Artful and accessible science writing can be enjoyed in these books from the Lititz Public Library.
Herding Hemingway’s Cats: Understanding How Our Genes Work by Kat Arney
Researchers are finding that far from being a fixed blueprint, genes are much more random and dynamic that anyone expected.
Nature Anatomy: The Curious Parts and Pieces of the Natural World by Julia Rothman
Illustrator combines art and science to create a guide to the structure, function and personality of the natural world, exploring the anatomy of a jellyfish, the inside of a volcano, monarch butterfly migration, how sunsets work and more.
The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee
A biography of the gene weaves science, social history and personal narrative to tell the story of one of the most important breakthroughs of modern science.
Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
Growing up in rural Minnesota, the author found sanctuary in science and over the course of twenty years built three laboratories in which she’s studied trees, flowers, seeds and soil.
Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli
Short, simple lessons guide readers through the scientific revolution that shook physics in the 20th century, explaining Einstein’s theory of general relativity, quantum mechanics, black holes, the complex architecture of the universe, elementary particles, gravity and the nature of the mind.
Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War by Mary Roach
The author examines the science behind some of a soldier’s most challenging adversaries – panic, exhaustion, heat, noise – and introduces the scientists who seek to conquer them.
The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of Elements by Sam Kean
Intriguing tales about elements on the periodic table explore their impact on human history, finance, mythology, war, evil, love and the arts.
Faces of America: How 12 Extraordinary People Discovered Their Past by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Harvard scholar explores the family trees of twelve of America’s most recognizable citizens, taking a journey into our country’s complex ancestral past.
Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science – and the World by Rachel Swaby
Profiles spanning centuries of courageous thinkers covers Nobel Prize winners and major innovators, as well as lesser-known but hugely significant scientists who influence daily life.
The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow
Cosmologist discusses three central questions of philosophy and science: Why is there something rather than nothing? Why do we exist? Why this particular set of laws and not some other?
The Accidental Universe: The World You Thought You Knew by Alan Lightman
Scientific findings that are changing the understanding of the cosmos are presented, including such topics as the conflict between the desire for permanence and nature’s impermanence and the ways technology has changed physical experiences.
The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World by Andrea Wulf
Humboldt was the most celebrated scientist of his age (1769-1859), a German naturalist with ongoing influence on topics like climate change, conservation and nature as a resource for all life.
Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs: The Astounding Interconnectedness of the Universe by Lisa Randall
The author proposes the object that killed off the dinosaurs sixty-six million years ago was a comet that was dislodged from its orbit as the Solar System passed through a disk of dark matter embedded in the Milky Way.
Physics for Future Presidents: The Science Behind the Headlines by Richard A. Muller
Written in everyday, nontechnical language, the author presents the science behind issues such as biochemical weapons, nuclear power, global warming and fossil fuel alternatives.
July 29, 2016