A celebration of the diversity and evolution of birds, as depicted in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's magnificent mural by the artist and author.Part homage, part artistic and sociological journey, Jane Kim's The Wall of Birds tells the story of birds' remarkable 375-million-year evolution. With a foreword by John W. Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and full of lush photographs of gorgeous life-size birds painted in exacting detail...

A chilling account of more than half a century of nuclear catastrophes, by the author of the “definitive” (Economist) Cold War history, Nuclear Folly.Almost 145,000 Americans fled their homes in and around Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in late March 1979, hoping to save themselves from an invisible enemy: radiation. The reactor at the nearby Three Mile Island nuclear power plant had gone into partial meltdown, and scientists feared an explosion that c...

Try to solve a series of unusual math games in this playful, illustrated guide that breaks down important math concepts for everyday adult readers.“A wonderful book for someone who likes mathematics and likes to be challenged!” —Chris Bernhardt, author of Quantum Computing for EveryoneThis book presents a series of engaging math games that seem unsolvable—but can be solved when they are translated into mathematical terms.Ho...

How the meaningless process of natural selection produces purposeful beings who find meaning in the world . . .“A challenging though rewarding exploration of the meaning and purpose of life” that blends evolutionary biology and philosophy (Kirkus Reviews).Evolutionary biologist David Haig explains how a physical world of matter in motion gave rise to a living world of purpose and meaning. Natural selection, a process without purpos...

Case studies, personal accounts, and analysis show how to recognize and combat pseudoscience in our post-truth, fake news world.“ . . . an invaluable volume that examines the cognitive biases that lead to pseudoscience, the history of pseudoscience, and the reasons for its wide acceptance.” —Science-Based MedicineIn a post-truth, fake news world, we are particularly susceptible to the claims of pseudoscience. When emotions and opin...

"This illuminating book serves as homage to a brilliant naturalist and extraordinary birds. If you loved H Is for Hawk, put this next on your reading list." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)From the merlin to the golden eagle, the goshawk to the honey buzzard, James Macdonald Lockhart's stunning debut is a quest of beak, talon, wing, and sky. On its surface, Raptor is a journey across the British Isles in search of fifteen species of birds...

"Cephalopods are often misunderstood creatures. Three biologists set the record straight on the behaviors and evolution of these invertebrates of the sea." — Science NewsLargely shell-less relatives of clams and snails, the marine mollusks in the class Cephalopoda—Greek for "head-foot" —are colorful creatures of many-armed dexterity, often inky self-defense, and highly evolved cognition. They are capable of learning, of retaining information—and of rapid de...

One of Smithsonian's Favorite Books of 2018One of Forbes's 2018 Best Books About Astronomy, Physics and MathematicsOne of Kirkus's Best Books of 2018The intellectual adventure story of the "double-slit" experiment, showing how a sunbeam split into two paths first challenged our understanding of light and then the nature of reality itself--and continues to almost 200 years later.

From the beloved New York Times bestselling author of the “fascinating…entertaining” (The Daily Beast) National Book Award finalist The Soul of an Octopus, a charmingly perfect gem of a book about the most exquisite and extraordinary of winged creatures—hummingbirds.As one of the most beautiful and intriguing birds found in nature, hummin...

Winner of the 2021 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction * Finalist for the 2020 Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction * Finalist for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing AwardA “delving, haunted, and poetic debut” (The New York Times Book Review) about the awe-inspiring lives of whales, revealing what they can teach us about ourselves, our planet, and our relationship with other species.When writer Rebecca Giggs encount...

"An absolute joy to read . . . it is Harman's skill in blending contemporary science and traditional storytelling that makes this book truly brilliant." —Randy Rosenthal, New York Journal of BooksWe no longer think, like the ancient Chinese did, that the world was hatched from an egg, or, like the Maori, that it came from the tearing-apart of a love embrace. The Greeks told of a tempestuous Hera and a cunning Zeus, but we now use genes and natural selection...

From the award-winning author of The Tangled Tree and The Song of the Dodo comes a collection of essays in which various weird and wonderful aspects of nature are examined.From tales of vegetarian piranha fish and voiceless dogs to the scientific search for the genes that threaten to destroy the cheetah, Quammen captures the natural world with precision. Throughout, he illuminates the surprising intricacies of the natural world, and our human atti...