Books contemplating the human experience and some of humankind’s greatest challenges were among the Science News staff’s favorite reads this year. What were your favorites? Let us know at feedback@sciencenews.org.
Leigh Ann Henion
Algonquin Books, $30
As artificial light increasingly illuminates nighttime, a writer makes the case to preserve natural darkness and the ecosystems and life-forms it nurtures, from spotted salamanders to glowworms and bioluminescent fungi.
Sadie Dingfelder
Little, Brown Spark, $32
A science journalist who can’t recognize faces, perceive depth or visualize images in her mind takes readers along on her journey to understand her quirky brain. The hilarious and philosophical memoir is a reminder that our ways of perceiving the world are not uniform.
Christof Koch
Basic Books, $30
A neuroscientist argues that information integration in the brain is what makes humans conscious. The idea provocatively suggests that any system that integrates information, including computers, has the potential for some level of consciousness.
Arielle Johnson
Harvest, $40
Complete with colorful illustrations and fun recipes, this delicious tome digs into the science behind flavor. Reading it just might transform your skills in the kitchen.
Eric H. Cline
Princeton Univ., $32
An archaeologist describes how the Late Bronze Age collapse transformed societies across the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East, with some experiencing hardship and decline while others flourished amid the chaos.
Bianca Bosker
Viking, $29
Wielding science as a tool, a journalist sets out to understand humankind’s primal desire for art, as well as art’s expanding utility in the modern world. Along the way, she immerses herself in the exclusive and bizarre art world.
Tim Smedley
Picador, $29.99
Human mismanagement and climate change are fueling water crises around the globe. This book offers potential solutions, from agricultural and at-home remedies to policy changes, as well as a reminder to value every last drop of water as precious.
Olive Heffernan
Greystone Books, $32.95
People are increasingly staking claims to international waters to exploit resources. A science journalist sounds the alarm for sustainable practices and the preservation of the ocean’s rich ecosystems.
Marcia Bjornerud
Flatiron Books, $29.99
A seasoned structural geologist reflects on her life story and the rich wisdom of Earth’s rocks in this book that is part memoir, part geology explainer, part meditation on science and society.
Robin George Andrews
Random House, $29.99
What will it take to protect Earth from a destructive asteroid? A science journalist takes stock of the tools humankind already has in its asteroid preparedness arsenal, including the defensive strategy demonstrated by NASA’s successful DART mission, and what else is still needed.
Rebecca Boyle
Random House, $28.99
This veneration of our celestial companion lays out how the moon has shaped life on Earth and molded the planet into a hospitable home. The moon’s influence on human societies, both culturally and spiritually, as well as the threats humankind’s material ambitions pose for the moon’s well-being, also take center stage.
Sarah Scoles
Bold Type Books, $30
Interviews with physicists tasked to maintain and modernize the United States’ aging nuclear stockpile, as well as with other researchers and activists in that orbit, reveal the intense and often heavy feelings of those in the nuclear weapon industry. These conversations ponder the industry’s contradictory existence to promote peace through destructive weapons and the future of nuclear research.
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