Drones and the Future of Armed Conflict: Ethical, Legal, and Strategic Implications

Eds David Cortright, Rachel Fairhurst & Kristen Wall. (Univ. Chicago Press, 2017)

This cogent and compelling edited volume on the burgeoning use of drones in warfare takes a hard look at issues such as accountability, even as it praises the technology. Contributors highlight the questionable efficacy and ethics surrounding the deployment of drones, particularly in Pakistan, and stress the need for international guidelines on their use.

Stem Cell Dialogues

  • Sheldon Krimsky
(Columbia Univ. Press, 2017)

Sociologist Sheldon Krimsky explores the history of stem-cell research through an unusual lens: Socratic dialogues. From the ethics of cloning to the politics of using embryonic stem cells, the scenarios examine the achievements and controversies of regenerative medicine.

The Genius of Birds

  • Jennifer Ackerman
(Penguin, 2017)

In a study scattered through with personal observations, science writer Jennifer Ackerman extols the startling intelligence of birds. New Caledonian crows can fashion tools, magpies recognize their own reflections and western scrub jays may hold “funerals”.

The Worst of Times

  • Paul B. Wignall
(Princeton Univ. Press, 2017)

Palaeontologist Paul Wignall journeys through the tumultuous end of the Permian period, some 260 million years ago, on supercontinent Pangaea. The era's catastrophic extinctions, he suggests, could be linked to its unprecedented levels of volcanism.

The Logician and the Engineer

  • Paul J. Nahin
(Princeton Univ. Press, 2017)

Proving that two heads are better than one in innovation, Paul Nahin examines how engineer Claude Shannon used mathematics devised by George Boole 90 years before to develop electrical circuits — and traces the advancement of high technology such as the abstract 'Turing machine'.

Into the Heart of Our World

  • David Whitehouse
(Pegasus, 2017)

In this vivid imagined trek into our planet's depths, science journalist David Whitehouse details the technological advances that are making possible astonishing discoveries, from the origins of seismology to the bacteria living deep in Earth's crust.

Heavenly Mathematics

  • Glen Van Brummelen
(Princeton Univ. Press, 2017)

Once a mainstay of mathematics, spherical trigonometry no longer appears on school curricula. Here, Glen Van Brummelen reasserts the field's importance, sharing in illuminating detail how it figured in astronomy, cartography and our understanding of Earth's rotation.

From Dust to Life

John Chambers & Jacqueline Mitton. (Princeton Univ. Press, 2017)

In this grand chronicle of the science behind the origins of our 4.6-billion-year-old Solar System, John Chambers and Jacqueline Mitton peruse everything from the giant collision thought to have formed our Moon to the nature of meteorites.

The Eternal Darkness

Robert D. Ballard & Will Hively. (Princeton Univ. Press, 2017)

Globally, just 1% of the sea floor has been explored in detail. Robert Ballard and Will Hively's exploration of that unforgiving environment reveals how divers reach it, and uncovers amazing beasts, such as blind white crabs and giant clams.

One in a Billion

Mark Johnson & Kathleen Gallagher. (Simon & Schuster, 2017)

Journalists Mark Johnson and Kathleen Gallagher tell the story of Nic Volker, a boy with a baffling inflammatory condition. Volker's life was saved when scientists harnessed DNA sequencing to identify the genetic mutation responsible.

The Age of Genomes

Steven Monroe Lipkin & Jon Luoma. (Beacon, 2017)

In his insightful tour of clinical genetics, Steven Lipkin shares the stories of his patients — some of whom have rare conditions. With science writer Jon Luoma, he also delves into the field's limitations, including the manipulation of DNA in high-profile murder cases.

Unravelling Starlight

  • Barbara J. Becker
(Cambridge Univ. Press, 2017)

In this exhaustive biography, Barbara Becker celebrates British astronomers William and Margaret Huggins. William contributed to the origins of astrophysics as the first to use a spectroscope to detect stellar motion in the line of sight; Margaret pioneered astrophotography.

Black Hole Blues

  • Janna Levin
(Alfred Knopf, 2017)

Astrophysicist Janna Levin records the long, arduous journey of the scientists building the nascent field of gravitational waves, from the enthusiasm of its founders to first detection five decades later (see Sheila Rowan's review: Nature 532, 28–29; 2016).