Let these science books take you places! There are fascinating true stories about discoveries in space, technology development during war, animal invaders, the physics of nothing, and much more.
Postcards from Mars : the first photographer on the red planet / Bell, Jim
“NASA’s Spirit and Opportunity mobile robots on Mars have sent back over 150,000 thrilling images. Jim Bell has selected and presented the impressive most breathtaking ” hyper-real’ panoramas printed on 46-inch-wide gatefolds. Photographs from microscopic imagers offering close-up views of the strange yet familiar rocks and soil that the robot trekked across.” (Adapted from the Catalogue)
Void : the strange physics of nothing / Weatherall, James Owen
“New York Times best-seller takes on a fundamental concept of modern physics: nothing, explored in his signature lively prose. Isaac Newton thought of empty space as nothingness extended in all directions, a kind of theater in which physics could unfold. But both quantum theory and relativity tell us that Newton’s picture can’t be right. Nothing, is an awful lot like something, with a structure and properties every bit as complex and mysterious as matter. ” (Adapte from the Catalogue)
The brothers Vonnegut : science and fiction in the house of magic / Strand, Ginger Gail
“Bernad Vonnegut had a PhD from M.I. T and served the military during World War II before joining German’s most renowned industrial research lab, the ‘House of Magic’ – GE’s Research Lab. He invented cutting-edge weather-control technologies to make deserts bloom, iodide generators and bombing clouds to control weather. His brother Kurt wrote press release for the lab. They questioned the ethical dilemma of these technology.” (Adapted from the Catalogue)
Where do camels belong? : the story and science of invasive species / Thompson, Ken
“We have all heard the horror stories of invasives, from Japanese knotweed that puts fear into the heart of gardeners to brown tree snakes that have taken over the island of Guam. But do we need to fear invaders? And indeed, can we control them, and do we choose the right targets? Ken Thompson explores why only a minority of introduced species succeed, and why so few of them go on to cause trouble.” (Adapted from the Catalogue)
Plutopia : nuclear families, atomic cities, and the great Soviet and American plutonium disasters / Brown, Kate
“To contain secrets, American and Soviet leaders created Plutopias–communities of nuclear families living in highly-subsidized, limited-access atomic cities. Plutopia was successful because it appeared to deliver the promises of the American dream and Soviet communism; in reality, it concealed disasters till today. Kate Brown draws on official records and interviews to tell the stories of Richland, Washington and Ozerski, Russia. ” (Adapted from the Catalogue)
Man of the hour : James B. Conant, warrior scientist / Conant, Jennet
“James B. Conant was a nuclear physicist and 20 year president of Harvard University. He supervised the production of poison gas in WWI. As the Nazi threat loomed, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him to be one of the chief scientists of the Manhattan Project, personally overseeing the massive secret effort to develop the atomic bomb and making the fateful recommendation to drop it on Hiroshima to end the war. He led the campaigned to control atomic weapons. ” (Adapted from the Catalogue)
The treeline : the last forest and the future of life on earth / Rawlence, Ben
“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. Only the hardiest 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. ” (Adapted from the Catalogue)
What the dog knows : the science and wonder of working dogs / Warren, Cat
“Cat Warren is a university professor and former journalist. Solo is a cadaver dog. Solo has a fine nose and knows how to use it. Cat and her German shepherd have spent the last seven years searching for the dead. Explores the world of working dogs, as well as canine intelligence and training, as the author and her German shepherd, Solo, work with forensic anthropologists, detectives, and dog handlers to find the bodies of the missing.” (Adapted from the Catalogue)
