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Nature and Science June 2025 |
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| Inside the Stargazer's Palace: The Transformation of Science in 16th-Century... by Violet MollerHistorian Violet Moller’s tour of scientific innovation in the 1500s focuses on astronomy. Early stargazers Tycho Brahe and Nicolaus Copernicus laid the groundwork using curious new instruments of observation during a fascinating period when scientific inquiry still mingled with religion, mythology, and alchemy. It’s an atmospheric “run-up to the Scientific Revolution in expert hands.” (Kirkus Reviews) |
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| The Age of Diagnosis: How Our Obsession with Medical Labels is Making Us Sicker by Suzanne O'SullivanAccording to neurologist Suzanne O’Sullivan, a combination of expanding disease definitions and advances in medical screening is causing diagnoses to increase drastically, which taxes healthcare systems, feeds health anxiety in patients, and gives rise to the “nocebo effect,” where giving a patient a disease label can actually produce symptoms. Readers looking for other interesting books about physician-patient communication should try How Medicine Works and When It Doesn’t by F. Perry Wilson. |
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| Valley of Forgetting: Alzheimer's Families and the Search for a Cure by Jennie Erin SmithWhile researchers had long been aware of the alarmingly high rates of early-onset Alzheimer’s in one remote region of Colombia, the discovery that many of the patients were related sparked the search for a genetic cause. Journalist Jennie Erin Smith tells the moving story of how an inherited gene was eventually isolated, igniting hope for a cure. For other emotional narratives about genetics and disease, try My Father’s Brain by Sandeep Jauhar or A Fatal Inheritance by Lawrence Ingrassia. |
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| The Lost Trees of Willow Avenue: A Story of Climate and Hope on One American Street by Mike TidwellTravel writer Mike Tidwell examines the impacts of climate change in his own Maryland suburb. Telling the story through interactions with his neighbors, all of whom had a stake in the die-off of their street’s stately old oaks, Tidwell inspires while sharing various neighborhood responses to problems both local and global. Another accessible read about climate threats and activism includes Saving Us by Katharine Hayhoe. |
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| Eavesdropping on Animals: What We Can Learn from Wildlife Conversations by George BumannGeorge Bumann, an observant Yellowstone wildlife ecologist and artist, encourages us to listen in on the lively chatter among animals that we might usually tune out. With enthusiastic guidance that can apply to backyards as well as national parks and runs from birds to insects to coyotes, Bumann reminds us that a big part of nature appreciation is paying attention. |
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| Why Animals Talk: The New Science of Animal Communication by Arik KershenbaumUniversity of Cambridge zoologist Arik Kershenbaum has been in the field of animal communication for decades. His study of the speech-like sounds and songs emitted by creatures including wolves, parrots, dolphins, and chimpanzees runs afoul of the idea that humans are Earth’s sole language users, and posits that “animals have much to say to each other -- but also to us”. (Kirkus Reviews) Also try The Song of the Ape by Andrew Halloran. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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