Nature and ScienceApril 2025 Recent Releases When the Earth Was Green: Plants, Animals, and Evolution's Greatest Romance by Riley Black Science writer Riley Black stuns with a panoramic natural history that acquaints readers with the interactive nature of life among Earth’s plants, animals, and habitats through the eons. Black’s accessible writing “illuminat[es] natural history into sparkling descriptions of what the Earth was like millions of years ago” (Publishers Weekly). Read-alike: A Brief History of Earth by Andrew H. Knoll. Superbloom: How Technologies of Connection Tear Us Apart by Nicholas Carr Journalist Nicholas Carr argues convincingly that social media has taken over our society and brains so rapidly that we haven’t been able to formulate a response, much less calculate the damage it’s wreaking. Carr points to research citing epidemic levels of stress, anxiety, and depression among users, especially teenagers. Other revealing reads on this topic include Alone Together by Sherry Turkle and The End of Absence by Michael Harris. Waiting for Robots: The Hired Hands of Automation by Antonio A. Casilli; translated by Saskia Brown According to expert Antonio Casilli, artificial intelligence, while saving labor for some, invisibly creates grueling, underpaid work for many others. The author points the finger at tech companies that require armies of “clickworkers” charged with endless, repetitive microtasks to create, maintain, and train AI platforms. Try this next: Feeding the Machine by James Muldoon, Mark Graham, and Callum Cant. Out of Your Mind: The Biggest Mysteries of the Human Brain by Jorge Cham & Dwayne Godwin Want a book about the complexities of the human brain that isn’t quite so…well, brainy? Author and cartoonist Jorge Cham teams with neuroscientist Dwayne Godwin to tackle the subject and answer some difficult questions in an amusing, upbeat, and accessible style, complete with illustrations. Other entertaining books about brain function include The Brain by David Eagleman and Nineteen Ways of Looking at Consciousness by Patrick House. Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton Debut memoirist Chloe Dalton, a political consultant, spent much of the COVID-19 pandemic raising a baby hare she rescued near her country home. This fascinating, endearing, and rarely domesticated creature became Dalton’s companion for a time, awakening her senses to the natural world around her. For more moving encounters with wildlife, try The Puma Years by Laura Coleman or Alfie & Me by Carl Safina. Creature Needs: Writers Respond to the Science of Animal Conservation by Christopher Kondrich, Lucy Spelman, and Susan Tacent (editors) Creature Needs is an unusual collection of essays, stories, and poetry organized around the basic needs of survival: air, water, food, shelter, freedom of movement, and companionship. The writers explore these facets with both intellect and emotion in a way that “bridges the gap between the worlds of science and art” (Library Journal). For additional profound musings about the natural world, try Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. The Trouble with Ancient DNA: Telling Stories of the Past with Genomic Science by Anna Källén Museology professor Anna Källén’s new book highlights the pitfalls of poor scientific practice, specifically in the field of human genetics. Källén argues that much of the research on ancient humans relies on fossil DNA so degraded that less than 10% of the genome is recoverable, resulting in widespread and often misleading assumptions. For other thought-provoking books about fossil DNA, pick up Seven Skeletons by Lydia Pyne or The Naked Neanderthal by Ludovic Slimak. How To Feed the World: The History and Future of Food by Vaclav Smil Geography professor Vaclav Smil’s book on the global food supply sounds some alarms but ultimately strikes an optimistic tone, provided we begin implementing sustainable agricultural practices and reforming food policy without delay. He supports his arguments with a wealth of data. For other practical discussions about world food issues, try The End of Plenty by Joel K. Bourne Jr. or How the World Eats by Julian Baggini. Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe by Carl Zimmer Science writer Carl Zimmer puts airborne pathogens under the microscope, taking readers on a tour spanning from the 14th century to COVID-19 that exposes how much we have yet to learn about communicable diseases in the Earth’s atmosphere. Other accessible reads about microbes and disease include The Secret Body by Daniel M. Davis and Immune by Catherine Carver. Contact your librarian for more great books! Oswego Public Library District Montgomery Campus - 1111 Reading Drive, 60538 Oswego Campus - 32 West Jefferson, 60543 (630) 554-3150 https://www.oswego.lib.il.us/