Reviews

  1. Earth

    The Sixth Extinction

    On only five occasions in Earth’s long history has a large fraction of the planet’s biodiversity disappeared in a geological instant. But, journalist Kolbert reminds us in her new book, we are well on our way to making it six.

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  2. Science & Society

    Naturalists at Sea

    For centuries after Columbus, the flora and fauna of the New World remained a mystery to Europeans. But in the 1600s and 1700s, explorers began to visit and describe what were then considered remote corners of the Earth.

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  3. Earth

    Eye in the sky

    With its free Images of Change iPad app and online gallery, NASA makes the aerial perspective available to all, with results both stunning and disturbing.

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  4. Paleontology

    Hunting fossils in England

    On Monmouth Beach, just west of the center of Lyme Regis, amateur and professional collectors have been making discoveries for more than two centuries.

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  5. Genetics

    Life at the Speed of Light

    Biology has come a long way from the days of mixing things in petri dishes and hoping something interesting happens. In his new book, Venter introduces readers to a future of precise biological engineering.

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  6. Science & Society

    Tracking fireballs for science

    Watching a meteor race across the night sky is a romantic experience. And now it can be a scientific one as well.

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  7. Cosmology

    From Dust to Life

    In about 300 pages, this book sums up the history of all that matters — or at least everything made of matter — from the Big Bang to life on Earth.

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  8. Microbes

    Me and my microbiome

    Tina Hesman Saey tries out new services offering clients a peek at their own bacteria.

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  9. Psychology

    Moral Tribes

    Emotion, Reason and the Gap Between Us and Them by Joshua Greene.

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  10. Neuroscience

    The Aesthetic Brain

    How We Evolved to Desire Beauty and Enjoy Art by Anjan Chatterjee.

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  11. Science & Society

    Best science to see and hear

    Science Studio bills itself as “a collection of the best science multimedia on the web.

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  12. Psychology

    The Tell

    The Little Clues That Reveal Big Truths About Who We Are by Matthew Hertenstein.

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