'Vanished: An Unnatural History of Extinction' by Sadiah Qureshi
The book is a breathtaking account of extinction as both an evolutionary process and a human act. It revolves around the fact that anyone alive today is among a minor fraction of the once lived. It pulls the reader's interest with the interesting insight that 90 per cent of species that existed earlier are now extinct.
Exploring unnatural histories of extinction, the book triggers a vital question: how did we come to a pointless understanding that we are capable of pushing the planet to the verge of a sixth mass extinction?
'Is A River Alive' by Robert Macfarlane
The core idea behind the book is that rivers are not just for human use, but they, themselves, are a living entity, in imagination and by law. The author takes the readers on an exploration of the past, present and future of this urgent concept.
The book highlights a miraculous cloud forest in Ecuador and how gold mining is threatening the rivers. It also delves into Southern India, where fights to protect water bodies are underway. Then, the author takes us through a spectacular wild river – the Mutehekau or Magpie being defended from death through a river-rights campaign.
'Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy' by Mary Roach
The focus of the book is that our bodies regenerate at a remarkable rate. For instance, even if ninety per cent of a liver is removed, it will still grow back to its original size.
However, the book explores the complication in this concept when it comes to the brain, the heart and the eyes. The book discusses prosthetics, a sensitive way to harvest tissue and bones from the deceased, and if and how animals may serve as the best organ donors.
'Battle of the Big Bang: The New Tales of Our Cosmic Origins' by Niayesh Afshordi and Phil Halper
The work revolves around the call for new physics and a scientific debate on what took place before the Big Bang. Bouncing and cyclic universes, time loops, creations from nothing, multiverses, black hole births, string theories, and holograms are all part of the exploration in the book.
Incorporating ideas from Afshordi’s research and Halper’s interviews with scientists like Stephen Hawking, Roger Penrose, and Alan Guth, Battle of the Big Bang compares models for the origin of our origins and multiple theories behind it.
'Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe' by Carl Zimmer
This masterwork intertwines history with the latest airborne threats to global health based on aerobiology.
Zimmer chronicles how the United States and the Soviet Union secretly created arsenals of biological weapons designed to spread anthrax and smallpox. The book certainly prompts us to look at the world with new eyes.
'The Explorer’s Gene: Why We Seek Big Challenges, New Flavours and the Blank Spots on the Map' by Alex Hutchinson
The book presses on the fact that the human brain is wired to 'explore'. It highlights that the search for the 'unknown' is a 'natural urge' that has carved the history of our species.
The Explorer’s Gene makes the connection between stories of exploration with insights into behavioural psychology and neuroscience, making a powerful argument that our lives will be better, more productive, more meaningful, and fun when we break our habits and create a path of exploration.