Book ReviewsJune 25, 2024
July/August 2024: Three New Books, Reviewed
A riveting quest to map the world; quantum physics in a four-act drama; climate solutions that show what we’re doing right
Stories by Amy Brady
Amy Brady is executive director of Orion magazine and a contributing editor at Scientific American. She is author of Ice: From Mixed Drinks to Skating Rinks—A Cool History of a Hot Commodity (G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2023).
Book ReviewsFebruary 1, 2024
The Troubling Mysteries at the Heart of Nuclear Bombs
Plutonium-pit secrets, growing up in parallel universes, the strange aftermath of a fictional wildfire, and more books out now
Book ReviewsJanuary 1, 2024
How the Moon Shaped Human History, from Religion to Climate
Lunar influences, parallel universes, taking over a dead relative’s online identity, and more books out now
ArtsDecember 1, 2023
How Forest Mythology Leads to Preservation—And Plunder
The powerful symbolism of forests, an AI that struggles to optimize the life of a “post-body” person, and more books out now
ArtsNovember 1, 2023
Why Settling Mars Is a Terrible Idea
The downsides of spacefaring, infiltrating Florida’s gator poachers, and more books out this month
ArtsOctober 1, 2023
A Fictional Psychological Thriller about the Rise of AI
Why we’re seduced by nature’s toxins, horror stories for winter solstice, and more books out this month
ArtsSeptember 1, 2023
Lessons from Antarctica about Raising Kids in the Climate Crisis
Horror stories from Indigenous writers, a plea for better road ecology, and more books out now
ConservationJuly 1, 2023
Climate-Friendly Cocktail Recipes Go Light on Ice
It takes a lot of water and energy to make negronis, manhattans and margaritas. Could we do with less ice?
CultureJuly 1, 2023
Today’s Deep-Sea Explorers Are Mineral Miners and Ultrawealthy Hobbyists
A new history of the deep ocean, seeking truth through math, a space opera about self-identity, and more books out now
ArtsJune 1, 2023
When a Wildfire Burns a City Built for Extracting Oil
A wildfire rages against the Alberta tar sands, aliens induce existential crises for people (and cats), the hype and potential of MDMA, and more books out now
ArtsMay 1, 2023
The Connection between Allergies and Climate Change
Allergies on the rise, the political power of dried plants, your brain on music, and more books out this month
ArtsApril 1, 2023
A Sightseeing Tour of the Universe, Mutated Underground Creatures, Boy Raised by Forest Androids, Gigantic Fish, Perfume's Vitality
Reviews from the editors of Scientific American
PlantsMarch 1, 2023
What Is It Like to Be a Plant?
Plants acting with agency, wolf symbolism, therapeutic art, and more books out now
ArtsFebruary 1, 2023
Death, Sex and Aliens: A Surprising History of Slime
Sublime slime, sprawling light pollution, harnessing the bioelectricity in our body, and more books out this month
ArtsJanuary 1, 2023
If Future Humans Terraformed a New Earth, Could They Get It Right?
A novel that redefines personhood, greed and despair in biotech, arguing for a singular reality, and more books
ArtsDecember 1, 2022
How Beavers Shaped America, from Capitalism to Climate Change
The sweeping influence of one weird rodent, an ecological thriller, tender essays on deep-sea creatures, and more books out this month
ArtsNovember 1, 2022
Parasites Revealed to Be ‘Unseen Influencers’ of All Ecosystems
A social history of measurements, an anthology of new speculative fiction, and more books
PsychologyOctober 1, 2022
Uncertainty Can Speed Up Climate Action, New Book Explains
New books reviewed on the power of doubt, 1970s science-fiction icons, consciousness, interstellar travel, and more
CultureSeptember 1, 2022
Octavia E. Butler’s Legacy of Time Travel
Why evolutionary biology and social justice belong together, the Silicon Valley fatalism that’s ruining our planet, and more
IntelligenceAugust 1, 2022
If Humans Are the Smartest Animals, Why Are We So Unhappy?
New books on intelligence, medicinal cocktails, galactic history, and more
Climate ChangeJune 16, 2022
Climate Destroyers Go to Jail, Martian Travel Guide, Bee Interiority, and More
Recommendations from the editors of Scientific American
DiversityJune 1, 2022
A Playbook for Science Denial, ‘Scientific Phallocracy’ in the Animal Kingdom, and More
Recommendations from the editors of Scientific American
ArtsMay 1, 2022
Inside an Arctic Expedition, Natural History of Fragrance, Essays on Places in Peril, and More
Recommendations from the editors of Scientific American
ArtsApril 1, 2022
Grayscale Lives in a Future Pandemic, Surveilling Memory, Saving Coral Reefs, and More
Recommendations from the editors of Scientific American