Nonfiction Science

"Correlation does not imply causation". This mantra has been invoked by scientists for decades and has led to a virtual prohibition on causal talk. But today, that taboo is dead. The causal revolution, sparked by Judea Pearl and his colleagues, has cut through a century of confusion and placed causality - the study of cause and effect - on a firm scientific basis.

Award-winning environmentalist, author, and journalist Bill McKibben selects twenty science and nature essays that represent the best examples of the form published in the previous year. “This was the most anomalous year (so far) in human history,” guest editor Bill McKibben writes, “the...

🔥 25 True Survival Stories That Defy Belief 🔥 🌍 Lost in the wild. Trapped at sea. Buried alive. And yet… they survived. 📖 Lost but Alive is a gripping collection of real-life survival stories—tales of people who should have never made it out alive. Through sheer willpower, instinct, and unbreakable resilience, they did the impossible. Inside, you’ll discover: ✅ A lone hiker who fell into a canyon and waited days for rescue. ✅ A sailor stranded in open water, surviving on rainwater and fish. ✅ A plane crash victim who trekked through the Amazon for weeks. ✅ The only...

Rose George, acclaimed chronicler of what we would rather ignore, sails from Rotterdam to Suez to Singapore on ships the length of football fields and the height of Niagara Falls; she patrols the Indian Ocean with an anti-piracy task force; she joins seafaring chaplains and investigates the harm that ships inflict on endangered whales. Sharply informative and entertaining, Ninety Percent of Everything reveals the workings and perils of an unseen world that holds the key to our economy, our environment, and our very civilization.

The task of implementing an effective American policy and cementing Afghan rule is hampered by what Isby sees as separate but overlapping conflicts between terrorism, narcotics, and regional rivalries, each presenting separate yet equally challenging issues to resolve. This book provides the road map to overcoming these obstacles and finding a way forward for the U.S. and the Afghan nation.

“Compulsively readable—a masterpiece, maybe the masterpiece of science journalism.” —Bill McKibben, Audubon A brilliant, stirring work, breathtaking in its scope and far-reaching in its message, The Song of the Dodo is a crucial book in precarious times. Through personal observation...

Discover the inventions you didn’t know you couldn’t live without. Brilliantly Overlooked: The Hidden Tech That Changed Our World takes you on a journey through seven unsung innovations that quietly shaped modern life—from the rotary washing machine and the Thermos flask to fuel cells, gas turbines, and the zipper. Each chapter brings to life the story behind a seemingly simple invention: who made it, how it works, and why it matters far more than it gets credit for. With vivid storytelling, accessible science, and historical depth, this book makes engineering and design come alive ...

"The perfect binge listen." — Yahoo Lifestyle Instant #1 New York Times bestseller. The Silent Patient is a shocking psychological thriller of a woman’s act of violence against her husband—and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive. Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER An enormously engaging portrait of a most beguiling Southern city: “Elegant and wicked.... [This] might be the first true-crime book that makes the reader want to book a bed and breakfast for an extended weekend at the scene of the crime." —The New York Times Book...

What exactly made the earth round? How do boomerangs turn around mid-air? And why do cats always land on their feet? “A basic scientific concept receives long overdue attention” (Kirkus Reviews) in this “fascinating” (Wall Street Journal) new book from the masterful author of The Age of...

Examining a series of El Niño-induced droughts and the famines that they spawned around the globe in the last third of the 19th century, Mike Davis discloses the intimate, baleful relationship between imperial arrogance and natural incident that combined to produce some of the worst tragedies in human history. Late Victorian Holocausts focuses on three zones of drought and subsequent famine: India, Northern China, and Northeastern Brazil.

The sky looks calm. It isn’t. A silent storm of high-energy particles—cosmic rays—falls on Earth every moment. This kid-friendly science adventure shows how we discovered them, what they are, and how we catch their fleeting clues. Follow a true story of curiosity: from Henri Becquerel’s mysterious fogged plates to Victor Hess rising above the clouds, from supernova “fireworks” and black-hole jets to modern observatories spread across deserts, buried in ice, and orbiting above us. See how one tiny visitor can spark a branching air shower, why muons walk straight through mountains...

Charlotte Runcie has always felt pulled to the sea, lured by its soothing, calming qualities but also enlivened and inspired by its salty wildness. When she loses her beloved grandmother and becomes pregnant with her first child, she feels its pull even more intensely. In Salt on Your Tongue Charlotte explores what the sea means to us and particularly what it has meant to women through the ages.

Welcome to the strangest side of the future. Weird Technology dives into the wildest inventions, experiments, and breakthroughs that sound impossible… but are completely real. From robots that learn emotions to materials lighter than air, from brain–machine hybrids to AI that behaves in ways even its creators can’t predict, this book reveals the technology that sits right on the edge of science fiction. You’ll explore machines that build themselves, computers that think in quantum riddles, nanobots that could transform medicine, and prototypes so bizarre they were banned, forgotten,...

My Seditious Heart collects the work of a two-decade period when Arundhati Roy devoted herself to the political essay as a way of opening up space for justice, rights, and freedoms in an increasingly hostile environment. Radical and superbly listenable, the essays speak in a voice of unique spirit, marked by compassion, clarity, and courage. Roy offers a powerful defense of the collective, of the individual, and of the land, in the face of the destructive logic of financial, social, religious, military, and governmental elites.

Enter the realm of "Infinite Actuality," a mesmerizing journey into the heart of cosmic consciousness and the boundless mysteries of existence. Within these pages, you will uncover profound insights and revelations that challenge the very fabric of reality itself. From the interconnectedness of all things to the enigmatic forces that shape our world, prepare to be captivated by tales of ancient civilizations, encounters with otherworldly beings, and the timeless quest for salvation. As you delve deeper into "Infinite Actuality," you will awaken to the power of spiritual connection, ...

Welcome to the strangest corners of Planet Earth — where the facts are real, but your brain will still say, “Wait… what?” The Curiosity Files: Bizarre but True dives into the wonderfully weird side of the world, uncovering true stories that are stranger than fiction (and way more fun). From animals with mind-blowing superpowers to natural phenomena that break the rules of reality, from ancient traditions that may leave you blinking to real events so odd they feel like glitches in the universe — this book is your all-access pass to the spectacularly strange. Inside, you’ll ...

Illuminates the far-reaching harms of believing that natural means “good,” from misinformation about health choices to justifications for sexism, racism, and flawed economic policies. People love what’s natural: it’s the best way to eat, the best way to parent, even the best way to...

The Hawaiian kingdom was tiny, and the big world was huge. The 19th century was the high water mark of Western imperialism, worldwide, and the great powers were planting their flags across the Pacific. Hawai'i was in their sights. By late in the century, two strong American currents were running: one east from the islands, one west from the continent. Sugar plantations had become Hawai'i's biggest moneymaker. And many of the biggest names in the business were of American blood - the sons of missionaries, devout capitalists.

In 1939, 50 million Americans went to the movies every week, Louis B. Mayer was the highest-paid man in the country, and Hollywood produced 530 feature films a year. One decade and five thousand movies later, the studios were faltering....