SCIENCE

RECOMMENDED READING FOR EXTRA CREDIT:

AP Chemistry/Advanced Chemistry & Physics:

• Discovery of the Elements, James Marshall — Historical description of discoveries related to the elements. Both a historical reference and an interesting read. A great way to understand the elements without "trying."
• Marie Curie: A Life, Susan Quinn — Drawing on new archival material, including Curie's journal, this biography presents new information about her life in Poland; her partnership with her husband; her affair, after her husband's death, with a married scientist which nearly cost her the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1911; and the difficulty of being a female student in late 19th century Paris. Also clearly describes her scientific work and fits it into the larger story of the nuclear age.
• Serendipity: Accidental Discoveries in Science, Royston Roberts — Many of the things discovered by accident are important in our everyday lives: Teflon, Velcro, nylon, x-rays, penicillin, safety glass, sugar substitutes, and polyethylene and other plastics. And we owe a debt to accident for some of our deepest scientific knowledge, including Newton's theory of gravitation, the Big Bang theory of Creation, and the discovery of DNA. Even the Rosetta Stone, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the ruins of Pompeii came to light through chance. This book tells the fascinating stories of these and other discoveries and reveals how the inquisitive human mind turns accident into discovery. Written for the layman, yet scientifically accurate, this illuminating collection of anecdotes portrays invention and discovery as quintessentially human acts, due in part to curiosity, perseverance, and luck.
• Mendeleyev's Dream: the Quest for the Elements, Paul Strathern — Long smothered in the superstitions of alchemy, chemistry finally acquired the theoretical structure of a true science with the bold hypothesis of elemental periodicity first advanced by Dmitri Mendeleyev, an irascible Russian who claimed that it all came to him in a dream. But no mystical slumber could ever have prompted such a revelation without the prior wakeful labors of dozens of investigators. In a tale at once lively and far ranging, Strathern recounts the work of Mendeleyev's numerous predecessors--from Thales (who argued that all things come from water) to Cavendish (who gauged the strength of electrical charges by recording the pain they caused him). Strathern's account focuses on the discovery of concepts--explained for the nonscientist with merciful clarity--essential to Mendeleyev's vision, but it also explores the irreducible mysteries in the personalities of those who discovered the concepts. A book that brings lucidity to science while restoring human complexity to the scientists who do it: What more could a reader want?

Physics:

• The Physics of Baseball, Robert Adair — Blending scientific fact and sports trivia, Robert Adair examines what a baseball or player in motion does-and why. How fast can a batted ball go? What effect do stitch patterns have on wind resistance? How far does a curve ball break? Who reaches first base faster after a bunt, a right- or left-handed batter? The answers are often surprising -- and always illuminating. This newly revised third edition considers recent developments in the science of sport such as the neurophysiology of batting, bat vibration, and the character of the "sweet spot." Faster pitchers, longer hitters, and enclosed stadiums also get a good, hard scientific look to determine their effects on the game. Filled with anecdotes about famous players and incidents, The Physics of Baseball provides fans with fascinating insights into America's favorite pastime.
• The Restless Atom, Alfred Romer — This work details the twenty years before WW I, when the greatest intellects of many countries brought the world its first glimpse of the atom.
• From Alchemy to Chemistry, John Read — Broad, humanistic treatment concentrates on the great figures of chemistry and the ideas that revolutionized the science, from earliest history to the modern era. Much of the book is devoted to alchemy, but also the development of modern chemistry: atomic theory, nature of the elements, beginning of organic chemistry, much more. Broad in scope, erudite yet very readable, with few chemical equations or formulae.

Chemistry/ChemCom:

• Chemistry: Concepts and Problems, Clifford C. Houk, Richard Post — A guide to understanding the fundamentals of chemistry designed for the independent learner, presenting lessons, exercises, and tests for each topic covered.
• Discovery of the Elements, James Marshall — Historical description of discoveries related to the elements. Both a historical reference and an interesting read. A great way to understand the elements without “trying."
• Heads, Greg Bear — Researchers at Ice Pit Station are conducting two experiments, during which they attempt to reach Absolute-Zero temperature and record the memories of cryogenically frozen human heads. A bizarre cult, however, will resort to anything to end the research.
• More Chemistry & Crime, Samuel Gerber — This book uses headline-grabbing case studies to introduce readers to the science and practice of modern forensics. The book covers such topics as the detection of arsenic, toxicology, dust analysis, examination of arson evidence, and DNA typing.
• The Pale Horse, Agatha Christie — Was it really the Thomasina Tuckerton--dropout heiress turned bohemian beat girl--seen in a cafe brawl with another woman? Her obituary confirms it. Thomasina's unfortunate demise would have passed unnoticed if it hadn't been for the priest who suffered a fatal blow at the hand of a stranger only days later. What's the connection? A list of names hidden in father Gorman's shoes--among them, Miss Tuckerton's. It leads to a former country inn, now a house called, The Pale Horse, and a sinister pattern woven by three unusual ladies--a psychic, a medium, and a witch--each with a secret of her own.
• The Periodic Kingdom, P. W. Atkins — The periodic table of the elements is the grand, unified theory of chemistry. In The Periodic Kingdom, P. W. Atkins imagines the table as a landscape, with fields of metals, pools of mercury and bromine, clouds of gases, and the offshore island of rare earths. He describes the history of this metaphoric kingdom and shows how its laws are those of physical chemistry: they are the expression in the visible world of the invisible dance of subatomic particles. The Periodic Kingdom is an excellent book for students at any level who want to see the connections between chemistry, physics, and "real life."
• Serendipity: Accidental Discoveries in Science, Royston Roberts — Many of the things discovered by accident are important in our everyday lives: Teflon, Velcro, nylon, x-rays, penicillin, safety glass, sugar substitutes, and polyethylene and other plastics. And we owe a debt to accident for some of our deepest scientific knowledge, including Newton's theory of gravitation, the Big Bang theory of Creation, and the discovery of DNA. Even the Rosetta Stone, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the ruins of Pompeii came to light through chance. This book tells the fascinating stories of these and other discoveries and reveals how the inquisitive human mind turns accident into discovery. Written for the layman, yet scientifically accurate, this illuminating collection of anecdotes portrays invention and discovery as quintessentially human acts, due in part to curiosity, perseverance, and luck.
• Timeline, Michael Crichton — Michael Crichton's novel opens on the threshold of the twenty-first century. It is a world of exploding advances on the frontiers of technology. Information moves instantly between two points, without wires or networks. Computers are built from single molecules. Any moment of the past can be actualized -- and a group of historians can enter, literally, life in fourteenth-century feudal France. Imagine the risks of such a journey. Not since Jurassic Park has Michael Crichton given us such a magnificent adventure. Here, he combines a science of the future -- the emerging field of quantum technology -- with the complex realities of the medieval past. In a heart-stopping narrative, Timeline carries us into a realm of unexpected suspense and danger, overturning our most basic ideas of what is possible.

Environmental Classes

• Earth in the Balance, Al Gore — A passionate and lifelong defender of the environment, Vice President Al Gore describes how human actions and decisions can endanger or safeguard our vulnerable ecosystem.
• The End of Nature, Bill McKibben — Whatever we once thought Nature was--wildness, God, a simple place free from human thumbprints, or an intricate machinery sustaining life on Earth--we have now given it a kick that will change it forever. Humanity has stepped across a threshold. In his free-ranging and provocative book, Bill McKibben explores the philosophies and technologies that have brought us here, and he shows how final a crossing we have made.
• The Diversity of Life, E.O. Wilson — In The Diversity of Life, Wilson takes a sweeping view of our planet's natural richness, remarking on what on the surface seems a paradox: "almost all the species that ever lived are extinct, and yet more are alive today than at any time in the past." (Wilson's elegant explanation is a scientific education in itself.) This great variety of species is, of course, threatened by habitat destruction, global climate change, and a host of other forces, and Wilson revisits his oft-stated call for the protection of wilderness and undeveloped land, noting that "wilderness has virtue unto itself and needs no extraneous justification." We should, he continues, regard every species, "every scrap of biodiversity," as precious and irreplaceable, without attempting to quantify that regard with utilitarian measures such as "bio-economics." A remarkably productive and influential scientist, Wilson is also a fine writer, and his survey of biodiversity makes for welcome and instructive reading.
• Making Peace with the Planet, Barry Commoner — In his monumental bestsellers, The Closing Circle and Science and Survival, Barry Commoner was one of the first scientists to alert us to the hideous environmental costs of our technological development. Now, twenty years later, Commoner reviews the vast efforts made in the public and private spheres to address and control the damage done and shows us why, despite billions of dollars spent to save the environment, we now find ourselves in an even deeper crisis. It is a book of hard facts and figures whose conclusion--that environmental pollution can be prevented only through fundamental redesign of the way we produce goods--demands basic changes all across America, from the highest offices in Washington, D.C., to your own kitchen garbage can.
• A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold — Leopold's principal and extraordinary contribution to our world was to articulate the idea of a land ethic. The human relation to land, he wrote, "is still strictly economic, entailing privileges but not obligations." Leopold believed that the basis of successful conservation was to extend to nature the ethical sense of responsibility that humans extend to each other....The power of Leopold's argument-buttressed as it is by his clear, vigorous prose-has not been blunted in the least. In fact, his argument seems more urgently true now than ever.
• Tales from Watership Down, Richard Adams — The original Watership Down is one of those wonderful works that appeals to readers both young and old. The story of a group of rabbits on an adventure into unfamiliar yards, farms, and fields made for an imaginative, captivating journey. This latest work follows the aftermath of the original's climactic ending and includes the rabbits' retelling of various myths associated with their rabbit-hood, plus some new twists and developments. This is a captivating introduction to Adams's warren for first-time visitors, and those who loved the original Watership Down won't be disappointed.
• Watership Down, Richard Adams — One of the most beloved novels of our time, Richard Adams's Watership Down takes us to a world we have never truly seen: to the remarkable life that teems in the fields, forests and riverbanks far beyond our cities and towns. It is a powerful saga of courage, leadership and survival; an epic tale of a hardy band of adventurers forced to flee the destruction of their fragile community...and their trials and triumphs in the face of extraordinary adversity as they pursue a glorious dream called "home."
• The Wild Within, Paul Rezendes — Paul Rezendes has followed bobcats through swamps, wrestled a black bear, howled with coyotes at the edge of a moonlit field. Here, he tells the story of his extraordinary progression from motorcycle-gang leader to Zen woodsman, learning about compassion from a curious 750-pound bull moose and discovering the inseparability of life and death through a wrenching encounter between a coyote and a deer. With this book, he shows us how to live in the natural world--even if it's only within a local park or tree-lined street--moving soundlessly, watching where we put our feet, gauging the wind, and entering a new state of awareness. Dramatic and deeply spiritual, The Wild Within changes the way we see ourselves--and makes the world around us come alive.
• Genesis of a Duck Cop: Memories & Milestones, Terry Grosz — In his newest book, Genesis of a Duck Cop, award-winning author Terry Grosz takes the time to reflect on the events in his life that led him to a career defending wildlife, and the milestones that occurred within that career. With the same characteristic blend of outrage and humor that his readers have come to expect, this book also takes a look at the stories behind the man. The stories are numerous: there are heartbreaking tales of loss of innocence, the hilarious drama of coming-of-age, and the history of the courtship that led Grosz to his wife. Through it all, there are also the stories of adventure, rescue and danger that marked Grosz's earlier books. Learn how a boy who pitched hay, worked as a logger, played high school and college football, and discovered the beauty of the outdoors became the man who worked in state and federal wildlife enforcement for 32 years. And rediscover why, as people like him get more and more rare, we find that we need them more than ever.
• A Hunt for Justice: The True Story of a Woman Undercover Wildlife Agent, Lucinda Delaney Schroeder — For thirty years, Lucinda Delaney Schroeder held an unusual government position: she was one of the handful of women special agents with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In August 1992, she accepted an assignment that forever changed — and endangered — her life. She posed as a big-game hunter in Alaska in order to infiltrate an international ring of poachers out to kill the biggest and best of that state's wildlife. A Hunt for Justice recounts her dramatic story — a story she was not legally permitted to write about until her retirement in 2004.

Biology

• The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or, The Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life, Charles Darwin — The famous classic on evolution that revolutionized the course of science. Darwin's theory that species derive from other species by a gradual evolutionary process and that the average age level of each species is heightened by the "survival of the fittest" stirred popular debate of his time to a fever pitch.
• A Feeling for the Organism: the Life and Work of Barbara McClintock, Evelyn Fox Keller — Presents a biography of Barbara McClintock, drawing from interviews with the scientist to discuss her formative years, and following her career as a maverick in the field of genetics.
• Journey to the Ants: a Story of Scientific Exploration, Bert Holldobler and Edward O. Wilson — In 1990, the authors won a Pulitzer Prize (science) for their monumental The Ants. Hlldobler (Univ. of Wrzburg) and Wilson (Harvard), longtime collaborators, offer lay readers a fascinating glimpse into the world of ants as well as their own personal adventures in the study of these insects. We see weaver ants that live in tropical forest canopies, their nests made of leaves bound with silk. A colony of leafcutter ants raising fungi on pieces of fresh leaves consumes as much vegetation as a cow. Harvester ants alter the abundance and local distribution of flowering plants. The authors describe cooperation and communication; they found that ant species use 10 to 20 chemicals to convey attraction, alarm and other messages. They discuss ants' relations with butterflies, aphids and mealybugs (symbiosis), warfare (over food and territory) and exploitation. We learn that ants do not live at temperatures below 50F. and that the greatest threat to them is drought. After reading Journey, we can only admire these insects and their remarkable social organization.
• The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher, Lewis Thomas — An exploration through essays of the relationships between all things.
• Microbe Hunters, Paul de Kruif — Describes the achievements of some of the pioneers in the field of bacteriology including Leeuwenhoek, Spallanzani, Koch, Pasteur, Reed, and Ehrlich.
• The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA, James D. Watson — By identifying the structure of DNA, the molecule of life, Francis Crick and James Watson revolutionized biochemistry and won themselves a Nobel Prize. At the time, Watson was only twenty-four, a young scientist hungry to make his mark. His uncompromisingly honest account of the heady days of their thrilling sprint against other world-class researchers to solve one of science's greatest mysteries gives a dazzlingly clear picture of a world of brilliant scientists with great gifts, very human ambitions, and bitter rivalries. With humility unspoiled by false modesty, Watson relates his and Crick's desperate efforts to beat Linus Pauling to the Holy Grail of life sciences, the identification of the basic building block of life. Never has a scientist been so truthful in capturing in words the flavor of his work.
• Silent Spring, Rachel Carson — A hard look at the effects of insecticides and pesticides on songbird populations throughout the United States and the consequent declining numbers that has brought silence. This book set off a wave of environmental legislation and revitalized the ecological movement.
• Life's Matrix: A Biography of Water, Phillip Ball — One of the four elements of classical antiquity, water is central to the environment of our planet. In Life's Matrix, Philip Ball writes of water's origins, history, and unique physical character. As a geological agent, water shapes mountains, canyons, and coastlines, and when unleashed in hurricanes and floods its destructive power is awesome. Ball's provocative exploration of water on other planets highlights the possibilities of life beyond Earth. Life's Matrix also examines the grim realities of depletion of natural resources and its effects on the availability of water in the twenty-first century.
• The Sacred Balance: Rediscovering Our Place in Nature, David Suzuki — The economy and global competitiveness are the bottom line for society and governments, or so says conventional wisdom. But what are the real needs that must be satisfied to live rich, fulfilling lives? This is the question David Suzuki explores in this wide-ranging study. Suzuki begins by presenting the concept of people as creatures of the Earth who depend on its gifts of air, water, soil, and sun energy. He shows how people are genetically programmed for the company of other species, and suffer enormously when we fail to live in harmony with them. And he analyzes those deep spiritual needs, rooted in nature, that are also a crucial component of a loving world. Drawing on his own experiences and those of others who have put their beliefs into action, The Sacred Balance is a powerful, passionate book with concrete suggestions for creating an ecologically sustainable, satisfying, and fair future by rediscovering and addressing humanity's basic needs.
• A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson — In A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson trekked the Appalachian Trail -- well, most of it. In In A Sunburned Country, he confronted some of the most lethal wildlife Australia has to offer. Now, in his biggest book, he confronts his greatest challenge: to understand -- and, if possible, answer -- the oldest, biggest questions we have posed about the universe and ourselves. Taking as territory everything from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization, Bryson seeks to understand how we got from there being nothing at all to there being us. To that end, he has attached himself to a host of the world’s most advanced (and often obsessed) archaeologists, anthropologists, and mathematicians, traveling to their offices, laboratories, and field camps. He has read (or tried to read) their books, pestered them with questions, apprenticed himself to their powerful minds. A Short History of Nearly Everything is the record of this quest, and it is a sometimes profound, sometimes funny, and always supremely clear and entertaining adventure in the realms of human knowledge, as only Bill Bryson can render it. Science has never been more involving or entertaining.
• An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore — Gore’s groundbreaking, battle cry of a follow-up to the bestselling Earth in the Balance is being published to tie in with a documentary film of the same name. Both the book and film were inspired by a series of multimedia presentations on global warming that Gore created and delivers to groups around the world. With this book, Gore, who is one of our environmental heroes — and a leading expert — brings together leading-edge research from top scientists around the world; photographs, charts, and other illustrations; and personal anecdotes and observations to document the fast pace and wide scope of global warming. He presents, with alarming clarity and conclusiveness — and with humor, too — that the fact of global warming is not in question and that its consequences for the world we live in will be disastrous if left unchecked. This riveting new book — written in an accessible, entertaining style — will open the eyes of even the most skeptical.
• Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit, Al Gore — A passionate and lifelong defender of the environment, Vice President Al Gore describes how human actions and decisions can endanger or safeguard the vulnerable ecosystem that sustains us all. Probes the roots of the environmental crisis and offers a bold and forceful vision of a new, more sustainable path.
• Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA, Brenda Maddox — In 1962, Maurice Wilkins, Francis Crick, and James Watson received the Nobel Prize, but it was Rosalind Franklin's data and photographs of DNA that led to their discovery. Brenda Maddox tells a powerful story of a remarkably single-minded, forthright, and tempestuous young woman who, at the age of fifteen, decided she was going to be a scientist, but who was airbrushed out of the greatest scientific discovery of the twentieth century.
• Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History, Stephen Jay Gould — The Burgess Shale is a small limestone quarry formed 530 million years ago. In it are the remains of an ancient sea that nurtured more varieties of life than can be found in all of our modern oceans. Stephen Jay Gould explores what the Burgess Shale reveals about evolution and the nature of history.
• What Evolution Is, Ernst Mayr — At once a spirited defense of Darwinian explanations of biology and an elegant primer on evolution for the general reader, What Evolution Is poses the questions at the heart of evolutionary theory and considers how our improved understanding of evolution has affected the viewpoints and values of modern man.
• Finding Darwin's God: A Scientist's Search for Common Ground Between God and Evolution, Kenneth R. Miller — Miller, professor of biology at Brown University, believes firmly in evolution. He also believes in God — a belief not widely shared among scientists. Here he sets out to offer thoughts on how to reconcile the conflict many people see between the two positions. Evolution, he says, is a story of origins; so too is the Judeo-Christian creation story. "The conflict between these two versions of our history is real, and I do not doubt for a second that it needs to be addressed. What I do not believe is that the conflict is unresolvable." Laying out the positions with care and clarity, he offers his resolution: "As more than one scientist has said, the truly remarkable thing about the world is that it actually does make sense. The parts fit, the molecules interact, the darn thing works. To people of faith, what evolution says is that nature is complete. God fashioned a material world in which truly free, truly independent beings could evolve."
• The Curious Life of Robert Hooke: The Man Who Measured London, Lisa Jardine — The brilliant, largely forgotten maverick Robert Hooke was an engineer, surveyor, architect, and inventor who worked tirelessly with his intimate friend Christopher Wren to rebuild London after the Great Fire of 1666. He was the first Curator of Experiments at the Royal Society, and his engravings of natural phenomena seen under the new microscope appeared in his masterpiece, the acclaimed Micrographia, one of the most influential volumes of the day. But Hooke's irascible temper and his passionate idealism proved fatal for his relationships with important political figures, most notably Sir Isaac Newton: their quarrel is legendary. As a result, historical greatness eluded Robert Hooke. Now, eminent historian Lisa Jardine does this original thinker of indefatigable curiosity and imagination justice and allows him to take his place as a major figure in the seventeenth century intellectual and scientific revolution.
• The Private Science of Louis Pasteur, Gerald L. Geison — In The Private Science of Louis Pasteur, Gerald Geison penetrates the secrecy that has surrounded much of this legendary scientist's laboratory work. Geison uses Pasteur's laboratory notebooks, made available only recently, and his published papers to present a rich and full account of some of the most famous episodes in the history of science and their darker side. The discrepancies between the public record and the "private science" of Louis Pasteur tell us as much about the man as they do about the highly competitive and political world he learned to master.
• Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters, Matt Ridley —  Arguably the most significant scientific discovery of the new century, the mapping of the twenty-three pairs of chromosomes that make up the human genome raises almost as many questions as it answers. Questions that will profoundly impact the way we think about disease, about longevity, and about free will. Questions that will affect the rest of your life. Genome offers extraordinary insight into the ramifications of this incredible breakthrough. By picking one newly discovered gene from each pair of chromosomes and telling its story, Matt Ridley recounts the history of our species and its ancestors from the dawn of life to the brink of future medicine. From Huntington's disease to cancer, from the applications of gene therapy to the horrors of eugenics, Matt Ridley probes the scientific, philosophical, and moral issues arising as a result of the mapping of the genome. It will help you understand what this scientific milestone means for you, for your children, and for humankind.
• The Fragile Species, Lewis Thomas — The author of The Lives of a Cell and The Medusa and the Snail now raises challenging questions about some of the major issues of our time — AIDS, drug abuse, and aging. With extraordinary perception, he discusses topics such as evolutionary biology, the development of language, the therapeutic aspects of medicine, and his love for his profession.
• The Mismeasure of Man, Stephen Jay Gould — A rare book — at once of great importance and wonderful to read....Gould presents a fascinating historical study of scientific racism....A major addition to scientific literature.
• The Monk in the Garden: The Lost and Found Genius of Gregor Mendel, the Father of Genetics, Robin Marantz Henig — In The Monk in the Garden, award-winning author Robin Marantz Henig vividly evokes a little-known chapter in science, taking us back to the birth of genetics, a field that continues to challenge the way we think about life itself. Shrouded in mystery, Gregor Mendel's quiet life and discoveries make for fascinating reading. Among his pea plants Henig finds a tale filled with intrigue, jealousy, and a healthy dose of bad timing. She "has done a remarkable job of fleshing out the myth with what few facts there are" (Washington Post Book World) and has delivered Mendel's story with grace and glittering prose. The Monk in the Garden is both a "classic tale of redemption" (New York Times Book Review) and a science book of the highest literary order.
• Gregor Mendel: Planting the Seeds of Genetics, Simon Mawer — In an engaging narrative enhanced by beautiful illustrations, Mawer details Mendel’s life and work, from his experimentation with garden peas through his subsequent findings about heredity and genetic traits. Mawer also highlights the scientific work built on Mendel’s breakthroughs, including the discovery of the DNA molecule by scientists Watson and Crick in the 1950s, the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003, and the advances in genetics that continue today.
• Gregor Mendel: And the Roots of Genetics, Edward Edelson — When Gregor Mendel passed away in 1884, not a single scholar recognized his epochal contributions to biology. The unassuming abbot of the Augustinian monastery in Brno (in today's Czech Republic) was rediscovered at the turn of the century when scientists were stunned to learn that their findings about inheritance had already been made by an unknown monk three decades earlier. A dedicated researcher who spent every spare hour in the study of the natural sciences, Mendel devised a series of brilliantly simple experiments using a plant easily grown on the monastery's grounds — the garden pea. In the course of just a few years he made the famous discoveries that later became the centerpiece of the science of heredity. In an entertaining and thoroughly informed narrative, Edward Edelson traces Mendel's life from his humble origins to his posthumous fame, giving us both a brief introduction to the fascinating science of genetics and an inspired account of what a modest man can accomplish with dedication and ingenuity.
• Never Cry Wolf : Amazing True Story of Life Among Arctic Wolves, Farley Mowat — More than a half-century ago the Canadian Wildlife Service assigned the naturalist Farley Mowat to investigate why wolves were killing arctic caribou. Mowat's account of the summer he lived in the frozen tundra alone — studying the wolf population and developing a deep affection for the wolves (who were of no threat to caribou or man) and for a friendly Inuit tribe known as the Ihalmiut ("People of the Deer") — is a work that has become cherished by generations of readers, an indelible record of the myths and magic of wild wolves.
• The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story, Richard Preston — A highly infectious, deadly virus from the central African rain forest suddenly appears in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. There is no cure. In a few days 90 percent of its victims are dead. A secret military SWAT team of soldiers and scientists is mobilized to stop the outbreak of this exotic "hot" virus. The Hot Zone tells this dramatic story, giving a hair-raising account of the appearance of rare and lethal viruses and their "crashes" into the human race. Shocking, frightening, and impossible to ignore, The Hot Zone proves that truth really is scarier than fiction.
• Chromosome 6, Robin Cook — In his most prophetic thriller yet, Robin Cook challenges the medical ethics of genetic manipulation and cloning. In the jungles of equatorial Africa, a biotechnology giant has taken transplant surgery and animal research to a new level. Where one mistake could bridge the evolutionary gap between man and ape — and forever change the genetic map of our existence....

Earth Science

• The Complete Idiot's Guide to Astronomy, Christopher G. De Pree — Updated and revised, this third edition covers new advances and discoveries and is repositioned to focus more on provocative cosmology topics. Highlights include the latest news regarding the possibility of life on Mars, images of newly discovered extrasolar planets and asteroid flybys, the latest information on the Big Bang, the latest speculation on the possibility of extraterrestrial life, the most up-to-date information and images from current missions, and NASA's next steps.
• Galileo's Daughter, Dava Sobel — Galileo Galilei's telescopes allowed him to discover a new reality in the heavens. But for publicly declaring his astounding argument--that the earth revolves around the sun--he was accused of heresy and put under house arrest by the Holy Office of the Inquisition. Living a far different life, Galileo's daughter Virginia, a cloistered nun, proved to be her father's greatest source of strength through the difficult years of his trial and persecution. Drawing upon the remarkable surviving letters that Virginia wrote to her father, Dava Sobel has written a fascinating history of Medici--era Italy, a mesmerizing account of Galileo's scientific discoveries and his trial by Church authorities, and a touching portrayal of a father--daughter relationship. Galileo's Daughter is a profoundly moving portrait of the man who forever changed the way we see the universe.
• The Map that Changed the World, Simon Winchester — In 1793, a canal digger named William Smith made a startling discovery. He found that by tracing the placement of fossils, which he uncovered in his excavations, one could follow layers of rocks as they dipped and rose and fell -- clear across England and, indeed, clear across the world -- making it possible, for the first time ever, to draw a chart of the hidden underside of the earth. Determined to expose what he realized was the landscape's secret fourth dimension, Smith spent twenty-two years piecing together the fragments of this unseen universe to create an epochal and remarkably beautiful hand-painted map. But instead of receiving accolades and honors, he ended up in debtors' prison, the victim of plagiarism, and virtually homeless for ten years more. Finally, in 1831, this quiet genius -- now known as the father of modern geology -- received the Geological Society of London's highest award and King William IV offered him a lifetime pension. The Map That Changed the World is a very human tale of endurance and achievement, of one man's dedication in the face of ruin. With a keen eye and thoughtful detail, Simon Winchester unfolds the poignant sacrifice behind this world-changing discovery.
• The Riddle of the Compass, Amir D. Aczel — The story of the compass is shrouded in mystery and myth, yet most will agree it begins around the time of the birth of Christ in ancient China. A mysterious lodestone whose powers affected metal was known to the Chinese emperor. When this piece of metal was suspended in water, it always pointed north. This unexplainable occurrence led to the stone's use in feng shui, the Chinese art of finding the right location. However, it was the Italians, more than a thousand years later, who discovered the ultimate destiny of the lodestone and unleashed its formidable powers. In Amalfi sometime in the twelfth century, the compass was born, crowning the Italians as the new rulers of the seas and heralding the onset of the modern world. Retracing the roots of the compass and sharing the fascinating story of navigation through the ages, The Riddle of the Compass is Aczel at his most entertaining and insightful.
• A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson — In A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson trekked the Appalachian Trail -- well, most of it. In In A Sunburned Country, he confronted some of the most lethal wildlife Australia has to offer. Now, in his biggest book, he confronts his greatest challenge: to understand -- and, if possible, answer -- the oldest, biggest questions we have posed about the universe and ourselves. Taking as territory everything from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization, Bryson seeks to understand how we got from there being nothing at all to there being us. To that end, he has attached himself to a host of the world’s most advanced (and often obsessed) archaeologists, anthropologists, and mathematicians, traveling to their offices, laboratories, and field camps. He has read (or tried to read) their books, pestered them with questions, apprenticed himself to their powerful minds. A Short History of Nearly Everything is the record of this quest, and it is a sometimes profound, sometimes funny, and always supremely clear and entertaining adventure in the realms of human knowledge, as only Bill Bryson can render it. Science has never been more involving or entertaining.
• An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore — Gore’s groundbreaking, battle cry of a follow-up to the bestselling Earth in the Balance is being published to tie in with a documentary film of the same name. Both the book and film were inspired by a series of multimedia presentations on global warming that Gore created and delivers to groups around the world. With this book, Gore, who is one of our environmental heroes — and a leading expert — brings together leading-edge research from top scientists around the world; photographs, charts, and other illustrations; and personal anecdotes and observations to document the fast pace and wide scope of global warming. He presents, with alarming clarity and conclusiveness — and with humor, too — that the fact of global warming is not in question and that its consequences for the world we live in will be disastrous if left unchecked. This riveting new book — written in an accessible, entertaining style — will open the eyes of even the most skeptical.
• Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit, Al Gore — A passionate and lifelong defender of the environment, Vice President Al Gore describes how human actions and decisions can endanger or safeguard the vulnerable ecosystem that sustains us all. Probes the roots of the environmental crisis and offers a bold and forceful vision of a new, more sustainable path.

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