5 Must Read Summer Books for Science Lovers.

Everyone needs a vacation summer read. Since a lot of my scientist friends have been asking for some recommendations,?I thought I'd share more broadly some of my recent discoveries, all published over the past 6 months or so.

Merrilyn's Top Science Books for Summer 2023:

1. The Possibility of Life: Science, Imagination, and Our Quest for Kinship in the Cosmos. By Jaime Green. Not since I watched the X-Files in the 90's have I had cause to ponder life on other planets this much. Jaime Green starts from science but weaves in history and humanities, ultimately causing us to realize that our musings about other planets are a reflection of our own search for meaning and our own values. A great book for contemplating our relationship with the cosmos. The writing spans from how life on earth might have formed in our own primordial soup to the imagination of some of our greatest authors to the work of centuries of scientists in understanding the universe.
2. Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues.?By Jonathan Kennedy. Humans have shaped the course of history thanks to our big brains and collective will, right? In "Pathogenesis" Jonathan Kennedy argues that the power to shape history is actually more accurately attributed to the humble microbe. Pathogenesis covers 60 thousand years of history, illustrating eight major outbreaks of infectious diseases that have shaped our modern world. In the wake of the recent pandemic, Kennedy challenges us to rethink our assumptions about change and also to consider that this moment may be another potential inflection point in history.
3. The Devil’s Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance. By Dan Egan. As early as 1960, phosphates in laundry detergent wastewater fueled the growth of algal blooms in Lake Erie, turning it into an "American dead sea." While the Clean Water Act of 1972 was instrumental in reinvigorating Lake Erie, today's phosphorus-rich fertilizers and industrialized livestock operations have devastated its waters once again. Going far and wide, this book explores the impact of phosphorus globally on our environment. Dan Egan, an award-winning NPR science journalist not only writes compellingly of the history but also of possible solutions.
4. The Exceptions: Nancy Hopkins, MIT, and the Fight for Women in Science. By Kate Zernike. In 1999, Nancy Hopkins, a noted geneticist at MIT, led a group of 16 women in a campaign for equity that led to the infamous admission by MIT that it had discriminated against its female scientists. The 16 women were an impressive group, pushing the boundaries of research on everything from cancer genetics to fossil fuels. This story gut punched me--it took me back to my own time as a graduate student in Cambridge in the 90's interacting with some of the key players in the book. It's a behind-the-scenes look at the competitive world of science. We owe a lot to these brilliant, tenacious women who fought not only for themselves but for every woman in science. Even if you don't read the book, at least watch the thirteen-minute documentary film, "The Uprising."
5. How Far the Light Reaches: a Life in Ten Sea Creatures. By Sabrina Imbler. After reading the intriguing fictional novel "Remarkably Bright Creatures," this nonfiction book on sea creatures caught my eye. Each essay in this collection delves into the beauty of sea creatures, telling not only their stories but also blending in stories of the author's own life, entwining memoir with science. A thought-provoking, unique, and powerful novel that won numerous prizes, including Time's Best 10 Nonfiction Books of the Year.

Grab one of these nonfiction books for your summer vacation travels. If you are strictly a fiction reader,?my top 3 science-themed novels are Atomic Weight of Love, Project Hail Mary, and Lessons in Chemistry. While less recent than my nonfiction picks, they are all an excellent read.

Enjoy and happy reading!