Nature and Science
December 2021
Recent Releases
Immune: A Journey Into the Mysterious System That Keeps You Alive
by Philipp Dettmer

What it is: An accessible and lavishly illustrated journey through the human immune system.

About the author: Philipp Dettmer is the founder of the German animation studio Kurzgesagt, which creates popular educational science videos that can be seen on their YouTube channel, "In A Nutshell."
Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid: The Fraught and Fascinating Biology of Climate...
by Thor Hanson

What it's about: While humans struggle to mount a response to climate change, plants and animals are busily adapting to a new reality, whether by migrating or modifying their behaviors.

The big idea: "Understanding biological responses to climate change can help us find our place within it."
 
The Plant Hunter: A Scientist's Quest for Nature's Next Medicines
by Cassandra Leah Quave

Meet: Medical ethnobotanist Dr. Cassandra Leah Quave, who studies plants to discover their medicinal properties.

Read it for: The author's enthusiasm for her chosen career and her reflections on being a disabled woman in a male-dominated discipline that requires conducting field research in the wilderness.
 
Scientists
The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race
by Walter Isaacson

What it is: A biography of Nobel Prize-winning biochemist Jennifer Doudna, best known for her work on CRISPR gene editing.

About the author: Journalist Walter Isaacson is the author of bestselling books The Innovators and Leonardo da Vinci.

Also available in eBook & eAudiobook on Libby
Ms. Adventure: My Wild Explorations in Science, Lava, and Life
by Jess Phoenix

Introducing: Volcanologist and geologist Jess Phoenix, whose passion for science and sense of adventure have taken her to some of the most dangerous places on Earth.

About the author: Phoenix is also the cofounder of Blueprint Earth, an organization dedicated to supporting underrepresented groups in STEM.

Also available in eBook & eAudiobook on Hoopla
The Smallest Lights in the Universe: A Memoir
by Sara Seager

What it is: The memoir of a planetary astrophysicist that weaves together her Canadian childhood, her career in physics, her marriage and widowhood, and her later-in-life autism diagnosis.

About the author: Astrophysicist Sara Seager is a recipient of the Sackler International Prize in Physics and a MacArthur Fellowship.

 
The Sun Is a Compass: A 4,000-Mile Journey into the Alaskan Wilds
by Caroline Van Hemert

What it's about: Wildlife biologist Caroline Van Hemert's six-month, 4,000-mile trek across the Alaskan wilderness with her husband, a journey undertaken without motorized transport.

Why you might like it: Van Hemert interweaves vivid descriptions of the natural world with her memories of growing up in Alaska, her anxieties about her career, and her reflections on life and love.
The Sediments of Time: My Lifelong Search for the Past
by Meave Leakey with Samira Leaky

What it is: An engaging, science-focused memoir by Meave Leakey (née Epps) and her daughter Samira, members of the famed Leakey family of paleoanthropologists.

Reviewers say: "This inspirational autobiography stands among the finest scientist memoirs" (New York Times).

Also available in eAudiobook on Hoopla
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