Reviews
- Tech
New app creates a searchable network of species worldwide
A free new app compiles millions of records of species worldwide and allows users to add sightings.
- Physics
‘The Science of TV’s the Big Bang Theory’ educates as it entertains
A science book inspired by fictional scientists helps readers understand everything from particle physics to potato electricity.
- Life
Alison Jolly’s last book chronicles efforts to save lemurs
In ‘Thank You, Madagascar,’ primatologist Alison Jolly, who spent decades studying lemurs, provides an insider’s account of the struggles that conservationists face.
- Animals
Pigs don’t deserve the name ‘Lesser Beasts’
From ancient forests to modern farms, pigs’ relationship with humans has been symbiotic.
- Science & Society
Max Planck, originator of quantum theory, tormented by war and personal loss
A biography by physicist Brandon Brown illuminates the personal struggles of the physics pioneer.
- Animals
When swimming with manatees, mind the herd
Manatees hang out in Florida’s Crystal River; tourists can choose a mindful visit or a harmful one
- Humans
How Homo sapiens became world’s dominant species
'First Peoples' dispels old ideas about human evolution and tells an updated tale of how Homo sapiens came to dominate the world.
- Genetics
Extinct species may get a second chance
An evolutionary biologist explains the obstacles scientists must overcome to revive extinct species.
- Plants
The art and science of the hedgerow
Spiky hawthorn trees have found many uses despite their unforgiving nature, Bill Vaughn writes in ‘Hawthorn.’
- Science & Society
Histories left behind by the dispossessed
‘Dispatches from Dystopia’ chronicles adventures in modernist wastelands to recount tales of the invisible and the overlooked, the exiled and the dispossessed.
- Astronomy
‘Black Hole’ traces 100 years of a transformative idea
Implied by general relativity and proven by astronomical discoveries, black holes’ existence took decades for physicists to accept.
- Planetary Science
Explore an asteroid with ‘Vesta Trek’
Vesta Trek lets users explore the asteroid Vesta with data from the Dawn spacecraft.
