Reviews
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Health & Medicine‘Breathless’ explores COVID-19’s origins and other pandemic science
In his new book, David Quammen examines what we’ve learned about SARS-CoV-2 and puts the pandemic in the context of previous coronavirus scares.
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Ecosystems‘Fen, Bog & Swamp’ reminds readers why peatlands matter
In her latest book, author Annie Proulx chronicles people’s long history with peatlands and examines the ecological value of these overlooked places.
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MicrobesMeet the fungal friends and foes that surround us
Keith Seifert’s book The Hidden Kingdom of Fungi explores how microfungi shape our world.
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Space‘The Milky Way’ wants you to get to know your home in the universe
In a new ‘autobiography,’ the Milky Way tells its own story with the help of astrophysicist Moiya McTier.
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Anthropology‘The Five-Million-Year Odyssey’ reveals how migration shaped humankind
A globe-trotting trek through history shows how past population migrations changed the course of human biology and culture.
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Two new books show how sexism still pervades astronomy
In A Portrait of the Scientist as a Young Woman and The Sky Is for Everyone, female astronomers recount how sexism has affected their careers.
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Science & SocietyIn the battle of human vs. water, ‘Water Always Wins’
In her new book, environmental journalist Erica Gies follows people who are looking for better solutions to extreme droughts and floods.
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Science & Society‘Virology’ ponders society’s relationship with viruses
In a collection of wide-ranging essays, microbiologist Joseph Osmundson reflects on the COVID-19 pandemic and calls for “a new rhetoric of care.”
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AnimalsEd Yong’s ‘An Immense World’ reveals how animals perceive the world
The book showcases the diverse sensory abilities of other animals and how their view of the world is different from our own.
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‘Elusive’ profiles the physicist who predicted the Higgs boson
Peter Higgs, as Frank Close reveals in his new book, was just one of many physicists who helped crack the mystery of mass’s origins.
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LifeLucy Cooke’s new book ‘Bitch’ busts myths about female animals
Female animals get their due in Lucy Cooke’s exploration of the roles of the sexes in biology and evolution.
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PaleontologyHow mammals took over the world
In the book The Rise and Reign of the Mammals, paleontologist Steve Brusatte tracks the evolutionary innovations that made mammals so successful.