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Nature and Science August 2025* |
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| More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley's Crusade to... by Adam BeckerMany of today’s tech industry leaders advance wildly optimistic visions of a future in which people will live on Mars, become immortal, and exist in simulation. Interrogating these scenarios with real science, journalist Adam Becker runs through the multitude of reasons why they aren’t achievable, and why we wouldn’t want them to be. Try this next: Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism by Yanis Varoufakis. |
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This dog will change your life
by Elias Weiss Friedman
"This book weaves together stories of the many dogs Elias has been lucky enough to know, both in his personal life and while doing his Dogist work. Told in a light tone that does not shy away from more serious issues (Elias is not above the occasional sentimental moment or dog pun), this book charmingly explores the ways that dogs are not just our family and our friends but also irreplaceable beings capable of generating boundless love and restoring balance to our lives. In an increasingly alienating anddivisive world, there is one clear remedy: the one with four legs that rolls over for belly rubs. Dogs can change our lives, and this book might just change yours"--Provided by publisher
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The place of tides
by James Rebanks
"One afternoon many years ago, James Rebanks met an old woman on a remote Norwegian island. She lived and worked alone on a tiny rocky outcrop, caring for wild Eider ducks and gathering their down. Hers was a centuries-old trade that had once made men and women rich, but had long been in decline. Still, somehow, she seemed to be hanging on. Back at home, Rebanks couldn't stop thinking about the woman on the rocks. She was fierce and otherworldly--and yet strangely familiar. Years passed. Then, one day, he wrote her a letter, asking if he could return. Bring work clothes, she replied, and good boots, and come quickly: her health was failing. And so he travelled to the edge of the Arctic to witness her last season on the island. This is the story of that season. It is the story of a unique and ancient landscape, and of the woman who brought it back to life. It traces the pattern of her work from the rough, isolated toil of bitter winter, building little wooden huts that will protect the ducks come spring; to the elation of the endless summer light, when the birds leave behind their precious down for the woman to gather, like feathered gold. Slowly, Rebanks begins to understand that this woman and her world are not at all what he had previously thought. As the weeks pass, what began as a journey of escape becomes an extraordinary lesson in self-knowledge and forgiveness"
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| Slither: How Nature's Most Maligned Creatures Illuminate Our World by Stephen S. HallScience writer Stephen S. Hall has been fascinated by snakes since childhood, and his enthusiasm comes through in this sweeping overview of all things herpetological. Hall covers topics including people’s fear of snakes, snake venom, locomotion, evolutionary history, religious symbolism, and the ease with which snakes adapt to their surroundings. An enticing choice for snake lovers (and haters!). |
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| Dimming the Sun: The Urgent Case for Geoengineering by Thomas RamgeTechnologist Thomas Ramge advances the provocative argument for slowing global warming through short-term geoengineering projects, like human-made clouds that would temporarily dampen the greenhouse effect. Ramge contends that such measures, though widely criticized, could buy valuable time, considering the high stakes of environmental disasters. For more controversial perspectives on climate change, try False Alarm: How Climate Change Panic Costs Us Trillions, Hurts the Poor, and Fails to Fix the Planet by Bjorn Lomborg. |
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| In Praise of Floods: The Untamed River and the Life It Brings by James C. ScottAgrarian scientist James C. Scott urges the reader of his posthumously published book to think of a river watershed as a vast organism, expanding and contracting with an annual flood pulse, and supporting a complex biodiverse ecology through the seasons. This biome enables the flourishing of humans and other animals, but is grievously harmed by dams, levees, and artificial canals. Try this next: Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane. |
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| Supermassive: Black Holes at the Beginning and End of the Universe by James Trefil and Shobita SatyapalPhysicists James Trefil and Shobita Satyapal do an admirable job of explaining the complex astronomical phenomena known as black holes, as well as the astrophysical theories that underpin them and the advancements that led to their discovery. The authors’ evident passion for this difficult subject matter brings their “thrilling tour of the universe” (School Library Journal) to life. For another accessible yet informative read on this topic, try Einstein’s Monsters: The Life and Times of Black Holes by Chris Impey. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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