Plants, People, and Culture: The Science of Ethnobotany

by Michael J. Balick and Paul Alan Cox .W. H. Freeman/Scientific American Library , $19.95, £15.95

“An exciting book, clearly written and well illustrated. It impresses on readers the value of plants in their lives and cultures and the critical need to conserve plant biodiversity for future generations”, David Pimental, Nature 382, 412 (1996)

The Stork and the Plow: The Equity Answer to the Human Dilemma

by Paul R. Ehrlich, Anne H. Ehrlich and Gretchen C. Daily . Yale University Press , $16, £11

“A well-reasoned account of how poverty forces unsustainable use of natural resources [and] a careful and balanced treatment of developments in agriculture⃛ that may help food production to stay ahead of population growth”, Basia Zaba, Nature 379, 308 (1996)

Five Golden Rules: Great Theories of 20th-Century Mathematics — and Why They Matter

by John L. Casti . Wiley , $16.95

“Hard going from the beginning, although well worth the investment for anyone who really wants to learn about some of the contemporary mathematics that affects our everyday lives⃛. The five themes chosen by Casti are game theory, topological fixed-point theory, singularity theory, computation theory and optimization theory. He makes no attempt to entice you in. He assumes you want to know. For those who do, the reward is substantial”, Keith Devlin, Nature 379, 128 (1996)

The Mathematical Universe: An Alphabetical Journey Through the Great Proofs, Problems, and Personalities

by William Dunham . Wiley , $16.95

“Artfully, Dunham conducts a tour of the mathematical universe⃛ he believes these ideas to be accessible to the audience he wants to reach, and he writes so that they are”, Jerry P. King, Nature 373, 206 (1995)

The Origins of Virtue

by Matt Ridley . Penguin , £8.99

“Extremely well written⃛ Ridley does an admirable job of documenting the mutual dependencies implied by Darwin”, Frans de Waal in Nature 383, 785 (1996)