Science and Nature

Discover new and trending science and nature titles.
Updated August 1, 2025
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When the Earth Was Green: Plants, Animals, and Evolution's Greatest Romance
Riley Black
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...
Is a River Alive?
Robert Macfarlane
Paper Book
Hailed in the New York Times as "a naturalist who can unfurl a sentence with the breathless ease of a master angler," Robert Macfarlane brings his glittering style to a profound work of travel writing, reportage, and natural history. Is a River Alive? is a joyful, mind-expanding exploration of an...
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...
Close to Home: The Wonders of Nature Just Outside Your Door
Thor Hanson
Paper Book
An award-winning natural-history writer presents "the perfect mix of science and story" (Sy Montgomery), opening the door to the nature that thrives in our yards, gardens, and parks: "I couldn't put it down" (Doug Tallamy).    We all live on nature's...
Our green heart : the soul and science of forests
Beresford-Kroeger, Diana
Paper Book
AN INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER In this inspiring culmination of Diana Beresford-Kroeger's life's work as a botanist, biochemist, biologist and poet of the global forest, she delivers a challenge to us all to dig deeper into the science of forests and the ways they will save us from...
Treenotes : a year in the company of trees
Nadkarni, Nalini
Paper Book
From an esteemed National Geographic explorer and forest ecologist, a charming collection of thought-provoking essays exploring the meaning of trees in our lives. Telephone poles, baseball bats, railroad ties. Peaches, nutmeg, and vanilla. The more you look, the more you...
Atlas Obscura: Wild Life: An Explorer's Guide to the World's Living Wonders
Cara Giaimo
Paper Book
From the bestselling authors of Atlas Obscura and Gastro Obscura comes a nature book like no other--a dazzling, over-the-top collection of the world's most extraordinary wild species that takes you to all seven continents and beyond. It's more than a field...
The Lost World of the Dinosaurs: Uncovering the Secrets of the Prehistoric Age
Armin Schmitt
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...
The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science
Dava Sobel
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...
Category Five: Superstorms and the Warming Oceans That Feed Them
Porter Fox
Paper Book
Superstorms, hurricanes, typhoons, and spiraling freak weather: the fallout of global warming is a real-life natural thriller, as captured in Porter Fox's urgent and stunning story of chasing the world's most devastating storms. Here is the story of the largest...
Ends of the Earth: Journeys to the Polar Regions in Search of Life, the Cosmos, and Our Future
Neil Shubin
Paper Book
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. "Urgent [and] prescient...The book captures Shubin's reverence for both the beauty...
Pillars of Creation: How the James Webb Telescope Unlocked the Secrets of the Cosmos
Richard Panek
Paper Book
A 2025 Nautilus Book Awards Silver Winner The James Webb Space Telescope is transforming the universe right before our eyes--and here, for the first time, is the inside account of how the mission originated, how it performs its miracles of science, and what its...
The Miraculous from the Material: Understanding the Wonders of Nature
Alan Lightman
Paper Book
A gorgeously illustrated exploration of the science behind the universe's most stunning natural phenomena--from atoms and parameciums to rainbows, snowflakes, spider webs, the rings of Saturn, galaxies, and more Nature is capable of extraordinary phenomena. Standing in awe of...
Hope Dies Last: Visionary People Across the World, Fighting to Find Us a Future
Alan Weisman
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...
Uncovering Dinosaur Behavior: What They Did and How We Know
David Hone
Paper Book
How scientists are unravelling one of the most tantalizing questions in paleontology Our understanding of dinosaur behavior has long been hampered by the inevitable lack of evidence from animals that went extinct more than sixty-five million years ago and whose daily behaviors...
What If We Get It Right?: Visions of Climate Futures
Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
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...
In Praise of Floods: The Untamed River and the Life It Brings
James C. Scott
Paper Book
James C. Scott reframes rivers as alive and dynamic, revealing the consequences of treating them as resources for our profit   "Informative, enjoyable, and provocative. . . . Scott's [prose] is dry, clear, and scalding with moral purpose."--Becca Rothfeld,...
A dumb birds field guide to the worst birds ever
Kracht, Matt
Paper Book
Professional birding amateur and national bestselling author Matt Kracht has had it with these goddamn birds. His new book is a warning, a field guide to help you identify and stay away from the absolute worst birds ever to plague planet Earth. Featuring an all-new scientific scale devised...
Into the Unknown: The Quest to Understand the Mysteries of the Cosmos
Dr. Kelsey Johnson
Paper Book
A leading astronomer and gifted teacher takes readers on a wondrous tour--"perfect for anyone who enjoyed Astrophysics for People in a Hurry" (Publishers Weekly)--of how science confronts the big questions about the origins, destiny, and fundamental nature of our universe...
How to Kill an Asteroid: The Real Science of Planetary Defense
Robin George Andrews
Paper Book
There are approximately 25,000 "city killer" asteroids in near-Earth orbit-and most are yet to be found. Small enough to evade detection, they are capable of large-scale destruction, and represent our greatest cosmic threat. But in September 2022, against all odds, NASA's Double Asteroid...
The courage of birds : and the often suprising ways they survive winter
Dunne, Pete
Paper Book
From our own backyards to the rim of the Arctic ice, countless birds have adapted to meet the challenges of the winter season. This is their remarkable story, told by award-winning birder and acclaimed writer Pete Dunne, accompanied by illustrations from renowned artist and birder David Sibley.<...
The Lost Trees of Willow Avenue: A Story of Climate and Hope on One American Street
Mike Tidwell
Paper Book
A riveting and elegant story of climate change on one city street, full of surprises and true stories of human struggle and dying local trees - all against the national backdrop of 2023's record heat domes and raging wildfires and, simultaneously, rising hopes for clean energy.
The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire: Why Our Species Is on the Edge of Extinction
Henry Gee
Paper Book
By the award-winning author of A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth: a history of humanity on the brink of decline. A Next Big Idea Club Must-Read Selection We are living through a period that is unique in human history. For the first time in more...
Dark Laboratory: On Columbus, the Caribbean, and the Origins of the Climate Crisis
Tao Leigh Goffe
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. "Dark Laboratory is a gargantuan, soulful work....
Treekeepers: The Race for a Forested Future
Lauren E. Oakes
Paper Book
Silver medalist, Nautilus Book Awards "A frank, probing, but ultimately hopeful book" (Elizabeth Kolbert) that shows how the path from climate change to a habitable future winds through the world's forests In recent years, planting a tree...
The Impossible Man: Roger Penrose and the Cost of Genius
Patchen Barss
Paper Book
A New Yorker Best Book of 2024 A Globe and Mail Best Book of 2024 A Financial Times Best Book of 2024 A Kirkus Best Book of 2024 A Daily Telegraph Best Book of 2024...
Beyond the Sea: The Hidden Life in Lakes, Streams, and Wetlands
David Strayer
Paper Book
An exciting foray into Earth's inland waters, the remarkable species they contain, and the conservation challenges of protecting them. When we call Earth "the blue planet" we immediately envision the vast oceans that cover most of its surface. But seas aren't the only bodies of...
Eavesdropping on animals : what we can learn from wildlife conversations
Bumann, George
Paper Book
"This book is fabulous and takes you close inside the wild world, where you feel the creatures whispering your old name."--Craig Foster, My Octopus Teacher Learn how to decode the secret conversations of wild animals all around you. From a Yellowstone...
Bad naturalist : one woman's ecological education on a Wild Virginia mountaintop
Whyman, Paula
Paper Book
With humor, humility, and awe, one woman attempts to restore 200 acres of farmland long gone-to-seed in the Blue Ridge Mountains, facing her own limitations while getting to know a breathtaking corner of the natural world.   When Paula Whyman first climbs a peak...
Grizzly Confidential: An Astounding Journey into the Secret Life of North America’s Most Fearsome Predator
Kevin Grange
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;...
Into the Great Wide Ocean: Life in the Least Known Habitat on Earth
Sönke Johnsen
Paper Book
A seagoing scientist explores how life thrives in one of the most mysterious environments on Earth The open ocean, far from the shore and miles above the seafloor, is a vast and formidable habitat that is home to the most abundant life on our planet, from giant squid and...
Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe
Carl Zimmer
Paper Book
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--and thousands of living things. From the ground to the stratosphere, the air teems...
The Burning Earth: A History
Sunil Amrith
Paper Book
In this magisterial book, historian Sunil Amrith twins the stories of environment and Empire, of genocide and eco-cide, of an extraordinary expansion of human freedom and its planetary costs. Drawing on an extraordinarily rich diversity of primary sources, he reckons with the ruins of Portuguese...
Sisters in Science: A Riveting Historical Account of Women in Science with a Powerful Message of Sisterhood, Order Your Copy Today!
Olivia Campbell
Paper Book
The extraordinary true story of four women pioneers in physics during World War II and their daring escape out of Nazi Germany In the 1930s, Germany was a hotbed of scientific thought. But after the Nazis took power, Jewish and female citizens were forced out of their academic positions...
A Woman Among Wolves: My Journey Through Forty Years of Wolf Recovery
Diane K. Boyd
Paper Book
"A gripping and vital portrait of wolf repopulation. It is impossible not to root for Diane, or for the wolves."--ERICA BERRY, AUTHOR OF WOLFISH "This is a book about a courageous woman. Often alone in wild country, she endures hardships and faces danger in many forms ....
Frog day : a story of 24 hours and 24 amphibian lives
Crump, Martha L.
Paper Book
An illustrated hourly guide that follows twenty-four frogs as they eat, find mates, care for their young, and survive our harsh and changing planet.   In this short book, celebrated biologist Marty Crump leads readers on a worldwide field trip in search of frogs...
The Age of Melt: What Glaciers, Ice Mummies, and Ancient Artifacts Teach Us about Climate, Culture, and a Future without Ice
Lisa Baril
Paper Book
A thought-provoking scientific narrative investigating ice patch archaeology and the role of glaciers in the development of human culture. Glaciers figure prominently in both ancient and contemporary narratives around the world. They inspire art and literature....
Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark
Leigh Ann Henion
Paper Book
From a New York Times bestselling nature writer comes a celebration of what goes on outside in the dark, from blooming moon gardens to nocturnal salamanders, from glowing foxfire and synchronous fireflies that blink in unison like an orchestra of light.  ...
Good nature : the new science of how nature improves our health
Willis, Kathy
Paper Book
A Next Big Idea Club must-read selection! An Amazon Editor's Pick for Best Nonfiction Book! A ground-breaking investigation into newly discovered evidence showing that remarkable things happen to our bodies and our minds when our senses connect with the...
What the Chicken Knows: A New Appreciation of the World's Most Familiar Bird
Sy Montgomery
Paper Book
A charming and eye-opening exploration of the special relationship between humans and chickens from Sy Montgomery, "one of our finest chroniclers of the natural world" (The New York Times). For more than two decades, Sy Montgomery--whose The Soul of an...
The best American science & nature writing 2024
McKibben, Bill
Paper Book
Award-winning environmentalist, author, and journalist Bill McKibben selects twenty science and nature essays that represent the best examples of the form published in the previous year. "This was the most anomalous year (so far) in human history," guest editor Bill McKibben writes,...
Is Earth Exceptional?: The Quest for Cosmic Life
Mario Livio Ph.D.
Paper Book
A New York Times-bestselling astrophysicist and a Nobel laureate take us on "a mesmerizing exploration" (Jennifer Doudna) to discover how and where the universe breathed itself into life  For a long time, scientists have wondered how life has emerged...
Raising hare
Dalton, Chloe
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * FINALIST FOR THE 2025 WOMEN'S PRIZE * A moving and fascinating meditation on freedom, trust, loss, and our relationship with the natural world, explored through the story of one woman's unlikely friendship with a wild hare. A BEST BOOK: The...
Seven Deadly Sins: The Biology of Being Human
Guy Leschziner
Paper Book
A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR Seven Deadly Sins will explore the underlying nature of the seven deadly sins, their neuroscientific and psychological basis, and their origin in our genes. Gluttony. Greed. Sloth. Pride. Envy. Lust. Anger....
The universe in 100 colors : weird and wonderful colors from science and nature
Thrasher, Tyler
Paper Book
At the intersection of science, art, and design, this must-have coffee table book highlights 100 mind-blowing colors that you've likely never seen before. From Instagram sensation and self-described "mad scientist artist" Tyler Thrasher and creator of the popular Matter subscription...

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