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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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....
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 *...
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...
The singularity is nearer : when we merge with Al
Kurzweil, Ray
Paper Book
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ONE OF TIME'S 100 MOST INFLUENTUAL PEOPLE IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE The noted inventor and futurist's successor to his landmark book The Singularity Is Near explores how technology will transform the human race in the...
The elements of Marie Curie : how the glow of radium lit a path for women in science
Sobel, Dava
Paper Book
The acclaimed Pulitzer Prize finalist and #1 New York Times bestselling author of Galileo's Daughter crafts a luminous chronicle of the life and work of the most famous woman in the history of science, and the untold story of the many young women trained in her laboratory who...
Why we remember : unlocking memory's power to hold on to what matters
Ranganath, Charan
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER * Memory is far more than a record of the past. In this groundbreaking tour of the mind and brain, one of the world's top memory researchers reveals the powerful role memory plays in nearly every aspect of our lives,...
Air-borne : the hidden history of the life we breathe
Zimmer, Carl
Paper Book
One of Smithsonian Magazine's Ten Best Science Books of 2025 The fascinating, untold story of the air we breathe, the hidden life it contains, and invisible dangers that can turn the world upside down Every day we draw in two thousand gallons of air-...
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...
Crossings : how road ecology is shaping the future of our planet
Goldfarb, Ben (Environmental journalist)
Paper Book
Some 40 million miles of roadways encircle the earth, yet we tend to regard them only as infrastructure for human convenience. While roads are so ubiquitous they're practically invisible to us, wild animals experience them as entirely alien forces of death and disruption. In Crossings,...
Stronger : the untold story of muscle in our lives
Gross, Michael Joseph
Paper Book
A groundbreaking, richly informative exploration of the central role of muscle in human life and health, Stronger sounds an urgent call for each of us to recognize muscle as "the vital, inextricable and effective partner of the soul." "Even if you've never picked up a...
Merlin's tour of the universe
Tyson, Neil deGrasse.
Paper Book
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...
Carbon : the book of life
Hawken, Paul
Paper Book
Carbon is the only element that animates the entirety of the living world. Though comprising a tiny fraction of Earth's composition, our planet is lifeless without it. Yet it is maligned as the driver of climate change, scorned as an errant element blamed for the possible demise of civilisation....
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...
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...
Life as no one knows it : the physics of life's emergence
Walker, Sara Imari
Paper Book
An intriguing new scientific theory that explains what life is and how it emerges. What is life? This is among the most difficult open problems in science, right up there with the nature of consciousness and the existence of matter. All the definitions we have fall short. None...
Dark laboratory : on Columbus, the Caribbean, and the origins of the climate crisis
Goffe, Tao Leigh
Paper Book
A groundbreaking investigation of the Caribbean as both an idyll in the American imagination and a dark laboratory of Western experimentation, revealing secrets to racial and environmental progress that impact how we live today. "Goffe's ear is tuned to songs of resistance, to what...
Alive : our bodies and the richness and brevity of existence
Weston, Gabriel
Paper Book
A profound and provocative journey through the human body from a surgeon and award-winning writer. "Weston's evocative descriptions will change how readers see the body....This captivates."--Publishers Weekly (starred review) What does it mean to live in a body? For...
The birds that Audubon missed : discovery and desire in the American wilderness
Kaufman, Kenn
Paper Book
Renowned naturalist Kenn Kaufman examines the scientific discoveries of John James Audubon and his artistic and ornithologist peers in this fascinating "blend of history, science, art, biography, and memoir" (Booklist, starred review). Raging ambition. Towering egos....
Quanta and fields : the biggest ideas in the universe
Carroll, Sean M.
Paper Book
The instant New York Times bestseller Quanta and Fields, the second book of Sean Carroll's already internationally acclaimed series The Biggest Ideas in the Universe, is an adventure into the bare stuff of reality.   Sean Carroll is creating...
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...
Why animals talk : the new science of animal communication
Kershenbaum, Arik
Paper Book
"Animal communication doesn't need to resemble human language to be full of meaning and nuance. Arik Kershenbaum delivers an expert overview of the astonishing discoveries made in the last few decades" --Frans de Waal From leading zoologist Arik Kershenbaum, a delightful and...
The song of the cell : an exploration of medicine and the new human
Mukherjee, Siddhartha
Paper Book
Winner of the 2023 PROSE Award for Excellence in Biological and Life Sciences and the 2023 Chautauqua Prize! Named a New York Times Notable Book and a Best Book of the Year by The Economist, Oprah Daily, BookPage, Book Riot, the New York Public...
Space oddities : the mysterious anomalies challenging our understanding of the universe
Cliff, Harry
Paper Book
Experimental physicist at CERN and acclaimed science presenter Harry Cliff offers an eye-opening account of the inexplicable phenomena that science has only recently glimpsed, and that could transform our understanding of the fundamental nature of reality. Something strange is...
The story of astrophysics in five revolutions
Vaudo, Ersilia
Paper Book
When Neil Armstrong first set foot in the lunar dust, the Earth held its breath. That one small step forever changed our view of what was possible, sparking a dramatic expansion of humankind's cosmic awareness. When we gain a new perspective, a transformation begins, profoundly altering the...
Shade : the promise of a forgotten natural resource
Bloch, Sam
Paper Book
An extraordinary investigation into shade, this "compelling . . . conversation-starter draws examples from history, city-planning and social policy" (NPR) to change the way we think about a critical natural resource that should be available to all. "Thought-provoking . . . Bloch, an...
Cloud warriors : deadly storms, climate chaos-and the pioneers creating a revolution in weather forecasting
Weber, Thomas E.
Paper Book
The unprecedented inside story of the people pushing boundaries of science and technology to build better weather forecasts--providing life-saving warnings and crucial intelligence about nature's deadliest threats Killer tornadoes. Catastrophic hurricanes. Lethal heat waves....
Becoming Earth : how our planet came to life
Jabr, Ferris
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A vivid account of a major shift in how we understand Earth, from an exceptionally talented new voice. Earth is not simply an inanimate planet on which life evolved, but rather a planet that came to life. "Glorious . . . full of achingly beautiful...
Living on Earth : forests, corals, consciousness, and the making of the world
Godfrey-Smith, Peter
Paper Book
One of the Washington Post's 50 Best Nonfiction Books of 2024 The bestselling author of Other Minds shows how we and our ancestors have reinvented our planet. If the history of the Earth were compressed down to a year, our species would arise...
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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