Book Review: Beaverland: How One Weird Rodent Made America, Leila Philip Nonfiction: Beaverland: How One Weird Rodent Made America, Leila Philip Beaverland is the epic book I didn’t know that I needed to read about North America’s largest native rodent. It is in turns poignant and whimsical, personal and historical, and describes how beaver’s […]
Book Review: Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World’s Largest Owl, Jonathan C. Slaght Nonfiction/Science: Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World’s Largest Owl, Jonathan C. Slaght I might have been vaguely aware of the existence of “fishing owls” before reading this book, […]
Book Review: A Taste for Poison: Eleven Deadly Molecules and the Killers Who Used Them, Neil Bradbury Nonfiction/Science: A Taste for Poison: Eleven Deadly Molecules and the Killers Who Used Them, Neil Bradbury Readers and writers often joke about the dangerous Google search history of thriller writers. Explosives, armaments, far off places, creative […]
Book Review: The Deep: The Extraordinary Creatures of the Abyss, Claire Nouvian Nonfiction/Science: The Deep: The Extraordinary Creatures of the Abyss, Claire Nouvian This is one of the most exquisitely beautiful books I have seen. It is also one of the strangest. The Deep is a coffee-table sized book filled with beautiful color pictures […]
Book Review: Erma Does the Math, Ann Strawn Nonfiction/Biography: Erma Does the Math, Ann Strawn This book is an obvious labor of for author Ann Strawn about her great aunt Erma Tynes Walker. Erma worked alongside Katherine Johnson and Mary Jackson as part of the team of African American women who calculated the flight […]
Book Review: The Brilliant Abyss: Exploring the Majestic Hidden Life of the Deep Ocean, and the Looming Threat That Imperils It, Helen Scales Nonfiction/Science: The Brilliant Abyss: Exploring the Majestic Hidden Life of the Deep Ocean, and the Looming Threat That Imperils It, Helen Scales The Brilliant Abyss is a powerful book about what […]
Book Review: The Ghost Map, Steven Johnson Nonfiction: The Ghost Map, Steven Johnson During the summer of 1854 a cholera outbreak threatened to devastate London. In particular, London’s Soho neighborhood lost many of its residents. Entire households were found dead. Yet from the ashes of this destruction rose a phoenix of discovery that […]
Book Review: Rise of the Necrofauna: The Science, Ethics, and Risks of De-Extinction, Britt Wray Science: Rise of the Necrofauna: The Science, Ethics, and Risks of De-Extinction, Britt Wray Several months prior to starting Scintilla.Info, I encountered a brilliant book exploring the possibilities of restoring extinct species. When my wife proposed and began Scintilla, I […]
Book Review: Unnatural Selection, Katrina van Grouw Nonfiction Science: Unnatural Selection, Katrina van Grouw Unnatural Selection is a beautiful book. Oversized, coffee-table style, Unnatural Selection’s first impression grabs you. Katrina van Grouw has illustrated the text with her own line drawings, and she is an impressive artist. Her degree is in art, she has experience as a curator […]
Book Review: Lone Survivors: How We Came to Be the Only Humans on Earth, Chris Stringer Nonfiction Science: Lone Survivors: How We Came to Be the Only Humans on Earth, Chris Stringer Chris Stringer’s book Lone Survivors (outside the USA this book is titled The Origin of Our Species) takes a long look at the theories behind […]
