NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 16, 2012
"A solid overview of the cutting edge of astronomy and of the new breed of astronomers who are exploring it."
The discovery of planets beyond our solar system has become almost commonplace. Veteran
Time science writer Lemonick (
Echo of the Big Bang, 2003, etc.) looks at the scientists who carry out the search.
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NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 16, 2012
"A well-told, fact-filled story written with a touch of fury and a dash of regret."
A journalist/activist's investigation into the history, science and politics of copper, a metal essential to modern civilization but one whose extraction is enormously polluting.
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NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 15, 2012
"A probing, well-written overview of Darwin's impact."
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 2, 2012
"A clear, insightful vision of a health care system that could bring about a better, healthier world."
Two doctors envision a future in which many illnesses could be prevented, where "disease, not death…will be the medical failure."
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NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 2, 2012
"A valuable glimpse of science at the edge."
A heady overview of the emerging discipline of synthetic biology and the wonders it can produce, from new drugs and vaccines to biofuels and resurrected wooly mammoths.
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NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 2, 2012
"Gripping descriptions of deteriorating ecosystems that may soon require less travel and perhaps none at all for readers to experience."
The Earth has always been prone to violent changes, natural disasters, mass extinctions and climate extremes. Global warming will make matters worse, but this lyrical natural history is both a polemic and a preview.
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NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 2, 2012
"A great book for the bright and curious, including even kids at grade school level up to college and beyond."
A neat survey of the major fields of math by a professor adept at writing both popularizations and textbooks.
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NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 2, 2012
"A useful introduction to sources on both sides of the science-philosophy divide."
A look at why both science and philosophy are necessary to "approach the perennial questions concerning how we construct the meaning of our existence."
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NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 2, 2012
"A showcase for clean, plain-English science and nature writing and a treat for readers."
Ariely (Psychology and Behavioral Economics/Duke Univ.;
The Honest Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone--Especially Ourselves, 2012, etc.) presents a smorgasbord of top-notch science writing covering everything from the 1,000 species in the human gut to efforts to reverse-evolve a chicken into a dinosaur.
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NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 1, 2012
"A scholarly treatment of a fascinating subject that nonacademic readers may find difficult to follow."
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 1, 2012
"A superficial examination of the tech elite. "
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 1, 2012
"Does what popular science should do--both engages and entertains."
Absorbing and approachable treatise on the nature of facts: what they are, how and why they change and how they sometimes don't (despite being wrong).
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