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Updated November 18, 2024
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The light eaters : how the unseen world of plant intelligence offers a new understanding of life on Earth
Schlanger, Zoë
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER TIME's 100 Must-Read Books of 2024 * A Best Book of the Year: Barnes & Noble and Publishers Weekly * An Amazon Best Nonfiction Book of the Year "A masterpiece of science writing." -Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass ...
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The Secret History of Sharks: The Rise of the Ocean's Most Fearsome Predators
John Long
Paper Book
From ancient megalodons to fearsome Great Whites, this book tells the complete, untold story of how sharks emerged as Earth's ultimate survivors, by world-leading paleontologist John Long. "Will keep you on the edge of your seat from its first page to its last page."--Jared...
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Quanta and Fields: The Biggest Ideas in the Universe
Sean Carroll
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...
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Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life
Ferris Jabr
Paper Book
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 passages, mind-bending conceptual...
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The Tree Collectors: Tales of Arboreal Obsession
Amy Stewart
Paper Book
Fifty vignettes of remarkable people whose lives have been transformed by their obsessive passion for trees--written and charmingly illustrated by the New York Times bestselling author of The Drunken Botanist "I love everything Amy Stewart has ever created, but...
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Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party: How an Eccentric Group of Victorians Discovered Prehistoric Creatures and Accidentally Upended the World
Edward Dolnick
Paper Book
From the bestselling author of The Clockwork Universe and The Writing of the Gods, an "utterly delightful...hugely entertaining" (Air Mail) book about the eccentric Victorians who discovered dinosaur bones, leading to a whole new understanding of human history.
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A city on Mars : can we settle space, should we settle space, and have we really thought this through?
Weinersmith, Kelly
Paper Book
* THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Winner of the Hugo Award * Scientific American's #1 Book for 2023 * Winner of Royal Society's Trivedi Prize * A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice * Shortlisted for the Trivedi Prize * A Times Best Science and...
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The Birds That Audubon Missed: Discovery and Desire in the American Wilderness
Kenn Kaufman
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) that is "a bird lovers' delight" (Kirkus Reviews...
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Secrets of the Octopus
Sy Montgomery
Paper Book
Take an illuminating journey into the life of the octopus, one of nature's most intelligent and complex animals. Learn from an international bestselling author, the world's brightest octopus researchers, and vivid National Geographic photography to come closer than ever to...
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How life works : a user's guide to the new biology
Ball, Philip
Paper Book
"Bold and intriguing."--Wall Street Journal * "Penetrating. . . . Provocative and profound."--Publishers Weekly (starred review) * "Offers plenty of food for thought."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Ball's marvelous book is both...
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The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi
Boyce Upholt
Paper Book
Instant Bestseller A Chicago Public Library Must-Read Book of 2024 A sweeping history of the Mississippi River--and the centuries of human meddling that have transformed both it and America. The Mississippi River lies at the heart of America, an undeniable life...
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Twelve Trees: The Deep Roots of Our Future
Daniel Lewis
Paper Book
A compelling global exploration of nature and survival as seen via a dozen species of trees, offering "extensive insight into the ways in which humans and trees are interconnected" (BookPage), revealing the challenges facing our planet and how scientists are working urgently to save our...
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The Catalyst: RNA and the Quest to Unlock Life's Deepest Secrets
Thomas R. Cech
Paper Book
Longlisted for the American Library Association's 2025 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction Exploring the most transformative breakthroughs in biology since the discovery of the double helix, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist unveils the RNA age. For over...
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Space Oddities: The Mysterious Anomalies Challenging Our Understanding of the Universe
Harry Cliff
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...
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Every Living Thing: The Great and Deadly Race to Know All Life
Jason Roberts
Paper Book
An epic, extraordinary account of scientific rivalry and obsession in the quest to survey all of life on Earth--a competition "with continued repercussions for Western views of race. [This] vivid double biography is a passionate corrective" (The New York Times Book Review,...
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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...
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Adventures in Volcanoland: What Volcanoes Tell Us About the World and Ourselves
Tamsin Mather
Paper Book
A mix of memoir, travel and popular science, charting journeys across deserts, through jungles and up ice caps, to some of the most important volcanoes around the world In this captivating book from one of the most influential geochemists in the field, Tamsin Mather takes us...
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Not the end of the world : how we can be the first generation to build a sustainable planet
Ritchie, Hannah
Paper Book
This "eye-opening and essential" book (Bill Gates) will transform how you see our biggest environmental problems--and explains how we can solve them. It's become common to tell kids that they're going to die from climate change. We are constantly bombarded by doomsday headlines...
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Alien Earths: The New Science of Planet Hunting in the Cosmos
Dr. Lisa Kaltenegger
Paper Book
"Lisa's breezy narrative style invites you to experience with her the challenges and joys of being a scientist on the frontier of discovery." --Neil deGrasse Tyson, Astrophysicist, American Museum of Natural History "Horizon-expanding... [Kaltenegger] has something...
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Dispersals: On Plants, Borders, and Belonging
Jessica J. Lee
Paper Book
INSTANT TORONTO STAR BESTSELLER SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITING The prize-winning and bestselling author of Two Trees Make a Forest turns to the lives of plants entangled in our human world to explore belonging,...
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Meet the Neighbors: Animal Minds and Life in a More-than-Human World
Brandon Keim
Paper Book
Honeybees deliberate democratically. Rats reflect on the past. Snakes have friends. In recent decades, our understanding of animal intelligence has exploded-but the way we relate to wild animals has yet to catch up. Meet the Neighbors asks: What would it mean if we took animal minds seriously?...
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Accidental Astronomy: How Random Discoveries Shape the Science of Space
Chris Lintott
Paper Book
A "riveting real-life Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" (The Telegraph), told "with an engaging voice, a diverting sense of humor, and a humble awe for the wonders of the universe" (Wall Street Journal), shows why so much of astronomy comes down to looking up and...
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What the Wild Sea Can Be: The Future of the World’s Ocean
Helen Scales
Paper Book
The acclaimed marine biologist and author of The Brilliant Abyss examines the existential threats the world's ocean will face in the coming decades and offers cautious optimism for much of the abundant life within in No matter where we live, "we are all ocean people," Helen...
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Life as No One Knows It: The Physics of Life's Emergence
Sara Imari Walker
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...
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Sing Like Fish: How Sound Rules Life Under Water
Amorina Kingdon
Paper Book
A captivating exploration of how underwater animals tap into sound to survive, and a clarion call for humans to address the ways we invade these critical soundscapes--from an award-winning science writer "Sing Like Fish is that rare book that makes you see the world...
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Cheaper, Faster, Better: How We’ll Win the Climate War
Tom Steyer
Paper Book
Instant New York Times Bestseller * Financial Times Best Books of 2024 Climate investor and activist Tom Steyer shows us how we can win the war on climate--and why fighting for a sustainable future can help bring meaning and prosperity to our lives. The...
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Waves in an Impossible Sea: How Everyday Life Emerges from the Cosmic Ocean
Matt Strassler
Paper Book
A theoretical physicist takes readers on an awe-inspiring journey--found in "no other book" (Science)--to discover how the universe generates everything from nothing at all: "If you want to know what's really going on in the realms of relativity and particle physics, read this book" ...
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Living on Earth: Life, Consciousness and the Making of the Natural World
Peter Godfrey-Smith
Paper Book
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 in the last thirty minutes or so of the final hour. But life itself is not such a late...
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On the move : the overheating earth and the uprooting of America
Lustgarten, Abrahm
Paper Book
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice "On the Move explains how we got here and where we're headed. It's crucial guide to the world we are creating." --Elizabeth Kolbert, author of Under a White Sky and The Sixth Extinction ...
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Turning to Stone: Discovering the Subtle Wisdom of Rocks
Marcia Bjornerud
Paper Book
Earth is vibrantly alive and full of wisdom for those who learn to listen. Earth has been reinventing itself for more than four billion years, keeping a record of its experiments in the form of rocks. Yet most of us live our lives on the planet with no idea of its...
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The weight of nature : how a changing climate changes our brains
Aldern, Clayton Page
Paper Book
A New York Times Editors' Choice A Next Big Idea Club and Sierra Magazine Must-Read Book A Behavioral Scientist's Summer Book List Pick A Financial Times Best Summer Book A deeply reported, eye-opening book about...
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It's a Gas: The Sublime and Elusive Elements That Expand Our World
Mark Miodownik
Paper Book
The New York Times bestselling author of Stuff Matters presents a rollicking guided tour of the secret lives of gases: the magnificent, strange, and fascinating substances that shape our world. Gases are all around us--they fill our lungs, power our movement, create stars,...
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Our Moon: How Earth's Celestial Companion Transformed the Planet, Guided Evolution, and Made Us Who We Are
Rebecca Boyle
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...
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H Is for Hope: Climate Change from A to Z
Elizabeth Kolbert
Paper Book
In twenty-six essays--one for each letter of the alphabet--the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth Extinction takes us on a hauntingly illustrated journey through the history of climate change and the uncertainties of our future. Climate change resists narrative-...
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Why We Die: The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality
Venki Ramakrishnan
Paper Book
"Utterly fascinating." --Bill Bryson "An incredible journey." --Siddhartha Mukherjee A groundbreaking exploration of the science of longevity and mortality--from Nobel Prize-winning molecular biologist Venki Ramakrishnan The knowledge of death is so terrifying that we live...
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Birding to Change the World: A Memoir
Trish O'Kane
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 never paid...
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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...
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Kingdom of Play: What Ball-bouncing Octopuses, Belly-flopping Monkeys, and Mud-sliding Elephants Reveal about Life Itself
David Toomey
Paper Book
This "delightful...compelling" (Scientific American) and revelatory look at the science behind why animals play "will fill you with joy and wonder" (Sy Montgomery, author of The Soul of an Octopus). Acclaimed science writer David Toomey takes us on a fast-paced and...
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Deep Water: The World in the Ocean
James Bradley
Paper Book
"Deep Water is a major achievement....Bradley's skills both as novelist and essayist converge here to create this wise, compassionate and urgent book, characterized throughout by a clarity of prose and a bracing moral gaze that searches water, self and reader." --ROBERT MACFARLANE, bestselling...
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The Secret Life of the Universe: An Astrobiologist's Search for the Origins and Frontiers of Life
Nathalie A. Cabrol
Paper Book
One of the world's leading astrobiologists takes us on an awe-inspiring journey across the cosmos to investigate some of humanity's most profound questions: Are we alone in the universe? And how did life on Earth begin? We are in a golden age in astronomy, living on the cusp of...
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42 Reasons to Hate the Universe: (And One Reason Not To)
Chris Ferrie
Paper Book
If you've always suspected the universe was out to get you... you were right! Yes, the universe we live in is cosmically beautiful and mysterious and all that crap. But it's also a bit of an asshole. After all, remember that you are just a group of atoms structured in a specific way for...
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Life as We Know It (Can Be): Stories of People, Climate, and Hope in a Changing World
Bill Weir
Paper Book
Award-winning journalist and CNN chief climate correspondent Bill Weir draws on his years of immersive travel and reporting to share the best ideas and stories of hope and positivity from the people and communities around the world who are thriving in the wake of climate change, and what we can...
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Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves
Nicola Twilley
Paper Book
How often do we open the fridge or peer into the freezer with the expectation that we'll find something fresh and ready to eat? It's an everyday act - but just a century ago, eating food that had been refrigerated was cause for both fear and excitement. The introduction of artificial refrigeration...
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Fungi: Discover the Science and Secrets Behind the World of Mushrooms
Lynne Boddy
Paper Book
A stunning, authoritative book on the fungal kingdom, uncovering the hidden world of more than 300 global species Discover the fascinating stories behind 300 species of fungi and understand the world of mushrooms like never before! Did you know that fungi put...
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The Genetic Book of the Dead
Richard Dawkins
Paper Book
From a renowned biologist and best-selling author, a whole new way of looking at living organisms: reading them as documents describing ancient worlds "Intellectually sparkling and beautifully crafted."--Adrian Woolfson, Wall Street Journal ...
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The asteroid hunter : a scientist's journey to the dawn of our solar system
Lauretta, D. S.
Paper Book
FEATURED IN THE NEW YORK TIMES, NPR'S SCIENCE FRIDAY, THE WASHINGTON POST, AND SCIENCE MAGAZINE A "brilliant account of a 21st century real-life fantasy" (Sir Brian May) of space exploration and a lesson in fragility in the quest...
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How to Win Friends and Influence Fungi: Collected Quirks of Science, Tech, Engineering, and Math from Nerd Nite
Chris Balakrishnan
Paper Book
In the vein of acclaimed popular-science bestsellers such as Atlas Obscura, Astrophysics for Young People in a Hurry, The Way Things Work, What If?, and Undeniable, the co-founders of the global science organization Nerd Nite bring readers a collection of...
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