Science writing news

Rectangular photo of Ellen Prager office bookshelf showing works on oceans, sea life, and climate change. Photo credit: Ellen Prager

Ellen Prager and Dave Jones—Megalodons, Mermaids, and Climate Change: Answers to Your Ocean and Atmosphere Questions

Do huge sharks, bigger than a school bus, still exist? Thanks (No thanks!) to fake news, some people think so. Ditto for mermaids, NASW Member Ellen Prager & Dave Jones note in Megalodons, Mermaids, and Climate Change: Answers to Your Ocean and Atmosphere Questions. The authors use cartoons, a conversational tone, & 16 photos to answer often-asked & zany questions on marine life and weather.

Rectangular photo of Carlos Hoyt’s office bookshelf showing books on race, sociology, gender, disability, blind spots, empathy, and other topics, along with a copy of Sneetches by Dr. Seuss. Photo credit: Carlos Hoyt.

Carlos Hoyt (NASW Member) with Minna Han—Diversity Without Divisiveness: A Guide to DEI Practice for K-12 Educators

Principles of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity (DEI) are as American as apple pie, NASW Member Carlos Hoyt and Minna Ham assert in Diversity Without Divisiveness: A Guide to DEI Practice for K-12 Educators. While some label DEI as “reverse discrimination,” Hoyt and Ham show how DEI can boost student engagement, prepare students to live in a global society, and encourage critical thinking.

Rectangular photo of Olivia Campbell’s office bookshelf showing works on women in Nazi Germany, scientists under Hitler, displaced scholars in Nazi Germany in the 1930s, and physics. Photo credit: Olivia Campbell.

Olivia Campbell—Sisters in Science: How Four Women Physicists Escaped Nazi Germany and Made Scientific History

When the Nazis took control of Germany in the 1930s, they stripped Jewish citizens and women of their academic positions. In Sisters in Science: How Four Women Physicists Escaped Nazi Germany and Made Scientific History, Olivia Campbell describes the women’s harrowing journeys to freedom and later success in Sweden and the US, flourishing, she notes, “in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.”

Rectangular photo of Christopher Pollon’s office bookshelf showing works on mining, capitalism, colonialism, sustainability, gold, oil, geology, wars, and various countries. Photo credit: Christopher Pollon.

Christopher Pollon—Pitfall: The Race to Mine the World’s Most Vulnerable Places

“Even though the world needs mining more than ever, the world needs mining to change,” Christopher Pollon writes in Pitfall: The Race to Mine the World’s Most Vulnerable Places, recipient of NASW’s 2024 Science in Society Book Award. It’s sometimes better to leave metals in the ground, he suggests, and capture those needed for present-day use by recycling outdated products, such as smartphones.

Rectangular photo of Kavin Senapathy office bookshelf showing works on child care, racism, feminism, and body image. Photo credit: Kavin Senapathy.

Kavin Senapathy—The Progressive Parent: Harnessing the Power of Science and Social Justice to Raise Awesome Kids

“There’s nothing more complicated than parenthood,” Kavin Senapathy asserts in The Progressive Parent: Harnessing the Power of Science and Social Justice to Raise Awesome Kids. She aims to help parents make evidence-based decisions about breast-feeding, vaccines, and food additives, and help their children acquire a positive racial, cultural, and gender identity, along with a social conscience.

Rectangular photo of Alison Bass’ office bookshelf showing books by Isaac Bashevis Singer, Chaim Potak, Bernard Malamud, and other great storytellers. Photo credit: Alison Bass.

Alison Bass—Rebecca of Ivanhoe

In her novel, Rebecca of Ivanhoe, Alison Bass imagines the life of Rebecca, a 12th-century healer saved from being burned alive as a witch, after she flees from England to Spain and then to Egypt. Bass describes botanical remedies and other therapies used in medieval medical practice. She incorporates historical characters, wars, and other events occurring in the background of daily life.

Rectangular photo of Vince Beiser’s office bookshelf showing books on mining cotton, salt, and metals, along with three polymetallic nodules, that is, rocks containing cobalt, nickel, and copper from the Pacific Ocean floor. The shelf also contains a warning sign from a minefield in Angola. Photo credit: Vince Beiser.

Vince Beiser—Power Metal: The Race for the Resources That Will Shape the Future

Do you need a new cell phone? Could you manage without a car? In Power Metal: The Race for the Resources That Will Shape the Future, Vince Beiser explores the damage to human and planetary health caused by mining metals to manufacture cars, phones, computers, and other everyday “necessities.” Repairing, reusing, and recycling products isn’t enough, he asserts. He suggests mindful DIY action.

Rectangular photo of Patchen Barss’ office bookshelf with titles on randomness, mathematics, computers, patterns, chaos, and biodesign. The shelf includes NASW author Kenneth Miller’s book Mapping the Darkness. Photo credit: Patchen Barss.

Patchen Barss—The Impossible Man: Roger Penrose and the Cost of Genius

Studying a sundial at age six, Roger Penrose first glimpsed a mathematical “world behind the world” where the shape of things revealed the universe’s deep secrets. In The Impossible Man: Roger Penrose and the Cost of Genius, Patchen Barss follows Penrose from childhood to Nobel Prize, capturing the intense mix of joy and sacrifice that allowed him to rewrite our understanding of the cosmos.

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