In The Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives

  • Steven Levy
Simon & Schuster 432 pp. $26 (2011)

Expanding beyond its early dominance of the search-engine market, Google has shifted gears many times since it began as a small start-up firm in Silicon Valley, California. Yet the company clings to its image as a creative hub. Technology writer Steven Levy gives an upbeat account of life inside the Googleplex campus, where hand-picked workers are able to devote up to 20% of their time to self-generated projects. He explores the next frontiers for the company, such as cloud computing and social networks, and examines its controversial decision to enter China.

The Fair Society: The Science of Human Nature and the Pursuit of Social Justice

  • Peter Corning
University Of Chicago Press 256 pp. $27.50 (2011)

Evolution is often reduced to the survival of the fittest, yet that does not mean we should trample on others to get ahead. We have an innate sense of fairness, argues complex-systems biologist Peter Corning in his book, which draws on our evolutionary history and the science of human nature. For the benefit and well-being of all, he proposes that society should adjust its political and economic priorities toward fairness. We should adopt a new 'biosocial' contract, which promotes the principles of equality, equity and reciprocity.

The Great Sperm Whale: A Natural History of the Ocean's Most Magnificent and Mysterious Creature

  • Richard Ellis
University Press of Kansas 432 pp. $34.95 (2011)

Just as the sperm whale inspired Herman Melville's 1851 book Moby Dick, it has long fascinated writer Richard Ellis. Here he devotes a whole volume to the giant creature, which he notes has stalked the chapters of his other books on marine life, from giant squid to tuna. Using his own elegant illustrations, Ellis discusses the sperm whale's evolution and biology, its migrations, diet and breeding. He also considers its impact on myths about sea monsters, and the whaling that has decimated its numbers over two centuries.

Infinite Reality: Avatars, Eternal Life, New Worlds, and the Dawn of the Virtual Revolution

Jim Blascovich and Jeremy Bailenson. William Morrow 304 pp. $27.99 (2011)

Online environments are becoming ever more convincing and pervasive. Psychologists Jim Blascovich and Jeremy Bailenson ask how our brains cope with virtual reality. Describing the emerging technologies and what they say about us, the authors point out how our interactions are mostly driven by age-old impulses to search for new experiences and deeper perspectives on ourselves. They argue that in that sense, virtual reality is just an extension of humanity.

Earth: The Operators' Manual

  • Richard B. Alley
W. W. Norton 479 pp. $27.95 (2011)

In a book to accompany a PBS documentary, climate scientist Richard Alley charts our expansive need for energy sources and the damage that fossil fuels are wreaking on our planet. Setting out the scientific facts clearly for the layperson rather than pushing particular solutions, he explains how we have come to be dependent on coal, oil and gas; points out the impact of greenhouse-gas emissions; and details the choices that will eventually have to be made over alternative forms of energy production.