Watson Davis clipped a short article out of a newspaper on May 7, 1925. John Scopes had been arrested for discussing evolution in a Tennessee public high school. In the Scopes trial, Davis saw an opportunity for his young nonprofit organization, Science Service, to prove its worth. The Science Service Executive Committee agreed to give its reporters $1,000 to cover the trial. The committee also decided to reject neutrality, supporting the defense on the side of evolution. Davis and Frank Thone, the senior biology editor of Science Service’s newsletters, acted as journalist...

"The truth is that what ordinary people really care about are things they can see, with their own eyes,” writes Zimmerman, a science writer and historian. The Hubble Space Telescope has let the public see the universe and has completely changed humanity’s perception of the cosmos. The Universe in a Mirror explores the lives of the men and women who dreamed of, lobbied for and engineered the first optical, Earth-orbiting telescope — the one that made the view of the heavens clear. Zimmerman begins the story with astronomers who were “condemned to look at the he...

Stories about the iconoclasts who changed their fields by challenging assumptions.

An argument that opposition to farm science hurts the poor.

Personal essays from more than two dozen dedicated veterinarians who care for exotic animals in U.S. zoos.

The memoir from an ordinary woman with an extraordinary memory.

The reference book for all the major body systems, organized through a series of questions and answers.

The book details the 28 historic deluges that have hit the Lone Star State since 1900, with plenty of black and white photographs. Texas A&M Univ. Press, 2008, 330 p., $35.

An illustrated tour of Egyptian tombs recounts the history and culture of ancient burial rites. Thames & Hudson, 2008, 368 p., $50.