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Nature and Science December 2025 |
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| Shade: The Promise of a Forgotten Natural Resource by Sam BlochIt’s a simple, ancient idea whose time may have come again: if you want to cool down on a hot day, find some shade. Environmental journalist Sam Bloch argues for numerous strategies to use shade to offset the environmental impact of air conditioning in urban heat islands but also discusses the associated cost and policy barriers in this thoughtful, urgent book. For more on this topic, try After Cooling: On Freon, Global Warming, and the Terrible Cost of Comfort by Eric Dean Wilson. |
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| The Story of CO₂ Is the Story of Everything: How Carbon Dioxide Made Our World by Peter BrannenScience journalist Peter Brannen elucidates the role of carbon dioxide on Earth, explaining the paradox that this substance is both an essential part of the carbon life cycle and the reason that our climate is in trouble. Brannen’s book is both alarming and fascinating and makes clear that it is only in the last couple of centuries that human activity has pushed the CO₂ equation out of balance. Read-alike: Elemental: How Five Elements Changed Earth’s Past and Will Shape Our Future by Stephen Porder. |
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| Horses: A 4,000-Year Genetic Journey Across the World by Ludovic OrlandoFor geneticist Ludovic Orlando, what began as an investigation into a famous racehorse that died a century ago turned into a global collaborative study on the 4,000-year history of humans and horses. Including the novel theory that human domestication of horses began independently in several places scattered across Europe and Asia, Orlando’s book is brimming with data but still “a captivating, smooth ride” (Kirkus Reviews). For readers who enjoyed Domesticated: Evolution in a Man-Made World by Richard C. Francis. |
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| The Arrogant Ape: The Myth of Human Exceptionalism and Why It Matters by Christine WebbPrimatologist Christine Webb’s debut calls out humanity for its ego trip regarding its place in the world. The fact that humans have climbed to the top of the world’s food chain is often taken by Western science as evidence that we are the smartest, most capable beings on earth. But as humans continue to make their own survival more tenuous through destruction of the environment, the anthropocentric viewpoint loses traction. A thought-provoking book that “makes a convincing case for humility” (Publishers Weekly). |
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The Backyard Bird Chronicles
by Amy Tan; foreword by David Allen Sibley
Acclaimed author Amy Tan presents her lovingly illustrated bird journal, which captures a parade of avian visitors to her northern California backyard. You might also like: Priyanka Kumar's Conversations with Birds; Susan Fox Rogers' Learning the Birds; Joan Strassman's Slow Birding.
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Beautiful Shells: George Perry's Conchology
by Mark Carnall
An informative introduction exploring our fascination with shells, complete with stunningly reproduced illustrations. In 1811, architect, stone mason, and shell obsessive George Perry published his lavishly illustrated volume, Conchology or the Natural History of Shells. The work featured 348 beautifully illustrated mollusk shells with descriptions of species, many of which were new to science. Despite the effort that went into producing it--and at a time when conchophilia, or shell fancying, was at its height--Perry's Conchology disappeared from scientific literature, after being suppressed by the leading conchologists of the day and then cruelly mocked for decades after. Beautiful Shells reproduces the stunning, exquisitely drawn, and sometimes fanciful shell illustrations from this extraordinary forgotten volume. Following an introduction exploring our fascination with shells and their impact on human history, culture, and science, each of the sixty-one color illustrations is included alongside a description of notable shells and what is known of the mysterious organisms that make them. From the common limpet and razor clam to the valuable cowry and spectacular divine conch, the wide range of featured shells form a treasure trove of natural beauty from our oceans and shores.
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| The Big One: How We Must Prepare for Future Deadly Pandemics by Michael T. Osterholm, PhD, MPH and Mark OlshakerNot to sound alarmist or anything, but authors Michael T. Osterholm and Mark Olshaker concede that COVID-19 may have been merely a warm-up for the next pandemic. To that end, they construct some chilling real-world scenarios that they hope will urge government leaders to take communicable disease as seriously as any national security issue. For readers fascinated by World War C: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic and How to Prepare for the Next One by Sanjay Gupta. |
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| If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: Why Superhuman AI Would Kill Us All by Eliezer Yudkowsky & Nate SoaresAI researchers Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares sound a strident alarm over the race to design the ultimate machine intelligence. While corporations and governments everywhere push relentlessly toward the development of “artificial superintelligence” (ASI), the authors warn that current industry safeguards are insufficient to contain a program that is “optimized for efficiency and unconstrained by human ethics” (Booklist). For further predictions of terrifying techno-disasters, check out X-Risk: How Humanity Discovered Its Own Extinction by Thomas Moynihan. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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