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Spring Tune Up: 8 Books That Unpack Nature
While you wait for spring to power up, dip into a guide to the tulip, a history of the beaver and climate activist Greta Thunberg’s latest call to action / BY Susan Grimbly / February 15th, 2023
As the climate gets stranger and stranger, some new books go straight to the heart of the crisis. Plus: spring flowers, new discoveries about our bodies, from our senses to our atoms, and one goofy but delightful engineer – the beaver.
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1Tulips Let’s start with something simple, the tulip. Once the Bitcoin of the Dutch Golden age, the go-to cure for the winter blahs is now available at the corner store. If you want to learn how to garden with them, make beautiful table arrangements or just grace your eyes with their lilting lines, pick up this info-packed guide with 40-plus full-colour botanical illustrations by a Seattle-based master gardener.
Let’s start with something simple, the tulip. Once the Bitcoin of the Dutch Golden age, the go-to cure for the winter blahs is now available at the corner store. If you want to learn how to garden with them, make beautiful table arrangements or just grace your eyes with their lilting lines, pick up this info-packed guide with 40-plus full-colour botanical illustrations by a Seattle-based master gardener.
2Where the Wildflowers Grow An ardent young man spends a year hunting and photographing native plant life: travelling through England, Scotland and Ireland by ferry, bicycle and rail. Among the flora he explores, the endearing bird’s-foot trefoil (which grows wild in Canada) stands out for its beauty – the flowers look like little yellow balloons – and the fact that it supports more than a hundred invertebrates. And that’s just one example from the British botanist’s a stunning bucket list.
An ardent young man spends a year hunting and photographing native plant life: travelling through England, Scotland and Ireland by ferry, bicycle and rail. Among the flora he explores, the endearing bird’s-foot trefoil (which grows wild in Canada) stands out for its beauty – the flowers look like little yellow balloons – and the fact that it supports more than a hundred invertebrates. And that’s just one example from the British botanist’s a stunning bucket list.
3Jellyfish Age Backwards We landlubbers haven’t nailed the mystery of immortality, but this University of Copenhagen PhD student guides us through the science of longevity, which is as good as a time machine. Along the way, we meet a fingernail-sized jellyfish that gets younger when stressed and a 400-year-old shark – as well as the researchers who hope to learn from them.
We landlubbers haven’t nailed the mystery of immortality, but this University of Copenhagen PhD student guides us through the science of longevity, which is as good as a time machine. Along the way, we meet a fingernail-sized jellyfish that gets younger when stressed and a 400-year-old shark – as well as the researchers who hope to learn from them.
4Sensational How do our senses work, that we can enjoy sights, sounds, scents, touch and taste? In this vivid exploration of scientific research, an Australian professor of animal behaviour is going to answer some wacky questions, such as: “Why do women have a better sense of smell than men? Does the Danube really look blue when you’re in love?”
How do our senses work, that we can enjoy sights, sounds, scents, touch and taste? In this vivid exploration of scientific research, an Australian professor of animal behaviour is going to answer some wacky questions, such as: “Why do women have a better sense of smell than men? Does the Danube really look blue when you’re in love?”
5What’s Gotten into YouYep, we are basically just a sack of atoms … and it’s a loooong story how it came about, literally billions of years. Dan Levitt recounts how all the atoms in the world – including those that comprise 60 elements found in our bodies – were born during the Big Bang, and created the stars, planet Earth and, now, us. The American science writer and documentarian introduces the extremely fractious, ambitious scientists who made crazy discoveries and fought for fame as they uncovered the building blocks of life.
Yep, we are basically just a sack of atoms … and it’s a loooong story how it came about, literally billions of years. Dan Levitt recounts how all the atoms in the world – including those that comprise 60 elements found in our bodies – were born during the Big Bang, and created the stars, planet Earth and, now, us. The American science writer and documentarian introduces the extremely fractious, ambitious scientists who made crazy discoveries and fought for fame as they uncovered the building blocks of life.
6Beaverland Beavers are the engineers of the natural world, shaping North American history, first by creating water ecosystems, then by attracting colonizers who prized their pelts (and drove them to the brink of extinction). Today, environmental engineers are discovering how Castor canadensis can help “restore damaged environments,” says the author, an award-winning American non-fiction writer, in this historical and ecological narrative, which is also, charmingly, part memoir.
Beavers are the engineers of the natural world, shaping North American history, first by creating water ecosystems, then by attracting colonizers who prized their pelts (and drove them to the brink of extinction). Today, environmental engineers are discovering how Castor canadensis can help “restore damaged environments,” says the author, an award-winning American non-fiction writer, in this historical and ecological narrative, which is also, charmingly, part memoir.
7The Parrot and the Igloo Who are these people insisting the climate is fine, just fine, despite epic droughts, monster rain systems and out-of-control fires.? The American writer, a contributing editor for Rolling Stone, takes us on a whistle-stop tour of anti-science, from inventors to the modern crackpots. This is not a flat take – Lipsky writes with character and humour – but it is a chilling tale.
Who are these people insisting the climate is fine, just fine, despite epic droughts, monster rain systems and out-of-control fires.? The American writer, a contributing editor for Rolling Stone, takes us on a whistle-stop tour of anti-science, from inventors to the modern crackpots. This is not a flat take – Lipsky writes with character and humour – but it is a chilling tale.
8The Climate Book As an antidote to denial, we have Greta Thunberg, who started her political activism at 15 and has drawn attention as much for her news-captivating social-action moves as she has for twitting kickboxer-turned-TikTok star Andrew Tate on Twitter. Now, the Swedish environmentalist has produced a superb book that draws on the expertise of more than 100 climate experts as well as her own experience to explain the urgency of the climate crisis.
As an antidote to denial, we have Greta Thunberg, who started her political activism at 15 and has drawn attention as much for her news-captivating social-action moves as she has for twitting kickboxer-turned-TikTok star Andrew Tate on Twitter. Now, the Swedish environmentalist has produced a superb book that draws on the expertise of more than 100 climate experts as well as her own experience to explain the urgency of the climate crisis.