New in Science

"From the tiny bee humming bird to the huge wandering albatross, Bird brings the diversity and drama of the avian world to life. Capturing the wonder of birds in their natural environments, this unrivaled guide spans the globe." -- Back cover.

"Accompanying a new series of the hit BBC podcast, a fascinating exploration of how the animal world has inspired human progress via new inventions and solutions that impact our daily lives. Did you know that mosquitoes' mouthparts are helping to develop pain-free surgical needles? Who'd have thought that the humble mussel could inspire so many useful things, from plywood production to a 'glue' that cements the crowns on teeth and saves unborn babies in the womb? How about the fact that studying the tiny kingfisher solved engineering problems with Japan's ultra-high-speed bullet train, or that the humpback whale's flipper helped design the most efficient blades for wind power turbines? For many years, humans have been using the natural world as inspiration for everything from fashion to architecture, and medicine to transport, and it may come as a surprise to learn how many inventions have been motivated by animal design and behaviour. Dive into the depths with us as author Patrick Aryee reveals even more astonishing stories about animals' exceptional powers and the unique contributions they've made to the quality of our everyday lives. Beautiful hand-drawn illustrations accompany his revelations and bring the natural world to life"--Publisher's description.

"The Elements is a stunning visual history of how the chemical elements were discovered. By piecing together the Periodic Table, science writer Philip Ball explores not only how we came to understand what everything is made of but also how chemistry developed into a modern science. He groups the elements into chronological eras of discovery, covering three millennia from the first known to the last named. As he moves deliberately from classical antiquity to the age of atomic bombs and particle accelerators, Ball highlights images and stories from around the world and sheds needed light on those who struggled for their ideas to gain inclusion. By featuring some elements that aren't true elements but were thought to be, such as phlogiston and caloric, Elements makes bold choices in order to tell the full history of this important science. To order the book's sequence into eras of element discovery, separate short sections for each element or groups of related elements are gathered into larger parts. Short interludes (or feature spreads) are interspersed that convey important intellectual milestones in how we think about the elements"-- Provided by publisher.

"Coral reefs are a microcosm of our planet: wondrously diverse, deeply interconnected, and critically imperiled. They sustain entire ecosystems and protect vulnerable coasts. But corals across the planet are in the middle of an unprecedented die-off, beset by warming oceans, pollution, human damage, and their own devastating pandemic. Even under stress, they are out-of-this world gorgeous, sending out warning flares in fluorescent bursts of yellow, pink, and indigo. Juli Berwald fell in love with coral reefs as a marine biology student, entranced by their beauty and complexity. While she was concerned by bleaching events and coral disease, she didn't fully understand what a dead reef meant until she experienced one on a dive: barren, decaying, and coated in slime. Deeply alarmed, she traveled the world desperate to discover how to prevent their loss. Life on the Rocks is a meditative ode to the reefs and the undaunted scientists working to save them against almost impossible odds. Berwald explores what it means to keep fighting a battle that can't be won, contemplating the inevitable grief of climate change and the beauty of small victories"-- Provided by publisher.

"An engaging and thrilling tour of the new frontiers in mycology-from ecology to fermentation to medicine-introducing the reader to the fascinating characters involved in the fungal Renaissance. Fungi are fundamental to life. As decomposers, they are critical to the formation and sustenance of soils and ecosystems. As endlessly innovative chemists, they devise and secrete enzymes that can break down a vast variety of materials, mitigate bacterial and viral infections, and interact-for better or worse-with the bodies and brains of animals that consume their fruiting bodies, commonly called mushrooms. Given their ubiquity and utility, it's no surprise that humans have deep cultural connections to fungi and mushrooms, even while they have remained both understudied by institutional science and misunderstood by the general populace. But an emerging mycological vanguard is reaching maturity, exploring and advocating for fungi's capacity to remediate contaminated landscapes and waterways, provide food and medicine, and demonstrate how humans might live in equitable and sustainable accord with nature and one another. This diverse cadre of growers, independent researchers, ecologists, entrepreneurs, and amateur enthusiasts is also scrambling to seize on rising demand for specialty mushrooms in culinary and medicinal markets, advance burgeoning fields of 'applied mycology,' and center conversations about social justice and sustainability. In In Search of Mycotopia, Doug Bierend introduces readers to an incredible and oft-overlooked kingdom of life and the potential it holds for our future, by way of the weird and wonderful communities of citizen scientists and microbe devotees working on the fungal frontier. Together they form a picture of the modern mycological movement, which sees these organisms as teachers, partners, and sources of wisdom that offer ways and means for creating a better world"-- Provided by publisher.

"Geopedia is a brief compendium of geological facts and lore, by the award-winning author of Timefulness"-- Provided by publisher.

"The Last Days of the Dinosaurs by Riley Black tells the story of the extinction of these prehistoric creatures and the beginning of our world ..."-- Provided by publisher.

A riveting, fast-paced, inside look at one of the most incredible private sector achievements in history, Moonshot recounts the intensive nine months in 2020 when the scientists at Pfizer, under the visionary leadership of Dr. Albert Bourla, made "the impossible possible"--creating, testing, and manufacturing a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine that previously would have taken years to develop. Dr. Bourla chronicles how the brilliant, dedicated minds at Pfizer, under the enormous strains of the global pandemic, overcame a series of crises that were compounded by social and political unrest, and reveals the doubts, decisions, obstacles, and failures they encountered. As Dr. Bourla makes clear, Pfizer's success wasn't due to luck; it was because of preparation driven by four simple values--Courage, Excellence, Equity, and Joy.

A noted meteoriticist shows how meteorites have helped build our planet and influenced humanity since the start of civilization.

The perfect guide to the birds of the southeastern United States, from the #1 birding website AllAboutBirds.orgThe All About Birds Regional Guide Series brings birding enthusiasts the best information from the renowned Cornell Lab of Ornithology's website, AllAboutBirds.org, used by more than 24 million people each year. These definitive books provide the most up-to-date resources and expert coverage on bird species throughout North America.This dynamic guide is the perfect companion for anyone interested in the birds of the southeastern United States. The guide offers fascinating details about the birds around you, useful bird ID tips, and handy bird-watching information. It presents full accounts of the 210 bird species most commonly seen in the Southeast; beautiful photographs of male, female, and immature birds, as well as morphs, and breeding and nonbreeding plumage (so you can ID birds all year long); current range maps; and so much more. The southeastern USA edition of All About Birds is easy to use and easy to share.This volume features the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, as well as Washington, DC.Descriptions of 210 bird species, including four photos for each bird chosen specifically for better ID and sourced from the Macaulay Library (a collection of bird photos from citizen scientists)Quick and easy index with illustrations on cover flaps, complete index at the backInformation on Cornell Lab citizen-science programs and how to participateBonus content includes identification best practices and tips on bird photography, birdscaping, food and feeding, and moreFree MERLIN Bird ID app (downloaded more than 5 million times) for quick ID in the wild using photos and birdsong.

"The bald eagle is regal but fearless, a bird you're not inclined to argue with. For centuries, Americans have celebrated it as "majestic" and "noble," yet savaged the living bird behind their national symbol as a malicious predator of livestock and, falsely, a snatcher of babies. Taking us from before the nation's founding through inconceivable resurgences of this enduring all-American species, Jack E. Davis contrasts the age when native peoples lived beside it peacefully with that when others, whether through hunting bounties or DDT pesticides, twice pushed Haliaeetus leucocephalus to the brink of extinction. Filled with spectacular stories of Founding Fathers, rapacious hunters, heroic bird rescuers, and the lives of bald eagles themselves-monogamous creatures, considered among the animal world's finest parents-The Bald Eagle is a much-awaited cultural and natural history that demonstrates how this bird's wondrous journey may provide inspiration today, as we grapple with environmental peril on a larger scale"-- Provided by publisher.

"This Way to the Universe is a celebration of the astounding, ongoing scientific investigations that have revealed the nature of reality at its smallest, at its largest, and at the scale of our daily lives. The enigmas that Professor Michael Dine discusses are like landmarks on a fantastic journey to the edge of the universe. Asked where to find out about the Big Bang, Dark Matter, the Higgs boson particle--the long cutting edge of physics right now--Dine had no single book he could recommend. This is his accessible, authoritative, and up-to-date answer. Comprehensible to anyone with a high-school level education, with almost no equations, there is no better author to take you on this amazing odyssey."

Mining the most recent paleontological advances, a paleobiologist recreates sixteen extinct worlds, rendered with a novelist's eye for detail and drama, showing up close the intricate relationships of these ancient worlds.

"An authoritative, accessible guide to how our lungs work and how to protect them. Most of us pay little attention to the workings of our lungs, but the COVID-19 pandemic has sparked interest in their functioning and fear about the risks they face. Dr. MeiLan K. Han, a leading pulmonologist and a national spokesperson for the American Lung Association, takes readers on a fascinating tour of this most vital organ. Han explains the wonder of breathing and reveals how the lungs serve as the body's first lineof defense. She provides a timely overview of the latest scientific thinking about the leading respiratory risks-including indoor and outdoor pollution, smoking and vaping, wildfire smoke, and viruses like SARS-CoV-2-and offers a practical guide to keeping lungs healthy. And with authority as both practitioner and medical researcher, she argues powerfully for a social policy that makes a priority of preserving lung health nationwide"-- Provided by publisher.

"A rich exploration of how the evolution of both natural and manmade sounds have shaped us and the world, and how the world's acoustic diversity is currently in grave danger of being destroyed. We live on a planet that is wrapped in the diverse acoustic marvels of song and speech. Yet never has this diversity been so threatened as it is now. Braiding his experience as a listener and an ecologist with the latest scientific discoveries, David Haskell explores the acoustic wonders of our planet. Starting in deep time with the origins of animal song and traversing the whole arc of Earth's history, he illuminates and celebrates the creative processes that have produced the varied sounds of our world. From the powers of animal sexuality and environmental change, to the unpredictable, improvisational whims of genetic evolution and cultural change, sounds on Earth are the products of and catalysts for vibrant ecosystems. Four interconnected sensory crises are currently diminishing the vitality of our sonic world. Deforestation is erasing the most complex communities of sounds the world has ever known. In the oceans, machine noise has created a living hell for the most acoustically sensitive animals on the planet. In cities, noise has resulted in dire sonic inequities among people, the result of racism, sexism, and power asymmetries. Last, in forgetting or being barred from hearing the voices of the living Earth, we lose both the experience of joyful connection and the foundation for ethics and action. As wild sounds disappear forever and human noise smothers other voices, the Earth becomes flatter, blander. According to Haskell, this decline is not a mere loss of sensory ornament. Sound is a generative force, and so the erasure of sonic diversity makes the world less creative. His book is an invitation to listen, wonder, belong, and act"-- Provided by publisher.

In Longshot, investigative journalist David Heath takes readers inside the small group of scientists whose groundbreaking work was once largely dismissed but whose feat will now eclipse the importance of Jonas Salk's polio vaccine in medical history. With never-before-reported details, Heath reveals how these scientists overcame countless obstacles to give the world an unprecedented head start when we needed a COVID-19 vaccine.

Analyzes the incredible sensory capabilities of thirteen animals, including the cheetah, orb-weaving spider, and harlequin mantis shrimp, that hold the key to better understanding how humans make sense of the world around them.

"For millennia, trees have offered renewal and inspiration. They have provided for humanity on every level, from spiritual sanctuary to the raw material for our homes, books, and food. In this beautiful and revealing book, National Geographic combines legendary photography with cutting-edge science to illuminate exactly how trees influence the life of planet Earth--from our personal lives to the weather cycle. Beautifully illustrated essays tell the stories of the world's most remarkable trees, from Tane Mahura in New Zealand, the ancient Maori "lord of the forest," to Pando, a single aspen spreading over 100 acres: Earth's largest living thing. You'll also discover how an astronaut carried tree seeds to the moon and back; the reason "microdosing" on tree gas is a sure way to boost your immune system; and why playing in the dirt boosts serotonin, happiness hormone"--Amazon.

"Guiding us through Einstein's theory of relativity, quantum mechanics, and string theory, Astronomical explains the baffling mysteries of the cosmos: from alien life to the zodiac; from white holes to wormholes; from quasars to quark stars--all within anarrative that is as entertaining as it is edifying"-- Provided by publisher.

"An exploration of the science of photosynthesis, including how it can be harnessed to help save the world"-- Provided by publisher.

"Bee populations are plummeting. The solution? Give them what they need to live naturally, and they'll handle the rest. Susan Knilans and Jacqueline Freeman are in love with bees. So in love that they observe their bees-their work, communication, seasonal activity, and more-for hours each day. And with observation came realization: when bees are allowed to live as they would in nature (with smaller hives, no chemicals, freedom to swarm, and little-to-no human interference), they will thrive. Accordingly, Knilans and Freeman have spent decades perfecting the revolutionary practice of preservation beekeeping, guided by the simple question, "What do the bees want?" A surprising page-turner, this instructional book tells the story of their successes and failures, demonstrating what was learned along the way. Sharing preservation beekeeping's key tenets, the authors provide concrete, simple ways to implement their approach, from finding the right hive location to honing observation skills. This preservation manifesto is a vital addition to any beekeeper's library, imparting all the joys of a beekeeper's life"-- Provided by publisher.

"The Arbor Day Foundation will celebrate its 150th anniversary in April 2022, and this book will be timed to coincide with that noteworthy milestone. Now more than ever, its mission to engage homeowners to actually get out and plant trees is critical to mitigate carbon in our atmosphere, and as their wildly successful Time for Trees campaign in late 2019 showed, CEOs and celebrities from around the world believe Arbor Day remains not only relevant but look to it for leadership, and have also given it financial support as never before. Part inspiration (by showing some of their most successful endeavors from the past-some of which have shaped the very character of our nation) and part call to action (by giving readers all of the information they need to plant the best trees for their own yards), this book will be at once a celebration of one of our country's most enduring charities and a manual for how to DIY add trees at home"-- Provided by publisher.

"From a writer and climate-change expert who has been at the center of the fight for more than thirty years, a brilliant big-picture reckoning with the reasons for our shocking failure to this point, focusing on the malign power of key business interests, and arguing that those same interests could flip this story very quickly, if a looming economic catastrophe doesn't happen first. Eugene Linden wrote his first big cover story on climate change, for Time magazine, in 1988. In the years since, he has written many more investigative pieces, for many outlets, as well as served as an advisor for nonprofits, insurance companies, and other businesses in the cross-hairs of the disastrous impact of global warming. Fire and Flood represents his definitive case for the prosecution as to how and why we have arrived at our current dire pass, closing with his argument that the same forces that have so confused the public's mind and slowed the policy response are poised to pivot with astonishing speed, as long-term risks have become present-day realities and the cliff's edge is now within view. Starting with the 1980's, Linden tells the story decade by decade by looking at four clocks within each span that move at different speeds: the reality of climate change itself; the scientific consensus about it, which always lags reality; public opinion and political will, which lag farther still; and finally, what he argues is the most important clock, business and finance. Reality marches on at its own pace, but the public will and even the science are downstream from the money, and Fire and Flood shows vividly how devilishly effective the monied climate-change deniers have been at slowing and even reversing the progress of our collective awakening. When a threat means certain disaster at an unknown future point, but addressing it means certain lost profit in the present, capitalism's response is sadly predictable. Now, however, the seasons of fire and flood have crossed the threshold into plain view. Linden focuses in on the insurance industry as one loud canary in the coal mine: fire and flood zones in Florida and California, among other regions, are seeing insurers flee the market, and others demand government back-stops-"climate redlining" as many call it. The whole system is teetering on the brink, and the odds that in the next few years we have another housing collapse, for starters, are much higher than most people understand. There is a path back from the cliff, but we must pick up the pace. Fire and Flood shows us why, and how"-- Provided by publisher.

"Winners of the Paul Ehrlich Prize The dramatic story of the married scientists who founded BioNTech and developed the first vaccine against COVID-19. Nobody thought it was possible. In mid-January 2020, Ugur Sahin told Özlem Türeci, his wife and decades-long research partner, that a vaccine against what would soon be known as COVID-19 could be developed and safely injected into the arms of millions before the end of the year. His confidence was built upon almost thirty years of research. While working to revolutionize the way that cancerous tumors are treated, the couple had explored a volatile and overlooked molecule called messenger RNA; they believed it could be harnessed to redirect the immune system's forces against any number of diseases. As the founders of BioNTech, they faced widespread skepticism from the scientific community at first; but by the time Sars-Cov-2 was discovered in Wuhan, China, BioNTech was prepared to deploy cutting edge technology and create the world's first clinically approved inoculation for the coronavirus. The Vaccine draws back the curtain on one of the most important medical breakthroughs of our age; it will reveal how Doctors Sahin and Türeci were able to develop twenty vaccine candidates within weeks, convince Big Pharma to support their ambitious project, navigate political interference from the Trump administration and the European Union, and provide more than three billion doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to countries around the world in record time. Written by Joe Miller-the Financial Times' Frankfurt correspondent who covered BioNTech's COVID-19 project in real time-with contributions from Sahin and Türeci, as well as interviews with more than sixty scientists, politicians, public health officials, and BioNTech staff, the book covers key events throughout the extraordinary year, as well as exploring the scientific, economic, and personal background of each medical innovation. Crafted to be both completely accessible to the average reader and filled with details that will fascinate seasoned microbiologists, The Vaccine explains the science behind the breakthrough, at a time when public confidence in vaccine safety and efficacy is crucial to bringing an end to this pandemic"-- Provided by publisher.

"Adam Nicolson, the award-winning author of The Making of Poetry and The Seabird's Cry, explores the marine life inhabiting seashore rockpools with a scientist's curiosity and a poet's wonder in this beautifully illustrated book"-- Provided by publisher.

"A leading microbiologist tackles the scientific and sociopolitical impact of viruses in twelve striking essays. Invisible in the food we eat, the people we kiss, and inside our own bodies, viruses flourish-with the power to shape not only our health, butour social, political, and economic systems. Drawing on his expertise in microbiology, Joseph Osmundson brings readers under the microscope to understand the structure and mechanics of viruses and to examine how viruses like HIV and COVID-19 have redefined daily life. Osmundson's buoyant prose builds on the work of the activists and thinkers at the forefront of the HIV/AIDS crisis and critical scholars like Josae Esteban Muñoz to navigate the intricacies of risk reduction, draw parallels between queer theory and hard science, and define what it really means to "go viral." This dazzling multidisciplinary collection offers novel insights on illness, sex, and collective responsibility. Virology is a critical warning, a necessary reflection, and a call fora better future"-- Provided by publisher.

"Unearth a treasure trove of knowledge about the rocks and minerals beneath our feet--from their formation to collecting them. Make identification easy and accurate with this compact visual guide, packed with photographs and details on formation, distinguishing features, and much more. Over 600 high-quality photographs capture the unique characteristics, colors, and attributes of more than 500 rocks and minerals. Each specimen's entry includes annotated photographs to highlight the rock or mineral's distinguishing features, and concise details about its texture, origin, formation, and chemical composition to help identify it. Designed for beginners and experienced collectors alike, the introduction explains what rocks and minerals are, how they are classified, what equipment is needed for specimen collection, and how to start and organize a collection"-- Provided by publisher.

Presents a history of science that focuses on the contributions from non-Western cultures in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific region and how they influenced and guided great minds such as Copernicus, Newton, Darwin and Einstein.

"From celebrated genetic anthropologist Jennifer Raff comes the untold story-and fascinating mystery-of how humans migrated to the Americas"-- Provided by publisher.

"In the tradition of Elizabeth Kolbert and Barry Lopez, a powerful, poetic and deeply absorbing account of the "lung" at the top of the world. For the last fifty years, the trees of the boreal forest have been moving north. Ben Rawlence's The Treeline takes us along this critical frontier of our warming planet from Norway to Siberia, Alaska to Greenland, to meet the scientists, residents and trees confronting huge geological changes. Only the hardest species survive at these latitudes including the ice-loving Dahurian larch of Siberia, the antiseptic Spruce that purifies our atmosphere, the Downy birch conquering Scandinavia, the healing Balsam poplar that Native Americans use as a cure-all and the noble Scots Pine that lives longer when surrounded by its family. It is a journey of wonder and awe at the incredible creativity and resilience of these species and the mysterious workings of the forest upon which we rely for the air we breathe. Blending reportage with the latest science, The Treeline is a story of what might soon be the last forest left and what that means for the future of all life on earth"-- Provided by publisher.

"Five stunningly large, unbroken forests remain on Earth: the Taiga, extending from the Pacific Ocean across all of Russia and far-northern Europe; the North American boreal, ranging from Alaska's Bering seacoast to Canada's Atlantic coast; the Amazon, covering almost the entirety of South America's bulge; the Congo, occupying Africa's wet equatorial middle and parts of six nations; and the island forest of New Guinea, twice the size of California. These megaforests are vital to preserving global biodiversity, thousands of cultures, and a stable climate, economist John W. Reid and celebrated biologist Thomas E. Lovejoy argue convincingly in Ever Green. Megaforests serve an essential role in decarbonizing the atmosphere, and saving them constitutes the fastest, most affordable way to start addressing our planet's most formidable ongoing crisis. Clear, provocative, and persuasive, Ever Green offers practical solutions-from supporting Indigenous forest stewards to planning smarter roads-in an inspiring call to action for the planet"-- Provided by publisher.

"A delightful intellectual feast from the bestselling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics and The Order of Time One of the world's most prominent physicists and fearless free spirit, Carlo Rovelli is also a masterful storyteller. His bestselling books have introduced millions of readers to the wonders of modern physics and his singular perspective on the cosmos. This new collection of essays reveals a curious intellect always on the move. Rovelli invites us on an accessible and enlightening voyage through science, literature, philosophy, and politics. Written with his usual clarity and wit, this journey ranges widely across time and space: from Newton's alchemy to Einstein's mistakes, from Nabokov's lepidopterology to Dante's cosmology, from mind-altering psychedelic substances to the meaning of atheism, from the future of physics to the power of uncertainty. Charming, pithy, and elegant, this book is the perfect gateway to the universe of one of the most influential minds of our age"-- Provided by publisher.

"The complete story of the universe and absolutely everything in it (minus the boring parts). Despite our clever linguistic abilities, humans are spectacularly ill-equipped to comprehend what's happening in the universe. Our senses and intuition routinely mislead us. The Complete Guide to Absolutely Everything (Abridged) tells the story of how we came to suppress our monkey minds and perceive the true nature of reality. Written with wit and humor, this brief book tells the story of science-tales of fumbles and missteps, errors and egos, hard work, accidents, and some really bad decisions-all of which have created the sum total of human knowledge. Geneticist Adam Rutherford and mathematician Hannah Fry guide readers through time and space, through our bodies and brains, showing how emotions shape our view of reality, how our minds tell us lies, and why a mostly bald and curious ape decided to begin poking at the fabric of the universe. Rutherford and Fry shine as science sleuths, wrestling with some truly head-scratching questions: Where did time come from? Do we have free will? Does my dog love me? Hilarious sidebars present memorable scientific oddities: for example, hypnotized snails, human-sized ants, and the average time it takes most animals to evacuate their bladders. (A surprisingly consistent twenty-one seconds, if you must know.) Both rigorous and playful, The Complete Guide to Absolutely Everything (Abridged) is a celebration of the weirdness of the cosmos, the strangeness of humans, and the joys and follies of scientific discovery"-- Provided by publisher.

"New York Times best-selling author and world-renowned primatologist Frans de Waal explores sex and gender in both humans and other animals. Though many scholars now argue that gender differences are purely a product of socialization, primatologist Fransde Waal illustrates in Different the scientific, evolutionary basis for gender differences in humans, drawing on his decades of experience working with our closest ape relatives: chimpanzees and bonobos. De Waal illuminates their behavioral and biologicaldifferences, and compares and contrasts them with human behavior: male domination and territoriality in chimpanzees and the female-led pacific society of bonobos. In his classic conversational style and a narrative rich in anecdotes and wry observations,de Waal tackles topics including gender identity, sexuality, gender-based violence, same-sex rivalry, homosexuality, friendship, and nurturance. He reveals how evolutionary biology can inform a more nuanced-and equitable-cultural understanding of gender.Ultimately, he argues, our two nearest primate relatives are equally close to us, and equally relevant. Considering all available evidence, we can learn much about ourselves and embrace our similarities as well as our differences"-- Provided by publisher.

"A rat will go out of its way to help a cold, wet stranger. Cockroaches pass down generational knowledge, hyenas form personal relationships with members of different species, and ants farm fungus in cooperatives. Why do we continue to believe that life in the animal kingdom is ruled by competition? Why do we believe that humans are special for their ability to live and work together, or worse, that human society is somehow "unnatural"? In The Social Lives of Animals, animal behavior expert Ashely Ward embarks on a global search to reveal the surprising, delightful, and occasionally downright strange ways that animals build and manage societies, with both members of their own species and others. Ward studies how shoals of krill search for food by plying them with beer, visits baboons in Namibia that work for hire as goatherds, wades through a literal river of shit to study how groupthink spreads among sticklebacks, and swims with a family of sperm whales that adopted an orphaned dolphin. By studying animal societies on their own terms, we can see clearly that human societies may not be so unique. Rather, human social life may be just one version of a basic animal instinct. Biology has, since Darwin, tried to understand species by studying how they compete. But in the end, The Social Lives of Animals shows that you can often learn more about animals, including humans, by studying how they work together than by how they tear each other apart"-- Provided by publisher.

"Synthetic biology is the promising and controversial technology platform that combines biology and artificial intelligence, opening up the potential to program biological systems much as we program computers. Synthetic biology enables us not just to read and edit DNA - the technique of CRISPR - but also write it. Rather than life being "a beautiful game of chance", synthetic biology creates the potential to control our genetic destiny, to say "no" to bad genes and build a veritable genetic app store for downloading and adding new capabilities into any cell, microbe, plant, or animal. Amy Webb and Andrew Hessel's riveting stories include: the work of scientists to develop plants that can be grown in sprawling indoor farms capable of feeding millions with a fraction of the usual resources required; a synthetic, self-regulating insulin that doesn't require injections or a pump; life-altering regenerative, personalized medicine; and novel, durable solutions to climate change. There is also whimsy, such as the dream of some geneticists to "unextinct" the wooly mammoth. By examining both the science and the ethical, moral, and religious issues surrounding synthetic biology, Webb and Hessel provide the background for preventing its misuse by some to re-engineer their bodies and that of their children, further increasing the disturbing division and polarization of societies into the haves (the enhanced) and the have nots. They provide the background for making wise decisions about issues such as: whether to program novel viruses to fight diseases, what genetic privacy will look like, who will "own" living organisms, how companies should earn revenue from engineered cells, and how to contain a synthetic organism in a lab. Whether we approve or disapprove of synthetic biology, it is coming. Now, we need to understand its promise and peril. Webb and Hessel help us understand the science as well as the political and societal issues involved"-- Provided by publisher.

"An engrossing family history of coronaviruses and the modern-day scientific quest to conquer viral epidemics forever. The urgency of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic has fixed humanity's gaze on the present crisis. But the story of this pandemic extends far further back than many realize. In this engrossing narrative, epidemiologist Dan Werb traces the rising threat of the coronavirus family and the attempts by a small group of scientists who worked for decades to stop a looming viral pandemic. When virologist Ralph Baric began researching coronaviruses in the 1980s, the field was a scientific backwater-the few variants that infected humans caused little more than the common cold. But when a novel coronavirus sparked the 2003 SARS epidemic, and then the MERS epidemic a decade later, Baric and his allies realized that time was running out before a pandemic strain would make the inevitable jump from animals to human hosts. In The Invisible Siege, Werb unpacks the dynamic history and microscopic complexity of an organism that has wreaked cycles of havoc upon the world for millennia. Elegantly tracing decades of scientific investigation, Werb reveals how Baric's team of scientists hatched an audacious plan not merely to battle COVID-19 but to end pandemics forever. Yet as they raced to find a cure, they ran into a complicated nexus of science, ethics, industry, and politics that threatened to derail their efforts just as COVID-19 loomed ever larger. The Invisible Siege is an urgent and moving testament to the unprecedented scientific movement to stop COVID-19-and a powerful look at the infuriating factors that threaten to derail discovery and leave the world vulnerable to the inevitable coronaviruses to come"-- Provided by publisher.

"From the founders of nonprofits Water.org & WaterEquity Gary White and Matt Damon, the incredible true story of two unlikely allies on a mission to end the global water crisis for good When Oscar-winning actor Matt Damon visited rural Zambia in 2006, the last thing he expected was to become a life-long champion for the battle to end the global water and sanitation crisis. He quickly realized that to make a real impact, he'd need additional expertise. Enter civil and environmental engineer Gary White. After quitting his consulting job to launch a nonprofit in 1990, he'd become an internationally recognized water and sanitation expert. A chance encounter would set these two unlikely allies on a decades-long mission to bring safe water and sanitation to the world. Through first-hand accounts of setbacks and triumphs in projects spanning across the world, The Worth of Water illuminates the challenges of building and scaling market-based financial solutions to the global water crisis-and ultimately, empower communities and individuals to make long-lasting investments in their own wellbeing"-- Provided by publisher.

"The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every animal is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of an immense world.This book welcomes us into a previously unfathomable dimension-the world as it is truly perceived by other animals. We encounter beetles that are drawn to fires (and fireworks), songbirds that can see the Earth's magnetic fields, and brainless jellyfish that nonetheless have complex eyes. We discover that a crocodile's scaly face is as sensitive as a lover's fingertips, that the eyes of a giant squid evolved to see sparkling whales, and that even fingernail-sized spiders can make out the craters of the moon. We meet people withunusual senses, from women who can make out extra colors to blind individuals who can navigate using reflected echoes like bats. Yong tells the stories of pivotal discoveries in the field, and also looks ahead at the many mysteries which lie unsolved"-- Provided by publisher.