By Moiya McTier
Grand Central Publishing, 2022. 244 pages. Nonfiction
After a few billion years of bearing witness to life on Earth, of watching one hundred billion humans go about their day-to-day lives, of feeling unbelievably lonely, and of hearing its own story told by others, the Milky Way would like a chance to speak for itself. All one hundred billion stars and fifty undecillion tons of gas of it. It all began some thirteen billion years ago, when clouds of gas scattered through the universe's primordial plasma just could not keep their metaphorical hands off each other. They succumbed to their gravitational attraction, and the galaxy we know as the Milky Way was born. Since then, the galaxy has watched as dark energy pushed away its first friends, as humans mythologized its name and purpose, and as galactic archaeologists have worked to determine its true age (rude). The Milky Way has absorbed supermassive (an actual technical term) black holes, made enemies of a few galactic neighbors, and mourned the deaths of countless stars. After all this time, the Milky Way finally feels that it's amassed enough experience for the juicy tell-all we've all been waiting for.
I have two very bad habits. First, I buy nonfiction books about science and lose the motivation to read them. Second, when I happen to read anything science related I just skip right over the numbers regardless of how important they are. This book fixed both problems. McTier presents scientific concepts in an accessible voice that allows even the most inexperienced science-lovers to engage with new concepts and ideas. I love the blend of artful storytelling and hard science. The voice of the Milky Way is unique, funny, and extremely endearing. I would recommend this book to anybody that's new to astronomy and everyone that supports STEAM over STEM.
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By Caitlin Doughty
W.W. Norton & Company, 2019. 222 pages. Nonfiction
Licensed mortician Caitlin Doughty answers real questions from kids about death, dead bodies, and decomposition. Every day, funeral director Caitlin Doughty receives dozens of questions about death. What would happen to an astronaut's body if it were pushed out of a space shuttle? Do people poop when they die? Can Grandma have a Viking funeral? In the tradition of Randall Munroe's What If?, Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?, blends scientific understanding of the body and the intriguing history behind common misconceptions about corpses to offer factual, hilarious, and candid answers to thirty-five urgent questions.
By Mark Shultz
Hill and Wang, 2009. 150 pages. Graphic Novels, Nonfiction
Let's face it: From adenines to zygotes, from cytokinesis to parthenogenesis, even the basics of genetics can sound utterly alien. So who better than an alien to explain it all? Enter Bloort 183, a scientist from an asexual alien race threatened by disease, who's been charged with researching the fundamentals of human DNA and evolution and laying it all out in clear, simple language so that even his slow-to-grasp-the-point leader can get it. In the hands of the award-winning writer Mark Schultz, Bloort's predicament becomes the means of giving even the most science-phobic reader a complete introduction to the history and science of genetics that's as easy to understand as it is entertaining to read.
KJ
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