Survival!

Surviving: How Animals Adapt to Their Environments by Alessandro Minelli and Maria Pia Mannucci features more than 90 beautiful photographs of animals with an accompanying note about the survival mechanism portrayed.  This magnificent coffee table book is arranged under the broad categories of hunger, love, attacks, extremes, and change with a general introduction for each [...]

What is “Biomimetics?”

Bulletproof feathers certainly sound like a strange idea, but actually scientists are studying how one can create a bulletproof fabric that remains comfortable and flexible until the wearer is in danger, then harden to offer protection.  Join editor Robert Allen in Bulletproof feathers : how science uses nature’s secrets to design cutting-edge technology as he explores [...]

New Bird Books!

Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Eastern and Central North America Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Western North America For both serious and beginning birders, these are long standards in the field of bird watching.  The Peterson Identification System, range maps, excellent color illustrations and brief notes combine to help one identify what one [...]

Scientific American magazine slideshow celebrates 165 years of scientific progress

Scientific American magazine was founded in 1845.  To mark this 165th anniversary, the magazines editors have created this slideshow showing scientific progress as documented through the pages of this publication.

Far Out: A Space-Time Chronicle

Want to be inspired to do some sky watching during the coming summer nights?  Then, check out the book “Far Out: A Space-Time Chronicle” by Michael Benson, journalist and photographer.  Reviewers have described this coffee-table as “spectacular,” “dazzling,” and “exquisite.”  Benson has assembled some of the best astronomical photographs from both land-based and space-based telescopes.  [...]

Sexy Orchids, Headless Males, and Love

The natural world is full of interesting relationships and quirky behaviors as illustrated in two books by Marty Crump, Sexy Orchids Make Lousy Lovers and Headless Males Make Great Lovers.  In short essays, Crump shares with us many interesting and informative lessons from nature.  For instance, did you know that several species of birds spread [...]

The Search for Immortality

“Every man desires to live long; but no man should be old.”  Jonathan Swift Thus begins the preface of David Boyd Haycock’s Mortal Coil: a Short History of Living Longer.  The author traces the last four centuries of our quest for immortality, from Sir Francis Bacon’s daily rides in the winter air, to Mary Shelley’s [...]

Engineering is Essential

Called “the poet laureate of engineering,” Henry Petroski is a professor of history and civil engineering at Duke University and the author of 14 engineering books. His writing, which is highly readable and informative, appeals to both the layperson and professional alike.  In his latest book, The Essential Engineer:  Why Science Alone Will Not Solve Our [...]

Living with Lions

How would it feel to live as part of a pride of lions? In Part of the Pride, Kevin Richardson shares his story about his life with lions in Africa. Richardson is a self-taught animal behaviorist who raised crickets and kept a toad as a child, had so many animals he was known as the [...]

Physics According to Fido

Forget about teaching your dog to sit, fetch, or roll over.  How about teaching your canine to understand physics instead?  Emmy, the mutt who belongs to Chad Orzel, a professor of physics, says, “Forget Schrodinger’s Cat.  Quantum physics is all about dogs.”  Orzel’s book, “How to Teach Physics to Your Dog,” is told from the [...]