Nature and Science
October 2025

Recent Releases
How To Save the Amazon: A Journalist's Fatal Quest for Answers
by Dom Phillips with contributors

In 2022, before finishing this book, British journalist Dom Phillips was murdered in Brazil’s Javari Valley by people acting on behalf of the illegal fishing industry. His work movingly brings to light the difficulty of reconciling concerns of ecology, economics, social class, and environmental justice. More stories about the dangerous cost of environmental protection can be found in Masters of the Lost Land by Heriberto Araujo and Tree Thieves by Lyndsie Bourgon.
Strata: Stories from Deep Time
by Laura Poppick

Geologist Laura Poppick debuts with a detailed yet energetic trip down the geologic timeline, offering an intriguing window onto her work and showing readers just how much information about Earth’s natural history and ecosystems has been revealed through examining its sedimentary layers. For further sweeping geological insights, try: A Brief History of Earth: Four Billion Years in Eight Chapters by Andrew H. Knoll.
The Stronger Sex: What Science Tells Us About the Power of the Female Body
by Starre Vartan

Science writer Starre Vartan, like many women, grew up believing what she had always been told: that women were weaker than men. Not so, according to her book and a decade’s worth of research, which shows that women tend to outperform men in several areas, including endurance, flexibility, and longevity. The Stronger Sex is a valuable, corrective study that asks “why testosterone is considered an unfair advantage” (Publishers Weekly). For fans of: The Better Half: On the Genetic Superiority of Women by Sharon Moalem.
Slow Down: The Degrowth Manifesto
by Kōhei Saitō; translated by Brian Bergstrom

University of Tokyo philosopher Kōhei Saitō tackles climate change from both scientific and political angles. According to Saitō, any capitalistic model for combatting climate change is inherently flawed, and he calls instead for a halt to urban development, scaling back industrial manufacturing to focus on quality rather than quantity, and an emphasis on local economies to curb greenhouse emissions and allow nature to heal itself. It’s an unusual yet persuasive idea that Saitō supports with a “conversational, gentle, yet urgent tone” (Kirkus Reviews).
Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life by Ferris Jabr
Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life
by Ferris Jabr

Science journalist Ferris Jabr’s debut looks at the symbiotic nature of life on Earth and its connection to the planet itself. His intriguing perspective envisions pollution and climate change as illnesses troubling a planetary organism in a “beautifully written, exquisitely detailed” (Booklist) read. For more environmental popular science, try: Karen Pinchin’s Kings of Their Own Ocean; Greg King’s The Ghost Forest.
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