading: Mark Thompson's A Space Traveler's Guide to the Solar System or Erik Asphaug's When the Earth Had Two Moons.
Did you know? "The bottom line is that our solar system has no parallel among the known planetary systems. Astronomy has no fully accepted explanation for this yet." |
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A Slice Through America : A Geological Atlas
by David Kassel
Created by federal and state geologists over the course of one hundred years, the maps reveal sedimentary rock layers that present an unexpected view of our treasured public lands, making this collection an important record of natural resources, as well as a beautiful display of map design. The fascinating history of the science behind the drawings is explored by sedimentary geologist Jody Bourgeois, a professor emeritus at the University of Washington's College of the Environment and a fellow of the Geological Society of America.
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| Counting: How We Use Numbers to Decide What Matters by Deborah StoneThe big idea: numbers can't be objective, argues political scientist Deborah Stone as she examines the cultural assumptions and social norms underlying the data we rely on to make policy decisions.
Topics include: how unemployment is measured; the ever-evolving race categories on the U.S. Census; the increasing role of automated systems in assessing everything from credit scores to recidivism rates.
Food for thought: "If every number begins with a judgment, and if we allow numbers to determine people's fates, we should hold numbers to the same ethical standards we hold our judges to." |
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Black Hole Survival Guide
by Janna Levin
A professor of physics and astronomy and author of Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space offers a guide understanding the black hole and reveals how scientists’ knowledge of them has changed our basic understanding of the universe.
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| The Knowledge Machine: How Irrationality Created Modern Science by Michael StrevensThe question: Although human civilization has existed for millennia, science is only a few centuries old. Why didn't we invent it sooner?
Why you might like it: philosophy professor Michael Strevens dives into intellectual history in this thought-provoking examination of the "inherent strangeness of the scientific method," which he claims owes as much to the social upheavals of the Thirty Years' War as it does to Isaac Newton. |
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| Into the Planet: My Life as a Cave Diver by Jill HeinerthWho: Canadian cave diver, explorer, and filmmaker Jill Heinerth, who proudly claims that adventure is in her DNA.
Where she's been: Florida's extensive network of caverns; Mexico's Sistema Huautla, the Western Hemisphere's deepest cave network; the interior of Antarctic iceberg B-15, at the time the largest free-floating object on Earth.
You might also like: Julie Hauserman's Drawn to the Deep; William Stone's Beyond the Deep. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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