Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety

  • Eric Schlosser
Penguin (2013)

After dishing the dirt on junk food in Fast Food Nation (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2001), Eric Schlosser tackles another weapon of mass destruction: the US nuclear arsenal. His propulsive narrative alternates between a history of nuclear arms and an account of a near miss: the explosion of a Titan II ballistic missile in Arkansas. Invoking sociologist Charles Perrow's finding that such “tightly coupled”, interactive systems can be undone by trivialities, Schlosser calls for new thinking on this legacy — and soon.

Neurocomic

Matteo Farinella and Hana Roš. Nobrow (2013)

Illustrator Matteo Farinella and neuroscientist Hana Roš have crafted a graphic introduction to the human brain that seethes with many-layered invention. Boy meets girl, and is propelled into the Alice in Wonderland world of her brain — where, for example, Camillo Golgi and Santiago Ramón y Cajal grapple in a forest of neurons. Morphology and plasticity, for example, are distinct regions of 'Brainland', in which greats in each field are tour guides, and neural phenomena appear as anything from key-wielding superheroes (neurotransmitters) to a haunted castle (consciousness).

Oil and Honey: The Education of an Unlikely Activist

  • Bill McKibben
Times Books (2013)

Environmental writer Bill McKibben set off shock waves in 1989 with The End of Nature (Anchor), the first popular treatment of climate change. Two years ago, with the impacts of oil-industry 'business as usual' biting, McKibben moved on to full-time climate activism. In this eloquent memoir, he interweaves reportage on deluges, heatwaves and melts with demonstrated solutions to “malfunctioning modernity”. High-profile protest is only part of that, he argues. A revolution in local sustainability is also essential — and achievable, as the story of a Vermont bee-keeper reveals.

Life Beyond Earth: The Search for Habitable Worlds in the Universe

Athena Coustenis and Thérèse Encrenaz. Cambridge University Press (2013)

Is the biosphere that so astounds us one of thousands? In this packed primer on exoplanetary life, distinguished astrophysicists Athena Coustenis and Thérèse Encrenaz summarize the science and speculation. Kicking off with planet formation, life's origins on Earth and extreme environments, they boldly go into areas such as potential habitats in the outer Solar System and far-future ideas such as “terraforming” Mars for human habitation.

Disease-Proof: The Remarkable Truth About What Makes Us Well

David L. Katz and Stacey Colino. Hudson Street Press (2013)

We are living longer, chronic disease rates are rising — and the trade-off is a dubious one, argues medic David Katz. With writer Stacey Colino, Katz presents a research-based approach to increasing the chances of reaching a healthy old age that brims with intelligent suggestions for behavioural change. The discipline involved is workable, from eliminating 'stealth' sources of sugar to exercising in the 'nooks and crannies' of a busy day; and Katz's vision for wellness encompasses societal change.