Popular Science

These books span a wide range of scientific disciplines, including environmental and plant intelligence studies, astrobiology and physics, public health histories, and captivating explorations of animal behavior and Earth's prehistoric past.

Updated June 7, 2026
Rochester Public Library RPL Staff
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Popular Science

These books span a wide range of scientific disciplines, including environmental and plant intelligence studies, astrobiology and physics, public health histories, and captivating explorations of animal behavior and Earth's prehistoric past.

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Soil : the story of a Black mother's garden
Dungy, Camille T.
Paper Book
A seminal work that expands how we talk about the natural world and the environment as National Book Critics Circle Criticism finalist Camille T. Dungy diversifies her garden to reflect her heritage. In Soil: The Story of a Black Mother's Garden, poet and...
The Martians : the true story of an alien craze that captured turn-of-the-century America
Baron, David
Paper Book
The serviceberry : abundance and reciprocity in the natural world
Kimmerer, Robin Wall
Paper Book
An Instant New York Times Bestseller From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Braiding Sweetgrass, a bold and inspiring vision for how to orient our lives around gratitude, reciprocity, and community, based on the lessons of the natural world....
Our moon : how Earth's celestial companion transformed the planet, guided evolution, and made us who we are
Boyle, Rebecca
Paper Book
LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD * NATIONAL BESTSELLER * "A riveting feat of science writing that recasts that most familiar of celestial objects into something eerily extraordinary, pivotal to our history, and awesome in the original sense of the word."--Ed Yong, New York Times...
Everything is tuberculosis : the history and persistence of our deadliest infection
Green, John
Paper Book
#1 New York Times bestseller * #1 Washington Post bestseller * #1 Indie Bestseller * USA Today Bestseller John Green, award-winning author and passionate advocate for global healthcare reform, tells a deeply human story illuminating the fight against the world's...
What if we get it right? : visions of climate futures
Johnson, Ayana Elizabeth
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER . "With a thoughtfully curated series of essays, poetry, and conversations, the brilliant scientist and climate expert Ayana Elizabeth Johnson has assembled a group of dynamic people who are willing to imagine what seems impossible, and articulate those visions...
The worlds I see : curiosity, exploration, and discovery at the dawn of AI
Li, Fei Fei
Paper Book
ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S RECOMMENDED BOOKS ON AI * FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOKS OF 2023 From Dr. Fei-Fei Li, one of TIME's 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL in AI, comes "a powerful plea for keeping humanity at the centre of our latest technological transformation" (...
Better living through birding : notes from a Black man in the natural world
Cooper, Christian
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMESBESTSELLER . Central Park birder Christian Cooper takes us beyond the viral video that shocked a nation and into a world of avian adventures, global excursions, and the unexpected lessons you can learn from a life spent looking up. "Wondrous . . ....
They poisoned the world : life and death in the age of forever chemicals
Blake, Mariah
Paper Book
"Riveting . . . Blake's deft chronicle of one of the greatest moral scandals of our time [is] a book that none of us can afford to miss."--The Washington Post A gripping investigation of the chemical industry's decades-long campaign to hide the dangers of forever...
The great nerve : the new science of the vagus nerve and how to harness its healing reflexes
Tracey, Kevin J.
Paper Book
New science reveals the groundbreaking potential of the vagus nerve to regulate your body's vital systems and heal a wide variety of medical conditions without drugs The vagus nerve is fundamental to our health and vitality, coordinating critical functions  from the precise...
When it all burns : fighting fire in a transformed world
Thomas, Jordan (Anthropologist)
Paper Book
2025 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST FINALIST FOR THE LA TIMES BOOK PRIZE AND THE CALIFORNIA BOOK AWARD ONE OF PUBLISHERS WEEKLY'S TOP 10 BOOKS OF 2025 NAMED A BEST NONFICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR BY KIRKUS AND A GOLD WINNER BY THE NAUTILUS...
The ocean's menagerie : how earth's strangest creatures reshape the rules of life
Harvell, C. Drew
Paper Book
A Nature Best Book of 2025 * A Wall Street Journal Holiday Gift Pick An elegantly written exploration of the cutting edge science of the strangest and most remarkable creatures on our planet by a leading marine biologist Hundred-year-old giant clams,...
Superfoods, silkworms, and spandex : science and pseudoscience in everyday life
Schwarcz, Joe
Paper Book
In this new collection of bite-size pop science essays, bestselling author, chemistry professor, and radio broadcaster Dr. Joe Schwarcz shows that you can find science virtually anywhere you look. And the closer you look, the more fascinating it becomes. In this volume, we look through our...
So very smallHow Humans Discovered the Microcosmos, Defeated Germs--and May Still Lose the War Against Infectious Disease
Levenson, Thomas
Paper Book
"An elegant, wide-ranging history" (The New York Review of Books) of the centuries-long quest to discover the critical role of germs in disease thatreveals as much about human reasoning--and the pitfalls of ego--as it does about microbes. "Levenson takes readers through...
Intraterrestrials : discovering the strangest life on earth
Lloyd, Karen G.
Paper Book
A biologist's firsthand account of the hunt for life beneath earth's surface--and how new discoveries are challenging our most basic assumptions about the nature of life on Earth Life thrives in the deepest, darkest recesses of Earth's crust--from methane seeps in the ocean...
A billion butterflies : a life in climate and chaos theory
Shukla, J.
Paper Book
The amazing true story of the man behind modern weather prediction Consider a world without weather prediction. How would we know when to evacuate communities ahead of fires or floods, or figure out what to wear tomorrow? Until 40 years ago, we couldn't forecast weather...
Amphibious soul : finding the wild in a tame world
Foster, Craig (Filmmaker)
Paper Book
"An important book that will transform how we think about being human. ... that will inspire hope."--Jane Goodall How can we reclaim the soul-deepening wildness that grounds us and energizes us when so much of the modern world seems designed to tame us? In this thrilling memoir of a...
Ends of the Earth : journeys to the polar regions in search of life, the cosmos, and our future
Shubin, Neil
Paper Book
**Shortlisted for the 2025 Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize** The bestselling author of Your Inner Fish takes readers on an epic adventure to the North and South Poles to reveal the secrets locked in the ice about life, the cosmos, and our planet's future. ...
How to change your mind : what the new science of psychedelics teaches us about consciousness, dying, addiction, depression, and transcendence
Pollan, Michael
Paper Book
"Pollan keeps you turning the pages . . . cleareyed and assured." --New York Times A #1 New York Times Bestseller, New York Times Book Review 10 Best Books of 2018, and New York Times Notable Book A brilliant and brave investigation into...
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