Reviews

  1. Model of human ovaries and uterus
    Health & Medicine

    ‘Vagina Obscura’ shows how little is known about female biology

    The new book ‘Vagina Obscura’ chronicles how scientists are finally giving female health and anatomy proper attention.

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  2. Anatomist Santiago Ramón y Cajal
    Neuroscience

    How a scientist-artist transformed our view of the brain

    The book ‘The Brain in Search of Itself’ chronicles the life of Santiago Ramón y Cajal, who discovered that the brain is made up of discrete cells.

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  3. Milpa in Central America
    Science & Society

    ‘Fresh Banana Leaves’ shows how Western conservation has harmed Indigenous people

    Author and environmental scientist Jessica Hernandez discusses Indigenous displacement, conservation’s failures and how to improve the field.

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  4. black and white image of Niels Bohr standing in front of a chalkboard
    Quantum Physics

    ‘From Data to Quanta’ defends Niels Bohr’s view of quantum mechanics

    In his new book, philosopher Slobodan Perović corrects misconceptions about physicist Niels Bohr’s work.

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  5. Clovis spearpoints
    Archaeology

    ‘Origin’ explores the controversial science of the first Americans

    A new book looks at how genetics has affected the study of humans’ arrival in the Americas and sparked conflicts with Indigenous groups today.

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  6. Solar plasma jet
    Science & Society

    Stuck inside this winter? Try an at-home citizen science project

    Researchers are in search of volunteers to look for solar jets, transcribe old weather logbooks, listen for threatened frogs and more.

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  7. a picture of an ancient Indian text
    Math

    Take an online journey through the history of math

    ‘History of Mathematics’ explores the origins of arithmetic, algebra, geometry and more.

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  8. illustration of a skeleton with the nervous system highlighted
    Neuroscience

    ‘Feeling & Knowing’ explores the origin and evolution of consciousness

    In the book Feeling & Knowing, neuroscientist Antonio Damasio suggests that consciousness evolved as a way to keep essential bodily systems steady.

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  9. collage of covers of 10 books
    Science & Society

    These are Science News’ favorite books of 2021

    Our favorite books covered the Big Bang theory, human evolution, gene editing, how to define life, pseudoscience and more.

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  10. a small lizard sitting on a leaf
    Animals

    A new book shows how animals are already coping with climate change

    ‘Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid’ takes a clear-eyed look at future of animal life.

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  11. Genetically engineered glow-in-the-dark fish
    Life

    ‘Life as We Made It’ charts the past and future of genetic tinkering

    A new book shatters illusions that human meddling with nature has only just begun.

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  12. image of pyramids in Egypt
    Anthropology

    ‘The Dawn of Everything’ rewrites 40,000 years of human history

    A new book recasts human social evolution as multiple experiments with freedom and domination that started in the Stone Age.

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