Reviews
- Earth
‘A Most Improbable Journey’ offers scientific take on human history
Walter Alvarez’s “A Most Improbable Journey” gives readers a tour of “Big History,” linking human history to unpredictable cosmic, geologic and biological events.
- Ecosystems
‘Citizen Scientist’ exalts ordinary heroes in conservation science
Journalist Mary Ellen Hannibal’s “Citizen Scientist” tells tales of ordinary people contributing to science.
- Cosmology
‘Voyage of Time’ is Terrence Malick’s ode to life
With “Voyage of Time,” director Terrence Malick brings the history of the universe — and the evolution of life on Earth — to the big screen.
- Tech
XPRIZE launched new kind of space race, book recounts
'How to Make a Spaceship' chronicles the XPRIZE challenge that helped ignite the private space industry.
- Animals
New book tells strange tales of evolution
'The Wasp That Brainwashed the Caterpillar' features a cadre of critters that have evolved seemingly bizarre solutions to some of life’s biggest problems.
- Plants
‘The Long, Long Life of Trees’ takes readers on a walk in the woods
The Long, Long Life of Trees explores the scientific, historical and cultural significance of apple, birch, elm and 14 other kinds of trees.
- Humans
Cognitive scientist puts profanity in its place
Swearing provides unappreciated insights into human thought and language, a cognitive scientist argues in the new book What the F.
- Astronomy
Black hole app lets you blow up stars
NOVA’s Black Hole app for iPad is an addictive game that teaches lessons about gravity and astronomy while letting you hurl stars at one another.
- Science & Society
Historian traces rise of celebrity hominid fossils
In Seven Skeletons, Lydia Pyne explores the cultural histories of the most iconic fossil figures in human evolution.
- Genetics
Darwin’s Dogs wants your dog’s DNA
The Darwin’s Dogs citizen science project is collecting canine DNA to better understand dog genetics and behavior.
- Science & Society
‘Idea Makers’ tackles scientific thinkers’ big ideas and personal lives
Stephen Wolfram’s Idea Makers profiles the lives and professional contributions of prominent people in science and technology, including Ada Lovelace, Srinivasa Ramanujan and Steve Jobs.
- Science & Society
Sea life stars in museum’s glass menagerie
See Leopold and Rudolf Blaschkas’ delicate glass jellyfish, anemones, sea worms and other marine invertebrates at the Corning Museum of Glass.
