Reader's Corner: Science & Technology
Looking for a good book to read but don't know where to start? This guide covers popular, award-winning, and just plain great nonfiction and fiction genres and books.
Staff Picks
The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing and the Future of the Human Race by
A Best Book of 2021 by Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Time, and The Washington Post The bestselling author of Leonardo da Vinci and Steve Jobs returns with a "compelling" (The Washington Post) account of how Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna and her colleagues launched a revolution that will allow us to cure diseases, fend off viruses, and have healthier babies. When Jennifer Doudna was in sixth grade, she came home one day to find that her dad had left a paperback titled The Double Helix on her bed. She put it aside, thinking it was one of those detective tales she loved. When she read it on a rainy Saturday, she discovered she was right, in a way. As she sped through the pages, she became enthralled by the intense drama behind the competition to discover the code of life. Even though her high school counselor told her girls didn't become scientists, she decided she would. Driven by a passion to understand how nature works and to turn discoveries into inventions, she would help to make what the book's author, James Watson, told her was the most important biological advance since his codiscovery of the structure of DNA. She and her collaborators turned a curiosity of nature into an invention that will transform the human race: an easy-to-use tool that can edit DNA. Known as CRISPR, it opened a brave new world of medical miracles and moral questions. The development of CRISPR and the race to create vaccines for coronavirus will hasten our transition to the next great innovation revolution. The past half-century has been a digital age, based on the microchip, computer, and internet. Now we are entering a life-science revolution. Children who study digital coding will be joined by those who study genetic code. Should we use our new evolution-hacking powers to make us less susceptible to viruses? What a wonderful boon that would be! And what about preventing depression? Hmmm...Should we allow parents, if they can afford it, to enhance the height or muscles or IQ of their kids? After helping to discover CRISPR, Doudna became a leader in wrestling with these moral issues and, with her collaborator Emmanuelle Charpentier, won the Nobel Prize in 2020. Her story is an "enthralling detective story" (Oprah Daily) that involves the most profound wonders of nature, from the origins of life to the future of our species.
Call Number: HIOG QH440 .I83 2021Publication Date: 2021-03-09
The Joy of Sweat: The Strange Science of Perspiration by
Sweating may be one of our weirdest biological functions, but it's also one of our most vital and least understood. In The Joy of Sweat, Sarah Everts delves into its role in the body-and in human history. Why is sweat salty? Why do we sweat when stressed? Why do some people produce colorful sweat? And should you worry about Big Brother tracking the hundreds of molecules that leak out in your sweat-not just the stinky ones or alleged pheromones-but the ones that reveal secrets about your health and vices? Everts's entertaining investigation takes readers around the world-from Moscow, where she participates in a dating event in which people sniff sweat in search of love, to New Jersey, where companies hire trained armpit sniffers to assess the efficacy of their anti-sweat products. In Finland, Everts explores the delights of the legendary smoke sauna and the purported health benefits of good sweat, while in the Netherlands she slips into the sauna theater scene, replete with costumes, special effects, and towel dancing. Along the way, Everts traces humanity's long quest to control sweat, culminating in the multibillion-dollar industry for deodorants and antiperspirants. And she shows that while sweating can be annoying, our sophisticated temperature control strategy is one of humanity's most powerful biological traits. Deeply researched and written with great zest, The Joy of Sweat is a fresh take on a gross but engrossing fact of human life.
Call Number: QP221 .E94 2021Publication Date: 2021-07-13
Scientist: E. O. Wilson: A Life in Nature by
A masterful, timely, fully authorized biography of the great and hugely influential biologist and naturalist E. O. Wilson, one of the most ground-breaking and controversial scientists of our time-from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb "An impressive account of one of the 20th century's most prominent biologists, for whom the natural world is 'a sanctuary and a realm of boundless adventure; the fewer the people in it, the better.'" -The New York Times Book Review Few biologists in the long history of that science have been as productive, as ground-breaking and as controversial as the Alabama-born Edward Osborne Wilson. At 91 years of age he may be the most eminent American scientist in any field. Fascinated from an early age by the natural world in general and ants in particular, his field work on them and on all social insects has vastly expanded our knowledge of their many species and fascinating ways of being. This work led to his 1975 book Sociobiology, which created an intellectual firestorm from his contention that all animal behavior, including that of humans, is governed by the laws of evolution and genetics. Subsequently Wilson has become a leading voice on the crucial importance to all life of biodiversity and has worked tirelessly to synthesize the fields of science and the humanities in a fruitful way. Richard Rhodes is himself a towering figure in the field of science writing and he has had complete and unfettered access to Wilson, his associates, and his papers in writing this book. The result is one of the most accomplished and anticipated and urgently needed scientific biographies in years.
Call Number: BIOG QH31.W64 R46 2021Publication Date: 2021-11-09
The Premonition: A Pandemic Story by
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER For those who could read between the lines, the censored news out of China was terrifying. But the president insisted there was nothing to worry about. Fortunately, we are still a nation of skeptics. Fortunately, there are those among us who study pandemics and are willing to look unflinchingly at worst-case scenarios. Michael Lewis's taut and brilliant nonfiction thriller pits a band of medical visionaries against the wall of ignorance that was the official response of the Trump administration to the outbreak of COVID-19. The characters you will meet in these pages are as fascinating as they are unexpected. A thirteen-year-old girl's science project on transmission of an airborne pathogen develops into a very grown-up model of disease control. A local public-health officer uses her worm's-eye view to see what the CDC misses, and reveals great truths about American society. A secret team of dissenting doctors, nicknamed the Wolverines, has everything necessary to fight the pandemic: brilliant backgrounds, world-class labs, prior experience with the pandemic scares of bird flu and swine flu...everything, that is, except official permission to implement their work. Michael Lewis is not shy about calling these people heroes for their refusal to follow directives that they know to be based on misinformation and bad science. Even the internet, as crucial as it is to their exchange of ideas, poses a risk to them. They never know for sure who else might be listening in.
Call Number: RS644.C67 L49 2021Publication Date: 2021-05-04
The Age of AI: And Our Human Future by
The Age of AI is upon us. Three leading thinkers have come together to consider what it means-and they have concluded that it is changing nearly everything about how humans navigate the world. From The Age of AI: Recently, a sophisticated language-generating AI was asked philosophical questions. It replied, in part: Your first question is an important one. You ask: "Can a system like GPT-3 actually understand anything at all?" Yes. I can Your second question is: "Does GPT-3 have a conscience, or any sense of morality?" No. I do not. Your third questions is: "Is GPT-3 actually capable of independent thought?" No. I am not. You many wonder why I give this conflicting answer. The reason is simple. While it is true that I lack these traits, the are not because I have not been trained to have them. Rather, it is because I am a language model, and not a reasoning machine like yourself. Book jacket.
Call Number: Q335 .K555 2021Publication Date: 2021-11-02
This Is Your Mind on Plants by
The instant New York Times bestseller | A Washington Post Notable Book | One of NPR's Best Books of the Year "Expert storytelling . . . [Pollan] masterfully elevates a series of big questions about drugs, plants and humans that are likely to leave readers thinking in new ways."--New York Times Book Review From #1 New York Times bestselling author Michael Pollan, a radical challenge to how we think about drugs, and an exploration into the powerful human attraction to psychoactive plants--and the equally powerful taboos. Of all the things humans rely on plants for--sustenance, beauty, medicine, fragrance, flavor, fiber--surely the most curious is our use of them to change consciousness: to stimulate or calm, fiddle with or completely alter, the qualities of our mental experience. Take coffee and tea: People around the world rely on caffeine to sharpen their minds. But we do not usually think of caffeine as a drug, or our daily use as an addiction, because it is legal and socially acceptable. So, then, what is a "drug"? And why, for example, is making tea from the leaves of a tea plant acceptable, but making tea from a seed head of an opium poppy a federal crime? In This Is Your Mind on Plants, Michael Pollan dives deep into three plant drugs--opium, caffeine, and mescaline--and throws the fundamental strangeness, and arbitrariness, of our thinking about them into sharp relief. Exploring and participating in the cultures that have grown up around these drugs while consuming (or, in the case of caffeine, trying not to consume) them, Pollan reckons with the powerful human attraction to psychoactive plants. Why do we go to such great lengths to seek these shifts in consciousness, and then why do we fence that universal desire with laws and customs and fraught feelings? In this unique blend of history, science, and memoir, as well as participatory journalism, Pollan examines and experiences these plants from several very different angles and contexts, and shines a fresh light on a subject that is all too often treated reductively--as a drug, whether licit or illicit. But that is one of the least interesting things you can say about these plants, Pollan shows, for when we take them into our bodies and let them change our minds, we are engaging with nature in one of the most profound ways we can. Based in part on an essay published almost twenty-five years ago, this groundbreaking and singular consideration of psychoactive plants, and our attraction to them through time, holds up a mirror to our fundamental human needs and aspirations, the operations of our minds, and our entanglement with the natural world.
Call Number: RS164.P764 2021Publication Date: 2021-07-06
Science & Technology Booklists in the BPL Online Catalog
- One Giant Leap: The Apollo 11 Moon LandingWhen Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped out of the Lunar Module Apollo 11 on July 20, 1969, they became the first humans to walk on the Moon. Celebrate the occasion with these resources about the history of space exploration, the Apollo 11 mission itself, and the future possibilities of space travel.
- The Lives of ScientistsCheck out these autobiographies and biographies of scientists of all types, from medicine to physics to computer science, and everything in between.
- Histories and Mysteries of MedicineThis list includes non-fiction titles focusing on important parts of medical history, and famous (or maybe not-so-well-known) mysteries of medicine. People typically not interested in medicine will enjoy a number of these titles.
- Good Eating, Good HealthCheck out this booklist meant to give you a wide-variety of current books on nutrition and eating healthy. *Note the Boston Public Library does not endorse or reject any of these views or plans.
- Becoming a Yogi: Books on YogaInterested in the practice of yoga and want to learn more? Check out this booklist!
- Books on Mental IllnessIn this booklist you will find general books about the mental health field as well as books about specific illnesses such as: Addiction, Antisocial Personality DIsorder, Anxiety, Autism spectrum disorders, Bipolar Disease, Borderline Personality Disorder, Depression, Eating Disorders, Multiple Personality Disorder, Munchausen Syndrome, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and Schizophrenia. Included in this list are both general non-fiction works, memoirs, and fiction novels.
- What to Expect: A Reading List for Soon-to-be ParentsAre you an expectant parent curious to know what lays ahead for you on this journey called parenthood? Take a look at this list for books on pregnancy, childbirth, and the first months to years of parenting.
- Aspie Superpowers : Books about Aspergers and other Autism Spectrum DisordersThis is a list of books and other materials that discuss autism and autism-related conditions. The focus is on what they entail and ways to address issues in everyday life as well as the unique experiences of those "living on the spectrum." List curated by Katie Devine, Research Librarian.
- The Doctor Is In: 7 Compelling Books by Health Care ProvidersThis personalized reading list was created by a librarian at the Boston Public Library for a reader who was interested in books written by physicians and other health care providers, especially those affiliated with the city of Boston. Would you like your own personalized list of reading suggestions? Visit www.bpl.org/shelf-service.
- Healthy Eating: 11 Books About Eating Whole FoodsWhat's the deal with whole foods versus the processed foods that are constantly marketed towards consumers? These books will help you understand the difference, and offer recipes to help you eat a healthier, well-balanced, diet. Check one out and enjoy a good meal today!
- Remembering Stephen HawkingStephen Hawking has died at the age of 76. The world-renowned physicist and best-selling author roamed the universe from a wheelchair. Celebrate his legacy with these popular titles and "remember to look up at the stars."
- In Sickness and Health: Medical Memoirs & BiographiesThis personalized reading list was created by a librarian at the Boston Public Library for a reader who had enjoyed "Still Alice" by Lisa Genova and "When Breath Becomes Air" by Paul Kalanithi. Would you like your own personalized list of reading suggestions? Visit www.bpl.org/shelf-service.