Kingdom of Ants: José Celestino Mutis and the Dawn of Natural History in the New World

Edward O. Wilson and José M. Gómez Durán. Johns Hopkins Univ. Press 120 pp. $24.95 (2010)

The forgotten ant studies of eighteenth-century naturalist José Celestino Mutis — also celebrated for his work in botany, astronomy and mathematics — are rediscovered in this volume by Edward O. Wilson and Jose Gómez Durán. On leaving his native Spain to explore modern-day Colombia and finding ants swarming everywhere, Mutis built his own classification system for the species he saw, laying the foundations for New World entomology.

The Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics: A Math-Free Exploration of the Science that Made Our World

  • James Kakalios
Gotham 336 pp. $26 (2010)

Physicist James Kakalios borrows from science fiction to explain how quantum mechanics underpins today's technology, from DVD players to magnetic resonance imaging scanners. Referring to portrayals of nuclear energy in comic books such as Watchmen, he weaves in popular culture to tell the story of how Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger and others developed quantum theory. He looks ahead to nanotechnology breakthroughs that might one day harness quantum phenomena to bring us jet packs and time travel.

Pink Ribbon Blues: How Breast Cancer Culture Undermines Women's Health

  • Gayle A. Sulik
Oxford Univ. Press 424 pp. $29.95 (2010)

Examining the 'pink ribbon' culture of fund-raising for breast-cancer research, medical sociologist Gayle Sulik interviews patients and those in the cancer industry to question whether awareness campaigns are effective in improving women's health. Although these efforts generate funds and a feel-good factor, she argues that such 'pink merchandising' preys on sentimentality and does not advance medical research. Sulik outlines some alternative approaches.

The Wonderful Future That Never Was: Flying Cars, Mail Delivery by Parachute, and Other Predictions from the Past

  • Gregory Benford
and The Editors of Popular Mechanics Hearst 208 pp. £16.99 (2010)

From the funny to the prescient, this collection presents the best predictions of future technology from the archives of Popular Mechanics magazine. Visions imagined by experts in 1903–69 include glass cities, flying vehicles and asbestos clothes, as well as the now-realized pocket-sized computers and frozen dinners. With text by astrophysicist and author Gregory Benford, the book reminds us that utopian dreams of the future can be hit and miss.

Jane Goodall: 50 Years at Gombe

  • Jane Goodall
Stewart, Tabori & Chang 144 pp. £19.99 (2010)

Primatologist Jane Goodall celebrates 50 years of chimpanzee research at the Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania in this latest edition of her book. Updated with text and photographs from the past decade, it describes her research on apes, as well as other projects undertaken at Gombe by researchers from the Jane Goodall Institute. These include studies of AIDS progression and local community projects to implement rainforest conservation initiatives and improve sanitation and health care.