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
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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
"There is Life on the Planet Mars" --New York Times, December 9, 1906 This New York Times headline was no joke. In the early 1900s, many Americans actually believed we had discovered intelligent life on Mars, as best-selling science writer David Baron...
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...
The light eaters : how the unseen world of plant intelligence offers a new understanding of life on Earth
Schlanger, Zoe?
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The New Yorker's Best Books of 2024 * TIME's 10 Best Nonfiction Books of 2024 * New York Magazine's 10 Best Books of the Year * Washington Post's 50 Notable Works of Nonfiction of 2024 *...
Challenger : a true story of heroism and disaster on the edge of space
Higginbotham, Adam
Paper Book
Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in Nonfiction * Winner of the Kirkus Nonfiction Prize * Shortlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction * A New York Times Notable Book NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "Stunning...A heart-pounding...
What if? : serious scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions
Munroe, Randall.
Paper Book
From the creator of the wildly popular webcomic xkcd, a hilarious and informative book of popular science that provides answers to important questions you probably never thought to ask. Millions of people visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe's iconic webcomic. His stick...
Gut check : unleash the power of your microbiome to reverse disease and transform your mental, physical, and emotional health
Gundry, Steven R.
Paper Book
In this groundbreaking addition to his New York Times bestselling Plant Paradox series, Steven R.Gundry, MD offers a definitive guide to the gut biome and its control over its home--us!--revealing the unimaginably complex and intelligent ecosystem controlling our health and...
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 . . ....
Every living thing : the great and deadly race to know all life
Roberts, Jason (President of Panmedia Corporation)
Ebook
PULITZER PRIZE WINNER * An epic, extraordinary account of scientific rivalry and obsession in the quest to survey all of life on Earth "[An] engaging and thought-provoking book, one focused on the theatrical politics and often deeply troubling science that shape our...
Quantum supremacy : how the quantum computer revolution will change everything
Kaku, Michio
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * An exhilarating tour of humanity's next great technological achievement--quantum computing--which may supercharge artificial intelligence, solve some of humanity's biggest problems, like global warming, world hunger, and incurable disease, and eventually...
When the Earth was green : plants, animals, and evolution's greatest romance
Black, Riley
Paper Book
NOW A USA TODAY BESTSELLER! Winner, A Friend of Darwin Award, 2024 A gorgeously composed look at the longstanding relationship between prehistoric plants and life on Earth Fossils plants allow us to touch the lost worlds from...
Crossings : how road ecology is shaping the future of our planet
Goldfarb, Ben (Environmental journalist)
Ebook
Grand Prize Winner of the 2024 Banff Mountain Book Competition Winner of the Rachel Carson Award for Excellence in Environmental Journalism Finalist for the NYPL Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism Finalist for the PEN/E.O. Wilson...
Merlin's tour of the universe : a traveler's guide to blue moons and black holes, Mars, stars & everything far
Tyson, Neil deGrasse
Paper Book
A USA Today bestseller! The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Astrophysics for People in a Hurry takes readers on an entertaining and edifying tour of the universe. In Neil deGrasse Tyson's delightful journey through the cosmos, his fictional character Merlin responds to...
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...
Grizzly confidential : an astounding journey into the secret life of North America's most fearsome predator
Grange, Kevin
Paper Book
In Grizzly Confidential, author Kevin Grange--former paramedic and park ranger at Yellowstone and Grand Teton--comes face-to-face with North America's most fearsome predator, Ursus Arctos. His quest takes him from his home in the Tetons to an eerie, mist-shrouded island of gigantic bruins;...
The inner clock : living in sync with our circadian rhythms
Peeples, Lynne
Paper Book
"A rich history of what makes us tick, so to speak, paired with fascinating modern discoveries about how circadian rhythms influence our daily lives" --The Wall Street Journal How the groundbreaking science of circadian rhythms can help you sleep better, feel happier...
Alfie & me : what owls know, what humans believe
Safina, Carl
Paper Book
When ecologist Carl Safina and his wife, Patricia, took in a near-death baby owl, they expected that, like other wild orphans they'd rescued, she'd be a temporary presence. But Alfie's feathers were not growing correctly, requiring prolonged care. As Alfie grew and gained strength, she became a...
To infinity and beyond : a journey of cosmic discovery
Tyson, Neil deGrasse
Paper Book
This enlightening illustrated narrative by the world's most celebrated astrophysicist explains the universe from the solar system to the farthest reaches of space with authority and humor. No one can make the mysteries of the universe more comprehensible and fun than Neil...
Hope dies last : visionary people across the world, fighting to find us a future
Weisman, Alan
Paper Book
One of Heatmap's 18 Climate Books to Read in 2025 The award-winning environmental journalist's extraordinary, long-awaited portrait of hope and resilience as we face a fractured and uncertain future In this profoundly human and moving narrative, the...
Valley of forgetting : Alzheimer's families and the search for a cure
Smith, Jennie Erin
Paper Book
A WALL STREET JOURNAL TOP 10 BOOK OF 2025 ALSO NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2025 BY THE NEW YORKER AND THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY "Valley of Forgetting reminds us that scientific progress is measured not only in breakthroughs but also through the sacrifices...
Rethinking diabetes : what science reveals about diet, insulin, and successful treatments
Taubes, Gary
Paper Book
An eye-opening investigation into the history of diabetes research and treatment by the award-winning journalist and best-selling author of Why We Get Fat * "[Gary] Taubes's meticulous, science-based work makes him the Bryan Stevenson of nutrition, an early voice in the wilderness for...
Birding to change the world : a memoir
O'Kane, Trish
Paper Book
In this uplifting memoir, a professor and activist shares what birds can teach us about life, social change, and protecting the environment. Trish O'Kane is an accidental ornithologist. In her nearly two decades writing about justice as an investigative journalist, she'd...
Turning to stone : discovering the subtle wisdom of rocks
Bjornerud, Marcia
Paper Book
Winner of the 2025 John Burroughs Medal for Natural History Writing "A beautiful book--at once intimate and sweeping, informative and moving." --Elizabeth Kolbert, author of Under a White Sky Earth is vibrantly alive and full of wisdom for those...
American poison : a deadly invention and the woman who battled for environmental justice
Stone, Daniel
Paper Book
From the national bestselling author of The Food Explorer comes the untold story of Alice Hamilton, a trailblazing doctor and public health activist who took on the booming auto industry--and the deadly invention of leaded gasoline, which would poison millions of people across America....
The lost world of the dinosaurs : uncovering the secrets of the prehistoric age
Schmitt, Armin
Paper Book
*A Library Journal Best Book of 2024* "An insightful and informative meander through the evolution of dinosaurs and other extinct species, with a touch of personal flair."--Steve Brusatte, professor and paleontologist at the University of Edinburgh and New York Times...
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...
The forbidden garden : the botanists of besieged Leningrad and their impossible choice
Parkin, Simon
Paper Book
Named a Best Book of the Year by The Guardian, Scientific American, and The Economist The riveting, untold true story of the botanists at the world's first seed bank who made "the mad, heroic decision during the siege of Leningrad to guard biodiversity at...
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...
Astrophysics for people in a hurry
Tyson, Neil deGrasse
Paper Book
Over a year on the New York Times bestseller list and more than a million copies sold. The essential universe, from our most celebrated and beloved astrophysicist. What is the nature of space and time? How do we fit within the universe? How does the universe fit...

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