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“We Wanted to Create An Experience of Microscopic Awe”: A Radical New View of Sacred Plants

<img src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/f-ApnVvMcJ7YV7HbSOkUCiEoGusdNUVS28SfJb_obwA/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wOC9GcmVuY2hfSEVST180NTVlYjcucG5n" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"> The psychedelic experience has been described a thousand ways over the decades. But one analogy seems to repeat, according to German-American psychologist and writer <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/04/obituaries/ralph-metzner-dead.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ralph Metzner</a>, who participated in psychedelic research with Timothy Leary at Harvard University in the 1960s: the so-called microscope metaphor. “It has been repeatedly said that psychedelics could play the same role in psychology as the microscope does in biology,” Metzner wrote, “opening up realms in the human mind to direct, repeatable, verifiable observation that have hitherto been largely hidden or inaccessible.” The Metzner anecdote appears in the introduction to a new edition of <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691296074/sacred-plants-of-the-americas?srsltid=AfmBOooIWibfyIIJmY1FF6kUMYcMH0O7T8-PDS1bhkODk4FxHOthNOs5" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sacred Plants of the Americas</a>, co-authored by biomedical researcher <a href="https://papadakis.net/authors/jill-pflugheber/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jill Pflugheber</a> and historian and former professor of Latin American literature and film <a href="https://papadakis.net/authors/steven-f-white/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Steven F. White</a>. White and Pflugheber have turned the microscope metaphor idea on its head. The book is a catalog of trippy, dazzling images of the interiors of psychedelic and other sacred plants composed with the help of an advanced kind of microscope called a confocal microscope, which relies on laser beams to produce sharp high-contrast optical slices of thick living tissue—in this case plant stems, leaves, and flowers. The otherworldly materials come alive on the page in energetic patterns of fluorescent purples, blues, and greens. White and Pflugheber say these images offer a brand new way of seeing sacred plants, one they hope will change the way readers understand the plants and the natural world. The book is meant not only to create a dialogue between science and art, but also to bring Indigenous knowledge to the conversation through stories and cultural wisdom as it relates to the individual plants. I spoke with White and Pflugheber about what they want readers of their book to feel, the concept of two-eyed seeing, and how they think the relationship between humans and sacred plants may have evolved. Read more: “<a href="https://nautil.us/the-long-history-of-psychedelic-theft-430330" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Long History of Psychedelic Theft</a>” How did this book of sacred plant images come to be? Jill Pflugheber: I got into this because of a chance collaboration with Steven. I was teaching a course at St. Lawrence University on confocal microscopy to undergraduate students, and every semester, I’d have a competition amongst my students for the best image. I posted electronically to the university and the world at large, and everybody would vote on it. Steven had seen the contest because he was also working at St. Lawrence, and he voted, too. I used plants to help teach my students the technique because plants are auto-fluorescent. You can go outside, snip a leaf, put it on a slide with a mounting medium. I figured out that plants give you some cool images. I’d gotten a copy of Steven’s Ayahuasca Reader from a previous exhibit he did with Eduardo Luna. Steven came down, and he looked at some of the images posted on the wall. He was like, “Did you ever wonder what Banisteriopsis caapi (the plant that is at the core of ayahuasca) would look like under the confocal microscope?” That opened the floodgate. Three images became thousands. <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="422" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/QFKzggCHxhJOl_28PIhymPQsXmejb56isLiMDIPMAF4/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wOC9GcmVuY2hfQlJFQUtFUi5wbmclMjA4MDB3LCUyMGh0dHBzOi8vbGVkZS1hZG1pbi5uYXV0aWwudXMvd3AtY29udGVudC91cGxvYWRzL3NpdGVzLzcwLzIwMjYvMDgvRnJlbmNoX0JSRUFLRVIucG5n" alt class="wp-image-1283648" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Left: Banisteriopsis caapi (Tara yagé); right: Banisteriopsis caapi (Cielo). Scanned at St. Lawrence University’s Microscopy and Imagery Center, from Sacred Plants of the Americas (Princeton University Press), used with the permission of Jill Pflugheber & Steven F. White, © 2026.</figcaption></figure> Steven F. White: It took us eight or nine years to bring the project to fruition. We were focusing at first on the plants that are used to make the sacramental brew ayahuasca, but it quickly became something much more expansive. And I’m glad that it did because we wanted to talk about culturally significant plants, plants that have ceremonial uses in society, plants that are kind of spiritual—sweet grass, corn, the ancestor of potatoes—but also peyote and San Pedro and other plants that are psychoactive and sacred in that way. How did you choose which plants to include in the book? White: This required a great deal of research and careful planning. Even though there are more than 50 species of plants represented in the book, many more could have been included. But we did what we could because we needed to work with living material. That meant getting seeds, germinating them, getting live plants, and taking care of them. Years later, I’m still taking care of many of the plants. What we wanted to create was an experience of microscopic awe. Confocal microscopy allows us to encounter plants at a scale where science and beauty become inseparable. Once you begin to see the stomata and the trichomes and the xylem and pollen as intricate works of living architecture, it’s a lot harder to think of plants merely as resources. Technology extends our perception. But its purpose is ultimately ethical: to cultivate attention, wonder, and a more reciprocal relationship with the living world. That was my hope as the co-author of this book—to create that sense of wonder that <a href="https://www.dacherkeltner.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dacher Keltner</a> has talked about in his work. Jill and I have a joke between us that she calls the images “data” and I call them “art.” We would get together with the new images from a night’s work, and we’d pick the ones that most touched us and impassioned us. <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="653" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/En4jHefi-TwBiey4NobWWUk61VkF4l3H7wKbp80ZLp0/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wOC9GcmVuY2hfQlJFQUtFUi0yLnBuZyUyMDgwMHcsJTIwaHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wOC9GcmVuY2hfQlJFQUtFUi0yLnBuZw" alt class="wp-image-1283649" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Datura innoxia (toloache). Scanned at St. Lawrence University’s Microscopy and Imagery Center, from Sacred Plants of the Americas (Princeton University Press), used with the permission of Jill Pflugheber & Steven F. White, © 2026.</figcaption></figure> You suggest in the book that the confocal microscopy offers a genuinely new way of seeing. How did you balance the science with the art? How much of what we see is aesthetic choice versus what’s actually there at scale? Pflugheber: Plants are naturally autofluorescent, but if you look at them through a fluorescence microscope, which is a fairly standard lab item, it’s ugly. You can’t see anything because it’s just a green blur of nothingness. That’s why confocal is so cool. What happens with a fluorescence microscope, you’re seeing all the in- and out-of-focus fluorescence because the plant isn’t unicellular. It’s thick. What the confocal microscope does is scan a specific area within a field of view. It scans with three lasers across in a square pattern, line by line by line. The fluorescent laser light excites the fluorescent molecules within the plant, and those fluorescent submissions are picked up by a photo multiplier tube. So these aren’t pictures. They’re images, because the fluorescent light is turned into an electronic signal which is then carried to the computer and reconstructed in three-dimensional formats. They’re colorized images. It’s reconstructed. I started with a regular white light microscope that has GPS locators, so I could find spots that I thought might be interesting and mark them. Then I’d switch it over to the confocal and let it start scanning. I’d set the laser intensities and the gains for each channel so that it wasn’t oversaturated. I’d set everything up the night before and just let it run overnight. In the morning, we had maybe 20 images. Then I used the software to flatten it from a three-dimensional image into a two-dimensional image with the maximum fluorescence intensity for each of the different channels displayed. When you look at the images, you see clearly what the structures are. We did no staining. I didn’t use fluorescent markers, the way we do in biomedical research. We just let the plants emit what fluorescence they had. I also made the choice early on not to fix the plants with a fixative, which can change the fluorescent properties of the molecules contained within. The plants had to be alive. Dead plants don’t fluoresce. The proteins have started to break down. It was critical to have as close to living as possible leaf, stem, or plant. You could pick a leaf and fold it into wet paper towels, put it in a plastic bag, as Steven knows, because he’s done this for me multiple times. White: There would be like a 100-degree difference in temperature between our farm in Nicaragua where some of the plants came from and the lab in the United States in winter. I’d be traveling with these specimens and trying to make sure that they were as fresh as possible. We’re just talking about a leaf, a stem, and a flower, when we were lucky. But what most surprised me about this project was that the deeper we entered the microscopic world, the less isolated each plant appeared. So that every stoma, every trichome, every pollen grain seemed to me like they were revealing relationships with insects, fungi, climate atmosphere, timescales, and geologic time. It felt like we were seeing human culture in a different way. And at the microscopic scale, individuality gives way to interdependence. To me, that realization changed how I thought about plants and ultimately about ourselves and how we live in the world. What kinds of aesthetic choices did you make in these images? Pflugheber: The colors are representative of the wavelengths of light that I used to excite the molecules. I use three different laser lines with specific wavelengths of light from start to finish, and I use the same color scheme for each. It’s a little bit backward from the way it might normally be, but blue is the farthest red, the longest wavelength. Green is the shortest, and red is the middle wavelength. I kept it consistent throughout. Any colors that aren’t red, green, or blue are mixtures of red, green, and blue. Green and red in confocal makes yellow. Red and blue make sort of purple or magenta. <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="705" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/aUc8cpXlcQauk_AyTBr0CtUSOfgyICYqkl-uXl-7SbY/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wOC9GcmVuY2hfQlJFQUtFUi0zLnBuZyUyMDgwMHcsJTIwaHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wOC9GcmVuY2hfQlJFQUtFUi0zLnBuZw" alt class="wp-image-1283650" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Diplopterys cabrerana (chaliponga). Scanned at St. Lawrence University’s Microscopy and Imagery Center, from Sacred Plants of the Americas (Princeton University Press), used with the permission of Jill Pflugheber & Steven F. White, © 2026.</figcaption></figure> White: As a point of comparison, some readers will be interested in the work of <a href="https://www.robkesseler.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Rob Kesseler</a>. He has done some amazing books with an electron microscope, one on pollen, another on seeds, and another on fruit. We had the amazing privilege of getting a tour of Kew Gardens with Rob Kesseler a month or two ago when we were in London. When Rob works with these images of the electron microscopes, he makes decisions about colorization himself, with his artistic sensibilities based on his knowledge of the plants, so his work is different. With electron microscopy, you definitely get shades of gray. And he colorized by hand different areas of the images. In the book, you call yourself a plant ally, Steven. I wanted to know what that means to you. White: A plant humanist, an anthologist of vegetal lives. I’ve had to look for different ways to describe my role in the project. As an undergraduate, I was an English major at Williams College. I later taught Latin American literature and film. I traveled extensively in Latin America. I feel really comfortable that this book is limited to the Americas, because I know Latin America personally very well. When I graduated from Williams College as an undergraduate, I had this grant from the Hubbard Hutchinson Fellowship to research poetry for two years, so in 1977 and 1978, I traveled to Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chile. And then I went to Nicaragua in 1979. I ended up learning how to speak Spanish, really getting into Latin American poetry and learning a lot about the secret protagonist in Latin America, which is the landscape: the mountains, the rivers. It’s an amazing continent, the American continent. Read more: “<a href="https://nautil.us/how-indigenous-knowledge-could-save-fishing-1212406" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">How Indigenous Knowledge Could Save Fishing</a>” You mention ethical responsibility, and in the book, you write about our ethical responsibility toward this concept of two-eyed seeing, where Western science and Indigenous knowledge meet and work together. How did you handle the ethics of collaborating with the communities whose sacred plants are in the book? White: It’s really important, this concept of etuaptmumk, the two-eyed seeing that was developed by the Mi’kmaw elders: Albert and Murdena Marshall. They belong to the <a href="https://eskasoni.ca/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Eskasoni First Nation</a>. It’s a way for two kinds of knowledge, the Western and the Indigenous, to work together with mutual respect, and, in my case, admiration. Throughout my research, I was always looking for ways to find and emphasize the Indigenous research paradigm and to include those points of view. It’s a very small gesture of reciprocity. We, the people who produced the book, are supporting a really interesting project in Southern Colombia in the Putumayo, working with Bernardo Chindoy. Some Nautilus readers will remember the name <a href="https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2022/06/vita-richard-evans-schultes" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Richard Evan Schultes</a>, the legendary Harvard ethnobotanist. In the 1940s, his mentor in Colombia was Salvador Chindoy. And in the work that he did with certain plants, most of which were psychoactive, it was absolutely key for him to be able to consult with Salvador Chindoy. We are working now with Salvador Chindoy’s grandson. It helps me remember the idea that these shamanic or healing traditions are part of a lineage, a family tradition. We have supported the establishment of a garden of medicinal Brugmansias, the angel’s trumpets, in Southern Colombia. Bernardo and his daughter are using these Brugmansias to help women with pain during childbirth, for example. So we wanted to work with this concept of two-eyed seeing, and also to learn from <a href="https://www.robinwallkimmerer.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Robin Wall Kimmerer</a> and her grammar of animacy, the notion that Indigenous languages treat rocks, water, plants, and places as living beings, and <a href="https://www.csueastbay.edu/directory/profiles/es/salmonenrique.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Enrique Salmon</a>’s concept of iwígara, which proposes that all life-forms are interconnected and that we share breath with the plants. <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="705" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/jAEFega8M0ZGVLRuaf3swTPnVdd7JPi-sviNwpp3iQc/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wOC9GcmVuY2hfQlJFQUtFUi00LnBuZyUyMDgwMHcsJTIwaHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wOC9GcmVuY2hfQlJFQUtFUi00LnBuZw" alt class="wp-image-1283652" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Brugmansia sanguinea (blood-red angel’s trumpet). Scanned at St. Lawrence University’s Microscopy and Imagery Center, from Sacred Plants of the Americas (Princeton University Press), used with the permission of Jill Pflugheber & Steven F. White, © 2026.</figcaption></figure> Are there other collaborations underway between Western science and Indigenous knowledge in this area of sacred plants? White: In the first part of September, there’s going to be a World Ayahuasca Forum that’s going to be held in Spain. More than 100 Indigenous leaders and healers are going to be participating in this gathering. It’s going to change the direction of how knowledge is shared and appreciated, including intellectual property rights. But many projects are underway. Our project is a reflection of that interest. Will people who know ceremonial plants find any surprises in the book? White: In some cases, yes, there is new scientific research. For example, in the case of cacao, we’ve learned that ceremonial cacao is excellent for cardiovascular health. Also, a common misconception might be that in the ancient Indigenous societies, cacao was only for the elite. But new archeological research has <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2121821119" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">shown</a> that in some Maya societies, just about everybody had a cacao plant in their yard, and they’d use it for their own medicinal purposes. It was much more egalitarian in terms of its use. Pflugheber: One of the things that I particularly love is that these confocal images show biology in action. One of the functions of trichomes of the plant is protection. The trichomes carry terpenes, which are chemical messengers. They’re for protection against predators or attraction of pollinators. You can see most of the terpenes traveling through the trichomes with these images. I love seeing that. You can see open versus closed stoma and the guard cells around the stoma, the different proteins that light up when they open versus when they close. White: On the one hand, science has given us the James Webb Space Telescope, which has expanded humanity’s vision out into the cosmos. On the other, confocal microscopy has expanded it inward into these living plant worlds that have always surrounded us but have remained largely invisible. It’s a different kind of expansion, but it’s still showing how technology is enlarging wonder rather than diminishing it. In the chapter on ayahuasca, you ask, “Why did humans evolve this connection with mind-altering plants that can mitigate our destructive relationship with the natural world?” I recently came across a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that suggests that, in fact, this relationship with humans is just a side effect, a consequence of shared brain chemistry with the real targets of these chemical compounds: slugs and other creatures of the forest. What do you think about that? White: I read it, too. I think it’s great. It’s something that we need to continue to explore. A group of Chinese scientists published the article, and I found their work fascinating. But before we accept definitively a conclusion like the one that they proposed, perhaps we should consider all the Indigenous knowledge and shamanic practice that would challenge those conclusions. The human relationship with these plants is quite old. There’s archeological evidence, not for ayahuasca so much as peyote, San Pedro the cactus, the coca leaf, the Anadenanthera plant. You can show archaeologically that we’ve had a relationship to tobacco for 12,300 years or more. It’s been a long time that humans have been engaged with these plants and using them for healing purposes, for social cohesion. Let’s stop, think, and reflect, but not forget the Indigenous contribution to this discussion. <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="705" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/0jKM0ZJd6dg0OHsDpfY-E9lJK85MVAaZoUd6NYkaP-Y/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wOC9GcmVuY2hfQlJFQUtFUi01LnBuZyUyMDgwMHcsJTIwaHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wOC9GcmVuY2hfQlJFQUtFUi01LnBuZw" alt class="wp-image-1283653" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Anadenanthera colubrina (cebil). Scanned at St. Lawrence University’s Microscopy and Imagery Center, from Sacred Plants of the Americas (Princeton University Press), used with the permission of Jill Pflugheber & Steven F. White, © 2026.</figcaption></figure> Enjoying <a href="https://nautil.us/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nautilus</a>? Subscribe to our free <a href="https://nautil.us/newsletter/?_sp=c43011db-6fcf-42f2-a38c-e033b87a4a1d.1759265717430" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">newsletter</a>. Lead image: Cannabis sativa (marijuana). Scanned at St. Lawrence University’s Microscopy and Imagery Center, from Sacred Plants of the Americas (Princeton University Press), used with the permission of Jill Pflugheber & Steven F. White, © 2026.

2026/8/11

Omniscient Tree Networks and Immortal Amoebas: 9 Books We’re Excited to Read This August

<img src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/0D8l1rlOqV-xCMDSypuBewHPFj1gSUdxK1WQtA3B7M0/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNy9hdWctaGVyby5wbmc" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"> Summer’s still going strong, and I, for one, am not done with my summer reading just yet. I’m planning to wrap up my summer with a few more science-fiction novels, an illustrated book about traditional plant uses, and a few nonfiction books that offer some hope for the future. If any of that sounds good to you, read on: Here are the books I’m most excited about this month. <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/MAYA-Seed-Takes-Root/Anand-Gandhi/MAYA/9798893311891" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Maya: Seed Takes Root</a> by Anand Gandhi & Zain Memon <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="484" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/2JCL7ByHRSbgj5B2YWyW6ZWwG5UFOXpdXhv4xg4IMX8/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNy9tYXlhLWJyZWFrZXIucG5nJTIwODAwdywlMjBodHRwczovL2xlZGUtYWRtaW4ubmF1dGlsLnVzL3dwLWNvbnRlbnQvdXBsb2Fkcy9zaXRlcy83MC8yMDI2LzA3L21heWEtYnJlYWtlci5wbmc" alt class="wp-image-1283105" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Simon & Schuster</figcaption></figure> This novel features a planet-wide Maya tree network, through which the humans connected to it can precinct every action, and thus control the world through the shape of desire. But what happens where there’s one person who is not already hooked into the network? Maya blends science fiction, fantasy, and philosophy, and I can’t wait to read it. And, as a bonus, it comes with a thoughtful forward by neuroscientist and Nautilus contributor <a href="https://nautil.us/why-conscious-ai-is-a-bad-bad-idea-302937" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Anil Seth</a>. <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691266985/a-is-for-amoeba" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">A Is for Amoeba: The Story of Life in a Single Cell</a> by Nicholas P. Money <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="484" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/1UVquArLD2J-B5V2aIZb3SBy6muFPzf6dLuw0rwu5fM/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNy9BbW9lYmEtYnJlYWtlci5wbmclMjA4MDB3LCUyMGh0dHBzOi8vbGVkZS1hZG1pbi5uYXV0aWwudXMvd3AtY29udGVudC91cGxvYWRzL3NpdGVzLzcwLzIwMjYvMDcvQW1vZWJhLWJyZWFrZXIucG5n" alt class="wp-image-1283106" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Princeton University Press</figcaption></figure> The amoeba doesn’t get enough credit. Far from being a generic blob bumping about randomly, the titular organism emerges in this book as a creature that makes decisions, hunts its prey, and has achieved a sort of immortality through its unusual reproduction. Beyond that, author Nicholas Money explores how the amoeba can help to advance a number of scientific fields, from cancer treatment to robotics.  <a href="https://nyupress.org/9781479833429/science-fiction-ecologies/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science Fiction Ecologies: Worldmaking with Butler, LeGuin, and Merrill</a> by Shelly Streeby <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="484" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/mY066Q4-i-3XoyNUlkK2Mh6QHTVved1Uprsv81PVEKg/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNy9TY2llbmNlLUZpY3Rpb24tRWNvbG9naWVzLWJyZWFrZXIucG5nJTIwODAwdywlMjBodHRwczovL2xlZGUtYWRtaW4ubmF1dGlsLnVzL3dwLWNvbnRlbnQvdXBsb2Fkcy9zaXRlcy83MC8yMDI2LzA3L1NjaWVuY2UtRmljdGlvbi1FY29sb2dpZXMtYnJlYWtlci5wbmc" alt class="wp-image-1283107" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">NYU Press</figcaption></figure> There’s nothing I love more than a novel with thorough and engrossing world building. In this nonfiction book, author Shelly Streeby investigates how these three groundbreaking, feminist science-fiction authors used the historical events in the worlds around them to construct imaginary worlds that still feel incredibly relevant to our modern milieu.  <a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/stuart-firestein/it-could-be-otherwise/9781541606739/?lens=basic-books" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">It Could Be Otherwise: Science in the Age of Uncertainty</a> by Stuart Firestein  <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="484" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/hpmNcA7JCwP__sRxv6AKV29pLWTB2E42LmIlbFG1Tjs/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNy9Db3VsZGJlb3RoZXJ3aXNlLWJyZWFrZXIucG5nJTIwODAwdywlMjBodHRwczovL2xlZGUtYWRtaW4ubmF1dGlsLnVzL3dwLWNvbnRlbnQvdXBsb2Fkcy9zaXRlcy83MC8yMDI2LzA3L0NvdWxkYmVvdGhlcndpc2UtYnJlYWtlci5wbmc" alt class="wp-image-1283108" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Hachette Book Group</figcaption></figure> It’s bleak out there. It feels like science is being attacked on a number of fronts, all while the world burns around us. Nevertheless, author and Nautilus contributor <a href="https://nautil.us/why-scientists-need-to-fail-better-235674" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Stuart Firestein</a> gives us a beacon of hope. He argues for science that embraces uncertainty, promoting creativity and possibility. He paints science as an agent of freedom, and illuminates a path that makes redemption through science feel possible. <a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/samuel-cord-stier/bioinspired/9781643261447/?lens=timber-press" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bioinspired: How Nature Made Us Modern, Drives Technological Innovation, and Inspires a Future Worth Inventing</a> by Samuel Cord Stier <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="484" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/Z4sgyVM5Tbvd-3_Ijr3SNxIhUEs9fPvLEu-CkcRNhOY/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNy9iaW9pbnNwaXJlZC1icmVha2VyLnBuZyUyMDgwMHcsJTIwaHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNy9iaW9pbnNwaXJlZC1icmVha2VyLnBuZw" alt class="wp-image-1283109" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Hachette Book Group</figcaption></figure> From sharks helping airplanes fly to ants shaping video games, this book takes a look at the many ways nature has inspired, and continues to inspire, modern inventions. The book doesn’t stop with the past—it also explores how bioinspiration just might prove key to a sustainable future. <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/483176/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-artificial-state-by-lepore-jill/9780241836552" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State</a> by Jill Lepore <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="484" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/O8MV_QMar9sZ9l9vD-psEpksswvNPQXImt22UzvKal4/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNy9hcnRpZmljaWFsc3RhdGUtYnJlYWtlci5wbmclMjA4MDB3LCUyMGh0dHBzOi8vbGVkZS1hZG1pbi5uYXV0aWwudXMvd3AtY29udGVudC91cGxvYWRzL3NpdGVzLzcwLzIwMjYvMDcvYXJ0aWZpY2lhbHN0YXRlLWJyZWFrZXIucG5n" alt class="wp-image-1283110" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Penguin Random House</figcaption></figure> In this book, historian Jill Lepore describes how technology has corroded democracy itself. From political campaigns driven by algorithms to corporations controlling public discourse, Lepore suggests that we’ve given over too much of our agency to artificial intelligence. She uses the lens of history to show us just how far we’ve gone down this precarious path. But it isn’t all despair—Lepore encourages us to recognize what we’ve done, undo the things we shouldn’t have done, and fight for a better future now. <a href="https://torpublishinggroup.com/a-plagued-sea/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">A Plagued Sea</a> by Kim Bo-Young <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="484" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/tC6rdEd7LNgPBs_dPHO5wCzweMpDG9MUX6sBdbzzP1k/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNy9QbGFndWVkc2VhLWJyZWFrZXIucG5nJTIwODAwdywlMjBodHRwczovL2xlZGUtYWRtaW4ubmF1dGlsLnVzL3dwLWNvbnRlbnQvdXBsb2Fkcy9zaXRlcy83MC8yMDI2LzA3L1BsYWd1ZWRzZWEtYnJlYWtlci5wbmc" alt class="wp-image-1283111" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Macmillian</figcaption></figure> In this new novel, an underwater volcano erupts, unleashing havoc on a small coastal community in Korea. Along with reshaping the landscape, the volcano belches up a virus that transforms those humans who contract it. If you’re looking for a sci-fi horror novel that’s as hard to forget as it is to turn away from, look no further. <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/How-the-Internet-Disrupted-Science/Kent-Anderson/9781493094400" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">How the Internet Disrupted Science</a> by Kent Anderson & Joy Moore <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="484" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/fh2uCjbVKYJr-OTEYk38sA_Mk7WjyOzn0JjYBn085fI/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNy9kaXNydXB0ZWRzY2llbmNlLWJyZWFrZXIucG5nJTIwODAwdywlMjBodHRwczovL2xlZGUtYWRtaW4ubmF1dGlsLnVzL3dwLWNvbnRlbnQvdXBsb2Fkcy9zaXRlcy83MC8yMDI2LzA3L2Rpc3J1cHRlZHNjaWVuY2UtYnJlYWtlci5wbmc" alt class="wp-image-1283112" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Simon & Schuster</figcaption></figure> More information is available to the average person than ever before. But how much of it can you trust? This book dives into how the internet has actually hurt the pursuit of science, from unreliable online reports to big-money skewing what we study. The authors tell us it’s not too late, we can return to the self-correcting practices that make for good science—but we need to act now. <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691296074/sacred-plants-of-the-americas" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sacred Plants of the Americas</a> by Jill Pflugheber & Steven F. White <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="484" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/RSRm15fnke6gATYmIyoQlmLN1p_cPV9iHMiKsJs1FsE/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNy9zYWNyZWQtcGxhbnRzLWJyZWFrZXIucG5nJTIwODAwdywlMjBodHRwczovL2xlZGUtYWRtaW4ubmF1dGlsLnVzL3dwLWNvbnRlbnQvdXBsb2Fkcy9zaXRlcy83MC8yMDI2LzA3L3NhY3JlZC1wbGFudHMtYnJlYWtlci5wbmc" alt class="wp-image-1283113" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Princeton University Press</figcaption></figure> This book profiles plants used by Indigenous cultures for centuries, including the lore as well as the scientific properties those plants possess. The entries, which include coca, peyote, sweetgrass, and more, are accompanied by beautifully detailed illustrations. The book combines anthropology, ancient wisdom, and art, and I can’t wait to dive in. <img decoding="async" class="wp-image-13765" style="width: 14px" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/K5BeklfetpcQfE9CFaCTJtB6WTBLqf3PmyQUNQIA9Js/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hc3NldHMubmF1dGlsLnVzL3NpdGVzLzMvbmF1dGlsdXMvbmF1dGlsdXMtZmF2aWNvbi0xNC5wbmc" alt referrerpolicy="no-referrer"> Lead image: Tasnuva Elahi; with image by Yulia / Adobe Stock

2026/7/28

A Forgotten Literary Window Into the Personal Life of Alan Turing

<img src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/k3FTe3W-GwdAWK83iJF0fSqxuyBspS-atMB7sG7nDq0/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNy9HcmFudF9IRVJPX2RjZTMzMC5wbmc" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"> Alan Turing is a towering figure in the history of computer science. The British mathematician’s work in the early- to mid-20th century established a foundation for digital computer processing and artificial intelligence, played a pivotal role in cracking the German Enigma code during World War II, and launched the concept of <a href="https://nautil.us/how-alan-turing-deciphered-shark-skin-237289" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">morphogenesis</a>, which uses physics and math to describe how biological patterns emerge.  But the man often touted as the father of modern computational science, also lived something of a tragic life. Accused of “gross indecency” by United Kingdom authorities in 1952 for having an intimate homosexual relationship, Turing pled guilty and underwent chemical castration with synthetic estrogen designed to reduce his libido in a probation deal that allowed him to continue his research. He died two years later, at age 41, as a result of cyanide poisoning under somewhat suspicious circumstances. In the modern popular imagination, Turing’s persona is largely shaped by the 2015 movie, The Imitation Game, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the visionary mathematician, Although the film was nominated for several Academy Awards (it won only one, for Best Adapted Screenplay), it was roundly criticized for downplaying Turing’s homosexuality. Now, a previously unpublished short story penned by Turing sometime in late 1952 or early 1953—as he was living through the repercussions of his indecency conviction—is tweaking his popular image, showing that the researcher has not just a brilliant, socially awkward thinker, but had a vibrant inner life as well. Archivists at King’s College Cambridge have fully transcribed the six-page, hand-written manuscript, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/res/advance-article/doi/10.1093/res/hgag047/8740175" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">publishing</a> an analysis of the work in The Review of English Studies yesterday. Read more: “<a href="https://nautil.us/goodbye-turing-test-bring-on-the-turing-decathlon-235272" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Goodbye, Turing Test; Bring on the Turing Decathlon</a>” “We’ve distilled a version of Turing that is a two-dimensional stereotype,” said Sarah Dillon, an English professor at the University of Cambridge and author of the paper, in a <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1135751" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">statement</a>. “He’s come to be seen as socially unaware, entirely concerned with logic and numbers, and pretty isolated. His short story reveals a very different man: playful, funny, cheeky, literary, and someone who really liked sex.” Dillon suggests that the untitled story, which is known as <a href="https://turingarchive.kings.cam.ac.uk/biographical-and-personal-documents-amta/amt-a-13" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pryce’s Buoy</a>, is semi-autobiographical, as it follows a gay scientist named Alec Pryce as he initiates a sexual encounter with Ron Miller, a working-class young man looking to profit from such a tryst. In one scene, Miller thinks to himself, “If he let someone take him under the arches for ten minutes he might get five bob.” As Pryce sizes up Miller he thinks, “Not a real beauty, but had a certain appeal. Beggars couldn’t be choosers.” The fictional couple’s brief courtship ends up in a restaurant, where the story abruptly ends with the line, “Ron wouldn’t.” “There was clearly more and that’s so frustrating,” Dillon added. “We don’t know where the rest of it went. We don’t know if Turing’s mum censored it. Did it get more sexually explicit? How did it end? That’s frustrating but everything else is so exciting.” Dillion writes in the paper that Turing was likely heavily influenced by the most significant gay writer in the post-war era: Angus Wilson. The mathematician, she notes, was quite interested in gay fiction of the day, including Wilson’s most notable work, a novel titled Hemlock and After, according to accounts from his friends. “Given this interest in homosexual fiction, it is not unreasonable to think that Turing would have read Hemlock and After closely upon its publication in July 1952, which would mean he encountered this quite remarkable novel shortly after his own prosecution,” she writes. Turing, Dillon suggests, imitates Wilson’s style of visiting the inner thoughts of several characters, weaving those into a broader narrative set in a particular social scene. Beyond expanding the scope of the popular perception of Turing the person, the newly transcribed short story contains broader lessons about who and what scientists can be, Dillon adds. “We need to stop thinking that the literary and the scientific are binary opposites. They’re not,” she said. “Lots of scientists read and write literature, and lots of literary people are very skilled at science. If you polarise or aggrandise one over the other, you lose the mix we need to function as individuals and communities.” <img decoding="async" class="wp-image-13765" style="width: 14px" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/K5BeklfetpcQfE9CFaCTJtB6WTBLqf3PmyQUNQIA9Js/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hc3NldHMubmF1dGlsLnVzL3NpdGVzLzMvbmF1dGlsdXMvbmF1dGlsdXMtZmF2aWNvbi0xNC5wbmc" alt referrerpolicy="no-referrer"> Enjoying <a href="https://nautil.us/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nautilus</a>? Subscribe to our free <a href="https://nautil.us/newsletter/?_sp=c43011db-6fcf-42f2-a38c-e033b87a4a1d.1759265717430" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">newsletter</a>. Lead image: By Elliott & Fry / Wikimedia Commons

2026/7/24

11 Books to Read This July

<img src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/V3GeO4l8KdS999ADiztweLK1mzUGhiZInRjgwUXqbV4/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi9KdWx5X0hFUk8ucG5n" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"> There’s something about July. We’re in the deep summer; in many parts of the world it’s too hot to move. So, what better to do than settle in with an icy drink and a good book? This month, we have some contemplative picks for you. What is the link between data and power? What would happen if someone leaked a deadly disease from a lab? Are maggots secretly fascinating? Why can’t we just pack up and move to Mars? The answers to these questions and more can be found in the wilds of these 11 books. <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/data-empire-roopika-risam?variant=44401427513378" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Data Empire: The Power of Information to Organize, Control and Dominate</a> by Roopika Risam <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="484" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/94H1e54smrYAngcsaVAufq8Xpdw5w5ftXQRfmcy-3R8/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi9EYXRhLWVtcGlyZS1icmVha2VyLnBuZyUyMDgwMHcsJTIwaHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi9EYXRhLWVtcGlyZS1icmVha2VyLnBuZw" alt class="wp-image-1282352" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">HarperCollins Publishers</figcaption></figure> The first human name recorded in written history was an accountant. This book explores the idea that data is power and always has been. From early human history through our present day, in which the power brokers of data are rapidly changing, this is an eye-opening look at our past, and our future.  <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/783250/biological-war-by-annie-jacobsen/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Biological War: A Scenario</a> by Annie Jacobson <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="484" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/h7j7l_fz3kMOrxbUblmMF4kai_13_qkSNhkcw93z3RY/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi9iaW9sb2dpY2Fsd2FyLWJyZWFrZXIucG5nJTIwODAwdywlMjBodHRwczovL2xlZGUtYWRtaW4ubmF1dGlsLnVzL3dwLWNvbnRlbnQvdXBsb2Fkcy9zaXRlcy83MC8yMDI2LzA2L2Jpb2xvZ2ljYWx3YXItYnJlYWtlci5wbmc" alt class="wp-image-1282353" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Penguin Random House</figcaption></figure> New York Times bestselling author Annie Jacobson explores what might happen were a biological war to erupt. While it reads like dystopian prose, the information is based on dozens of interviews with experts, painting a chilling picture of a disaster that’s all too possible. <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/796240/hidden-creatures-by-dino-martins/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hidden Creatures: Luscious Leeches, Bashful Botflies, and the Wondrous, History-Shaping World of Parasites</a> by Dino Martins <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="484" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/kb1t2D5fu1QxSq334j1g5W6_xiuEgU1NIr2MSHvMPLU/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi9oaWRkZW5jcmVhdHVyZS1icmVha2VyLnBuZyUyMDgwMHcsJTIwaHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi9oaWRkZW5jcmVhdHVyZS1icmVha2VyLnBuZw" alt class="wp-image-1282354" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Penguin Random House</figcaption></figure> I never thought I would describe a book about parasites as a fun-filled good time, but here we are. Author Dino Martins treats us to a close-up look at a number of different parasites, and because he thinks they’re awesome, I have to say now I do, too. Delightful chapter names, including such gems as “Marvelous Maggots” and “Fabulous Fleas” hint at a writing style filled with wonder, whimsy, and what seems like genuine appreciation for these, shall we say, less snuggly creatures of the world.  <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/818144/the-felicity-complex-by-august-clarke/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Felicity Complex</a> by August Clarke <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="484" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/AWBaJTlnofvGfzTq_gRromyv8QHK27p59lXPl7tdi0E/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi9mZWxpY2l0eWNvbXBsZXgtYnJlYWtlci5wbmclMjA4MDB3LCUyMGh0dHBzOi8vbGVkZS1hZG1pbi5uYXV0aWwudXMvd3AtY29udGVudC91cGxvYWRzL3NpdGVzLzcwLzIwMjYvMDYvZmVsaWNpdHljb21wbGV4LWJyZWFrZXIucG5n" alt class="wp-image-1282355" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Penguin Random House</figcaption></figure> This dystopian satire starts with a bang—we find ourselves in an isolation tank with a lab-grown woman. She, and five others like her, have been created to comfort wealthy survivalists in a luxury fallout shelter. But what happens when they rebel against their programming? Who will survive the end times, the served or the servants? <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/769255/our-wild-familiars-by-dan-werb/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Our Wild Familiars: How Animals Are Adapting to Cities and Reshaping the Natural World</a> by Dan Werb <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="484" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/HvLd-o7rGN6jPW53H9gTnHmd6MQ9nvyJlzc4p494p5E/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi9PdXJXaWxkRmFtaWxpYXJzLWJyZWFrZXIucG5nJTIwODAwdywlMjBodHRwczovL2xlZGUtYWRtaW4ubmF1dGlsLnVzL3dwLWNvbnRlbnQvdXBsb2Fkcy9zaXRlcy83MC8yMDI2LzA2L091cldpbGRGYW1pbGlhcnMtYnJlYWtlci5wbmc" alt class="wp-image-1282357" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Penguin Random House</figcaption></figure> “We have never really been alone,” writes author Dan Werb. There are now, and have always been, animals all around us, even if we live in concrete jungles. Werb explores the many ways in which animals have adapted to become expert city dwellers and considers what sort of balance we might need to strike in the future, as our cities continue encroaching on what little truly wild land remains.  <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/808536/the-shell-seeker-by-juli-berwald/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Shell Seeker</a> by Juli Berwald <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="484" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/x2m_6lMWVnTDHNJj0KeatdDL1pJA4M5aOSgfh3hH5c0/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi9zaGVsbHNlZWtlci1icmVha2VyLnBuZyUyMDgwMHcsJTIwaHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi9zaGVsbHNlZWtlci1icmVha2VyLnBuZw" alt class="wp-image-1282358" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Penguin Random House</figcaption></figure> Beautiful illustrations work together with fascinating facts to paint a detailed portrait of 30 different shells. While each page is packed information, the book feels like author and Nautilus contributor <a href="https://nautil.us/author/juliberwald">Juli Berwald</a> is simply having a conversation with readers. This book is perfect for anyone who’s ever picked up a shell and wondered what sort of creature made it. <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324021681" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Snake Men: Rebels, Reptiles, and the Race to Name the Creatures of Earth</a> by Zach St. George <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="484" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/fpMf8YOUU25DH0UIIlPMdwSKCFYcggYkYiN-MclTRYs/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi9TbmFrZW1lbi1icmVha2VyLnBuZyUyMDgwMHcsJTIwaHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi9TbmFrZW1lbi1icmVha2VyLnBuZw" alt class="wp-image-1282359" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">W. W. Norton & Company</figcaption></figure> Every time we encounter a species we haven’t seen before, someone has to give it a name. This book takes a wry look at the eccentric people who’ve been naming Australia’s deadliest reptiles, and the surprising conflict between “snake men” and traditional taxonomists.  <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691281285/lunacy?srsltid=AfmBOoqDdXtG8hJyV4vx41vF3msqFqM2hJVAoM3w_MRSyA5VswHVVgkP" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lunacy: Ten False Promises of the New Space Age</a> by Ben Bramble <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="484" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/c58LEH0A8lZ5RfI8YwF4I53NDhge2by0PiSKjjZ30B4/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi9MdW5hY3ktYnJlYWtlci5wbmclMjA4MDB3LCUyMGh0dHBzOi8vbGVkZS1hZG1pbi5uYXV0aWwudXMvd3AtY29udGVudC91cGxvYWRzL3NpdGVzLzcwLzIwMjYvMDYvTHVuYWN5LWJyZWFrZXIucG5n" alt class="wp-image-1282360" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Princeton University Press</figcaption></figure> We’ve all heard the claims. We can just live on Mars when things go awry here. Or, people will be living on the moon in the next five years. Author Ben Bramble provides a harsh—and much needed—reality check. He systematically goes through 10 such claims and refutes them all. We should explore space for curiosity’s sake, not as a half-baked back-up plan. <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374619794/cloudthief/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cloudthief</a> by Nathaniel Rich <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="484" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/eJgVb9n1_vdYNTMNSlQY6hTBHg8yranPkj2KPyJjLp0/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi9DbG91ZHRoaWVmLWJyZWFrZXIucG5nJTIwODAwdywlMjBodHRwczovL2xlZGUtYWRtaW4ubmF1dGlsLnVzL3dwLWNvbnRlbnQvdXBsb2Fkcy9zaXRlcy83MC8yMDI2LzA2L0Nsb3VkdGhpZWYtYnJlYWtlci5wbmc" alt class="wp-image-1282361" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Macmillan Publishers</figcaption></figure> A heist novel for the modern era, Cloudthief follows Tim, a disillusioned climate journalist, and Virginia, a paranoid and tech savvy con artist, as they, fueled by desperation, decide to try to rob a data center, the size of a small city, that contains all the world’s public and private information. A definite page-turner, this novel asks us to take a look at ourselves and the world we’ve created, where privacy is gone and nothing is secure. <a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/dr-lixing-sun/on-the-origin-of-sex/9781541609174/?lens=basic-books" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">On the Origin of Sex: The Weird and Wonderful Science of Reproduction</a> by Lixing Sun <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="484" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/FqP27YKqe5llhkpLsNyEpRzm5I3JlU9J8vHc5DHHCY4/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi9vcmlnaW5vZnNleC1icmVha2VyLnBuZyUyMDgwMHcsJTIwaHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi9vcmlnaW5vZnNleC1icmVha2VyLnBuZw" alt class="wp-image-1282362" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Hachette Book Group</figcaption></figure> This book takes a deep dive into sexual reproduction in all its weird variations. It goes behind closed doors of organisms from slime mold to lizards to duck-billed platypuses. Did you know that California condors are capable of reproducing without fertilized eggs? Think there are only two sexes? Well, buckle up, because slime molds can have hundreds of proto-sexes. Clownfish can change from male to female, and bearded dragons who can undergo sex reversal.  <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324117889" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Earth Said Remember Me: How to Revive Our Memories and Restore the Planet</a> by Jason Dove Mark <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="484" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/JisXhTrqkmG0vUFGyWHZ2z8AEKsyjRo1yf00XAsO_Hk/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi9lYXJ0aHNhaWQtYnJlYWtlci5wbmclMjA4MDB3LCUyMGh0dHBzOi8vbGVkZS1hZG1pbi5uYXV0aWwudXMvd3AtY29udGVudC91cGxvYWRzL3NpdGVzLzcwLzIwMjYvMDYvZWFydGhzYWlkLWJyZWFrZXIucG5n" alt class="wp-image-1282363" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">W. W. Norton & Company</figcaption></figure> With each summer hotter than the one before, it can be hard to summon up any hope for the future of our beleaguered planet. But author Jason Dove Mark does just that. Weaving hope and resistance together, he lays forth a plan to remember our planet—the way it was before climate change really took hold—and to use that remembrance as motivation to double down on protecting Earth, one person at a time. <img decoding="async" class="wp-image-13765" style="width: 14px" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/K5BeklfetpcQfE9CFaCTJtB6WTBLqf3PmyQUNQIA9Js/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hc3NldHMubmF1dGlsLnVzL3NpdGVzLzMvbmF1dGlsdXMvbmF1dGlsdXMtZmF2aWNvbi0xNC5wbmc" alt referrerpolicy="no-referrer"> Lead image: Tasnuva Elahi; with image by Pixelbuddha Studio and sumonnath / Adobe Stock

2026/6/30

9 Books We’re Excited About This June

<img src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/cHJpt_O4wpn0HBEYktjWBPI6-CSx89MuJnFJ9ms1l8k/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi9KdW5lYm9va3MtaGVyby5wbmc" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"> Did you know that female hyenas have to invert their external clitoris before a male can mate with them? On a different note, did you know we laid the first cables at the bottom of the sea all the way back in 1845? And have you ever considered what it would be like to meet a copy of yourself? This month, our book picks take us from the ocean to the skies, and everywhere in between. Without further ado, here are nine books I’m super psyched to read this June.  <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324089049" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Poking the Squid: What We Can Learn from Animal Sex</a> by Perrin Roosevelt Ireland <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="484" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/vT9k4X1VN3Np3URFyui51qWeOfgRRIPBNjAQTClsNzw/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi8xLnBuZyUyMDgwMHcsJTIwaHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi8xLnBuZw" alt class="wp-image-1281589" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">W. W. Norton & Company</figcaption></figure> Who wouldn’t want to read a comic book for adults about animal sex? Author and artist Perrin Roosevelt Ireland takes us on a wild journey through the animal kingdom, from matriarchal hyenas to pregnant male seahorses to snake clitorises. Chock full of facts I never knew I was missing, this book is a very rare perfect blend of fascinating and just plain old fun.  <a href="https://torpublishinggroup.com/sublimation/?isbn=9781250376794&format=hardback" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sublimation</a> by Isabel J. Kim  <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="484" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/TGoAm_CZHwCtBRQHQrUzvzlgj9FsV-qDVNvSeomRQqI/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi8yLnBuZyUyMDgwMHcsJTIwaHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi8yLnBuZw" alt class="wp-image-1281590" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Tor Publishing Group</figcaption></figure> Humans take international travel for granted these days. But what if you duplicated every time you crossed a border? And then reunited with your original self later on in life? And, just to really get wild, what if your original self had nefarious intentions toward you? That’s the premise of this sci-fi novel. It’s a wild ride, and I’m psyched to take it. <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/the-book-of-birds" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Book of Birds: A Field Guide to Wonder and Loss</a> by Robert MacFarlane & Jackie Morris <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="484" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/pyIaUxKy-K1tMjYytNA00QKWDGVpWcRyjInfJHO31UA/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi8zLnBuZyUyMDgwMHcsJTIwaHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi8zLnBuZw" alt class="wp-image-1281591" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">W. W. Norton & Company</figcaption></figure> There are less birds than there used to be. This field guide looks at 49 different birds, combining beautiful watercolor illustrations with vivid prose to paint a detailed portrait of birds we may not know for much longer. From typical field guide data like flight and feeding habits to a deeper consideration of how these birds’ lives intersect with our own, this book takes the reader from understanding to compassion, all without being maudlin or cloying. A love letter to the variety and mysteries of our feathered friends, this is one not to miss.  <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324036029" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lightning Beneath the Sea: The Race to Wire the World and the Dawn of the Information Age</a> by James M. Tabor <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="484" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/uBAVUArrQxpXmL5WTxbasfpGYlOm_jTXDTn59CY2fOI/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi80LnBuZyUyMDgwMHcsJTIwaHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi80LnBuZw" alt class="wp-image-1281592" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">W. W. Norton & Company</figcaption></figure> I find it mind-boggling to think that we were already wiring the ocean floor in 1845, but indeed we were. This book takes us behind the scenes of the “moonshot of the 19th century”—the quest to stretch telegraph cables across the ocean, first steps on our journey to connect the whole world. A vivid cast of characters including Samuel Morse, a young Lord Kelvin, and Michael Faraday make the story come alive. <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691284460/governing-global-emotions?srsltid=AfmBOorRBVL53xokLuFhbSsr4TI0zBBALHQIpcoj3QMxXOOiag1W7sP1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Governing Global Emotions: Technology and the New Science of Feeling</a> by Jessica Pykett <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="484" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/hj5yxJI4dJZ2EZyMsGdFap7IUikeRNxfI1ePaD1xhVk/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi81LnBuZyUyMDgwMHcsJTIwaHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi81LnBuZw" alt class="wp-image-1281593" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Princeton University Press</figcaption></figure> There’s a lot of data floating out there at the moment regarding human emotion. But what happens when technology misinterprets our emotions, and uses those misunderstandings to make decisions? From smart cities monitoring residents’ feelings to global measures of happiness, author Jessica Pykett takes a good hard look at how emotions are used, defined, and governed via technology—and calls for a radical reassessment of emotion science.  <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/788256/the-jellyfish-problem-by-tessa-yang/9780593955826/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Jellyfish Problem: A Novel</a> by Tessa Yang <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="484" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/paanloCCuBeDMvRM3Mvp13g07snKHjomG-9H2J1Sjis/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi82LnBuZyUyMDgwMHcsJTIwaHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi82LnBuZw" alt class="wp-image-1281594" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Penguin Random House</figcaption></figure> A giant, glowing jellyfish who changes everyone that sees it. A grieving marine biologist with an unfinished book on jellyfish. A small island community in Maine feeling absolutely terrorized by said enormous mystery jellyfish. This debut novel combines the thrill of a sea monster yarn with the beauty of human connection and community, and I can’t wait to settle in with it this summer. <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9781642834161/thundering-waters?srsltid=AfmBOoqLDY14AKjPtTNgqQcqXI94DlL7Q-0j3nHa7TpyfF9x4v_vsgYA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Thundering Waters: The Toxic Legacy of Niagara Falls</a> by Christen E. Civiletto <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="484" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/I5vRErJzIDmCogGVZFM834cYquetInd9Ld3wpwMXJzY/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi83LnBuZyUyMDgwMHcsJTIwaHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi83LnBuZw" alt class="wp-image-1281595" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Princeton University Press</figcaption></figure> Welcome to the true crime book about a waterfall. In this book, author Christen E. Civiletto takes us to Niagara Falls, but rather than focusing on the natural beauty, she dives deep into the millions of tons of toxic and radioactive waste that’s been dumped, incinerated, and vented into the area over decades. The birthplace of the commercial electro-chemical industry by virtue of sheer, hydrodynamic power, the falls and the surrounding area have paid a steep price, and it behooves us all to consider that price, and just who will end up paying it. <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/little-blue-dot-9781639734313/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Little Blue Dot: How GPS Shaped the Modern World</a> by Katherine Dunn <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="484" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/Uw6Q7v6Y2IbLennMW6TsAHa-8StA8WpCvRoq1DKti8U/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi84LnBuZyUyMDgwMHcsJTIwaHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi84LnBuZw" alt class="wp-image-1281596" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Bloomsbury</figcaption></figure> I can remember the early days of GPS, when you would have to explain to people “not from around here” that the road the machine thinks runs straight actually requires a zigzag, and that other road it’s pointing at doesn’t actually exist. We’ve come a long way since those (not so very long ago) days, and this book explores how far we might yet go. It starts with GPS’s early days during World War II, and follows along to the modern day, and even the future, contemplating the technology’s role in international politics, climate, and AI, as well as its vulnerabilities to manipulation.  <a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/richard-louv/noticing/9781643753034/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Noticing: Intimate Encounters with the Natural World</a> by Richard Louv <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="484" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/ZYkL9OQ3yTNvBTYqDsYOgbz2xj6F2LFyM824HzoXSNM/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi85LnBuZyUyMDgwMHcsJTIwaHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNi85LnBuZw" alt class="wp-image-1281597" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Hachette Book Group</figcaption></figure> The joy of noticing is a key theme throughout this book. In it, author Richard Louv asks you to notice the wild world around you, and rediscover your own connection to that world. In the book, he laments how our alienation from nature harms us, and envisions time spent understanding the natural world as a key to understanding ourselves, and to experience a sense of “bio-enchantment.”  There’s no better time than early summer to go out and explore your own natural world. So go out, explore, notice. And maybe bring along one of these books to read outside, ensconced in the sites, sounds, and smells of the natural world. <img decoding="async" class="wp-image-13765" style="width: 14px" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/K5BeklfetpcQfE9CFaCTJtB6WTBLqf3PmyQUNQIA9Js/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hc3NldHMubmF1dGlsLnVzL3NpdGVzLzMvbmF1dGlsdXMvbmF1dGlsdXMtZmF2aWNvbi0xNC5wbmc" alt referrerpolicy="no-referrer"> Lead image: Tasnuva Elahi; with image by Yulia / Adobe Stock

2026/6/2

Illustrating the Precarious

<img src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/3FPs_VPzR5Q-Oimkm2s4hxOGx_zjj7Fwjnmvdupe2Gc/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNS9CZXJnZXJfSEVSTy5wbmc" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"> We asked artist and <a href="https://nautil.us/katherine-streeter-interview-1191388" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nautilus</a><a href="https://nautil.us/katherine-streeter-interview-1191388" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> contributor Katherine Streeter</a> to illustrate the cover for our new print edition, <a href="https://nautil.us/tag/the-precarious-issue" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Precarious Issue</a>. We told her the issue teetered on stories that underscore the fragility of life. Earth is <a href="https://nautil.us/the-earthquake-illusion-1280874" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">never stable</a>. Magma is <a href="https://nautil.us/iceland-is-going-to-erupt-again-very-soon-1280632" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a perpetual wave</a> beneath volcanic islands. <a href="https://nautil.us/coral-reefs-are-ata-tipping-point-1280755" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Coral reefs</a> have tipped over the edge of survival. At one time in our evolution, our ancestors made it through <a href="https://nautil.us/we-got-lucky-as-a-species-1280744" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a population bottleneck</a> on the winds of chance. Everything today feels uncertain. Katherine turned in the perfect cover, but she didn’t stop there. She had this vision, too, which we present to you here. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="768" height="1024" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/NKUd0Ga4SWb1Rq2Z8EG4FOEr2-QYRGTQPZ4yBI7h-aM/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNS9CZXJnZXJfQlJFQUtFUi5wbmclMjA4MDB3LCUyMGh0dHBzOi8vbGVkZS1hZG1pbi5uYXV0aWwudXMvd3AtY29udGVudC91cGxvYWRzL3NpdGVzLzcwLzIwMjYvMDUvQmVyZ2VyX0JSRUFLRVIucG5n" alt class="wp-image-1281057" sizes="auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></figure> Illustration by Katherine Streeter.

2026/5/20

What I’m Watching This Weekend

<img src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/Ya5qVdpUpHljB_fikC48xj5RA8AgO9GyhS2_D3Ik_wc/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNS90dmhlYWQtaGVyby5wbmc" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"> In the tradition of <a href="https://nautil.us/how-my-octopus-teacher-defied-convention-238179" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">My Octopus Teacher</a>, there seems to have wriggled into existence in the past few years a new genre of film designed to engender an enhanced connection to nature in viewers. I, for one, am here for it. Should I find the spare time (I won’t) here are some of the diversions I’d love to tune into this weekend. I was excited to learn that Remarkably Bright Creatures, the film adaptation of Shelby Van Pelt’s bestselling debut novel partially told from the perspective of an aquarium-bound octopus, is hitting Netflix today. Starring Sally Fields as Tova, a night-shift cleaner who establishes an improbable bond with the well-spoken cephalopod, the drama explores themes of loss, loneliness, and connection. Being on the back nine of life, prone to crying at the drop of a cinematic hat, and an erstwhile marine biologist, I am firmly embedded in the target demographic for this movie. I expect to enjoy it. <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> <iframe loading="lazy" title="Remarkably Bright Creatures | Official Trailer | Netflix" width="710" height="399" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/b14IFe4an5k?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> </div></figure> I also like plants. The film Silent Friend racked up awards at the Venice, Chicago International, and Valladolid International Film Festivals through the latter half of last year, was released in Germany in January, and it is now set to roll out to theaters and streaming platforms. Read more: “<a href="https://nautil.us/guided-by-plant-voices-237798" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Guided by Plant Voices</a>” Written and directed by Hungarian filmmaker Ildikó Enyedi, the historical drama’s central focus is a single ginkgo tree on the campus of the University of Marburg in Germany. Enyedi weaves together three separate human stories—of a neuroscientist dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and asking questions about <a href="https://nautil.us/what-plants-are-saying-about-us-264593" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">plant consciousness</a>, of a turn-of-the-20th-century photographer enchanted by the botanical subjects of her still lives, and of a student in the 1970s tasked with caring for a friend’s geranium—the 200-year-old tree providing a consistent presence throughout. The idea that suffuses the film, according to the film’s trailer, is that plants may be observing us as we observe them, richer in sensorial ability than we typically appreciate. A stimulating, pleasant, and <a href="https://nautil.us/plants-feel-pain-and-might-even-see-238257" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">science-backed</a> conceit that I can imagine curling up with for a couple hours. <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> <iframe loading="lazy" title="SILENT FRIEND | Official Trailer | A Film by Ildikó Enyedi | with Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Léa Seydoux" width="710" height="399" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TaRZnpAmtJk?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> </div></figure> If I still have a free moment (again, I will not) after watching these two movies, I plan on hunting down old BBC recordings of a show from the 1950s called Song Hunters. I learned of this radio collaboration between freshly minted <a href="https://nautil.us/a-century-of-david-attenborough-1280583" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">centenarian</a> Sir David Attenborough and famed folklorist <a href="https://nautil.us/the-sacred-beauty-of-a-hermit-thrush-call-236087" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Alan Lomax</a> while writing about the former’s birthday this week. These recordings will be hard to find, as they aired live more than 70 years ago and may not be archived in any place save for Attenborough’s private collection. But listening to field recordings curated by these paragons of science communication could make anyone feel more connected to nature—human or otherwise. <img decoding="async" class="wp-image-13765" style="width: 14px" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/K5BeklfetpcQfE9CFaCTJtB6WTBLqf3PmyQUNQIA9Js/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hc3NldHMubmF1dGlsLnVzL3NpdGVzLzMvbmF1dGlsdXMvbmF1dGlsdXMtZmF2aWNvbi0xNC5wbmc" alt referrerpolicy="no-referrer"> Lead image: Subtle Graphic / Adobe

2026/5/8

10 Books We’re Excited About This May

<img src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/HnOAEs7nu0vNrJF3lgVsP5Yr0lS_05Nz23Q_SLXqLww/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNS9NYXlib29rc19IRVJPLnBuZw" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"> Can quantum physics explain who you are? What’s wrong with having an AI bestie? What secrets does a terraformed colony on a distant exoplanet hold? These are some of the questions tackled in these science and science-fiction books, all fresh from the presses this month. This is your invitation to visit underwater forests, withstand an attack by a seagull, and witness the first nuclear test. This is by no means an exhaustive list; there are, of course, many other books being published this May. But since there are so many new books coming out each month, we thought we’d give you a hand, and flag a few that we’re especially interested in. So here, without further delay, are 10 books published in May 2026 we’re excited about. <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691259734/the-sleepless-ape" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Sleepless Ape: The Story of Sleep in Human Evolution</a> By David Samson <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="482" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/kIkkOuuaDXlH-qB2nSdh50lEeamXrCAgOHtp9hgzHQM/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNS9zbGVlcGxlc3NhcGUtYnJlYWtlci5wbmclMjA4MDB3LCUyMGh0dHBzOi8vbGVkZS1hZG1pbi5uYXV0aWwudXMvd3AtY29udGVudC91cGxvYWRzL3NpdGVzLzcwLzIwMjYvMDUvc2xlZXBsZXNzYXBlLWJyZWFrZXIucG5n" alt class="wp-image-1280483" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Princeton University Press</figcaption></figure> I find myself fascinated by any books about sleeping (perhaps because I so often cannot), and this one is no exception. Author David Samson takes us back to the era when our ancestors left the safety of the forest canopy for more dangerous ground, and uses the tale of our evolution to explain some of the lingering mysteries of sleep, from why humans sleep less than other primates to how we can hack our evolution for better sleep today. <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/804548/entangled-states-by-karmela-padavic-callaghan/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Entangled States: A Life According to Quantum Physics</a> By Karmela Padavic-Callaghan <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="482" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/ZyvqG4BOjW5LcbM2bgmvUnMnrp35V3svJP12HFdweec/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNS9lbnRhbmdsZWRzdGF0ZXMtYnJlYWtlci5wbmclMjA4MDB3LCUyMGh0dHBzOi8vbGVkZS1hZG1pbi5uYXV0aWwudXMvd3AtY29udGVudC91cGxvYWRzL3NpdGVzLzcwLzIwMjYvMDUvZW50YW5nbGVkc3RhdGVzLWJyZWFrZXIucG5n" alt class="wp-image-1280484" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Penguin Random House</figcaption></figure> This book weaves quantum physics and personal identity together to tell the story of a life. Science writer Karmela Padavic-Callaghan uses each chapter to examine a moment in their history through the lens of physics. From building a life in a new country to being nonbinary in a field dominated by cisgender, heterosexual men to their thoughts on cause, effect, future, and destiny. <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374620752/palacesofthecrow/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Palaces of the Crow</a> By Ray Nayler <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="482" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/eyFxSVkVTopy5D1r82p7xjORXCBR02gOMNEDCp5iacc/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNS9wYWxhY2Vzb2Z0aGVjcm93LWJyZWFrZXIucG5nJTIwODAwdywlMjBodHRwczovL2xlZGUtYWRtaW4ubmF1dGlsLnVzL3dwLWNvbnRlbnQvdXBsb2Fkcy9zaXRlcy83MC8yMDI2LzA1L3BhbGFjZXNvZnRoZWNyb3ctYnJlYWtlci5wbmc" alt class="wp-image-1280485" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Macmillan Publishers</figcaption></figure> Ray Nayler, Hugo and Locus winning author of The Mountain in the Sea, is back again, this time with a speculative novel about a Jewish girl who has befriended a murder of crows, an underage Polish soldier who has deserted the Red Army, a Roma horse trader, and an abandoned boy who can’t speak. Set in 1941 as the German blitzkrieg tears across Europe, the book follows as the four are driven into the forest, where their survival hinges, partly, upon the behavior of the crows, which may be more than they appear. <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/T/bo269844812.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Trinity: An Illustrated History of the World’s First Atomic Test</a> By Emily Seyl <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="482" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/gIJVBCa06P86i6Y_EXPIXmVsOjn7YhL0rLKdfJFirYw/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNS90cmluaXR5LWJyZWFrZXIucG5nJTIwODAwdywlMjBodHRwczovL2xlZGUtYWRtaW4ubmF1dGlsLnVzL3dwLWNvbnRlbnQvdXBsb2Fkcy9zaXRlcy83MC8yMDI2LzA1L3RyaW5pdHktYnJlYWtlci5wbmc" alt class="wp-image-1280486" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The University of Chicago Press</figcaption></figure> Featuring hundreds of carefully restored photographs, still frames, maps, and once-top-secret documents, this book is a visual journey through the very first atomic test, codenamed Trinity, that was conducted in the New Mexico desert in 1945. The stunning imagery paints a vivid picture of an emerging and destructive technology and the very human experience of bringing it into being. <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691285399/artificially-yours" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Artificially Yours: Real Friendship in a World of Chatbots</a> By Valerie Tiberius <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="482" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/tqvobj4hzlOWMC8cokJ5Z0-p7Zbw20QD3fOn4-7M3ew/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNS9hcnRpZmljaWFsbHl5b3Vycy1icmVha2VyLnBuZyUyMDgwMHcsJTIwaHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNS9hcnRpZmljaWFsbHl5b3Vycy1icmVha2VyLnBuZw" alt class="wp-image-1280487" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Princeton University Press</figcaption></figure> Is friendship with a chatbot as good as friendship with an actual person? This is the question at the heart of Valerie Tiberius’ Artificially Yours. She explores whether there is something special about human relationships that AI will never be able to replicate—no matter how good it gets at mimicking us.  <a href="http://harpercollins.com/products/the-story-of-birds-steve-brusatte" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Story of Birds: A New History from Their Dinosaur Origins to the Present</a> By Steve Brusatte <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="482" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/AceOe4y6R_ul62l6O0ORaD0kagSACRABlwgGlpMWWIw/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNS9zdG9yeW9mYmlyZHMtYnJlYWtlci5wbmclMjA4MDB3LCUyMGh0dHBzOi8vbGVkZS1hZG1pbi5uYXV0aWwudXMvd3AtY29udGVudC91cGxvYWRzL3NpdGVzLzcwLzIwMjYvMDUvc3RvcnlvZmJpcmRzLWJyZWFrZXIucG5n" alt class="wp-image-1280488" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">HarperCollins Publishers</figcaption></figure> What’s not to love about a book that opens with a seagull attack? Granted, this assault seems to have been provoked, and it gives us a window into the life of a mother gull. The book goes on to trace the evolution of modern-day birds, going all the way back to when they were dinosaurs. <a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/fonda-lee/the-last-contract-of-isako/9780316568630/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Last Contract of Isako</a> By Fonda Lee <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="482" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/12iZYT4VaQIQnhMYEQprUmws_u0wumiXl3mO9j87Ji0/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNS9sYXN0Y29udHJhY3Rpc2Frby1icmVha2VyLnBuZyUyMDgwMHcsJTIwaHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNS9sYXN0Y29udHJhY3Rpc2Frby1icmVha2VyLnBuZw" alt class="wp-image-1280489" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Hachette Book Group</figcaption></figure> A terraformed colony with a secret, a murder mystery, a world where retirement means death. This epic, dystopian, science-fiction novel has it all. Famed samurai Isako plans to “retire”—walking into the wilderness to her death—when she’s thrust back into the world by a mystery, the answer to which could change humanity’s very existence among the stars. This is the first adult sci-fi novel from Fonda Lee, award-winning author of the modern fantasy classic Jade City trilogy, and we’re here for it. <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691281025/arachnomania?_gl=1*178twwv*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTY4MzE5MjQwOC4xNzY5NDU3OTIz*_ga_N1W9JWKLY3*czE3Njk1MzIzODUkbzMkZzAkdDE3Njk1MzIzODUkajYwJGwwJGg5MTQwMjM2ODI" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arachnomania: Spiders and the Cultural Work They Do for Us</a> By Maria Tatar <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="482" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/3m-kxtHA5u3IBwWhiCi0ATiwoDGcjjIBRfqL_EDFAvk/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNS9BcmFjaG5vbWFuaWEtYnJlYWtlci5wbmclMjA4MDB3LCUyMGh0dHBzOi8vbGVkZS1hZG1pbi5uYXV0aWwudXMvd3AtY29udGVudC91cGxvYWRzL3NpdGVzLzcwLzIwMjYvMDUvQXJhY2hub21hbmlhLWJyZWFrZXIucG5n" alt class="wp-image-1280490" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Princeton University Press</figcaption></figure> From the femme fatale to trickster or creator gods, almost every culture has at least a few spider myths. There’s something about the combination of horror and beauty that fascinates us, and that’s what Maria Tatar explores in this book. She explores our cultural fascination with these creatures, and our fraught relationship with them. <a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/dr-emma-chapman-ph-d/the-echoing-universe/9781541601857/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Echoing Universe: How Radio Astronomy Helps Us See the Invisible Cosmos</a> By Emma Chapman <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="482" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/E91AgTLc3bFNWuNWTJ4PRq_pcGnIhYcu4jGlyb7WSVM/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNS9FY2hvbmluZ3VuaXZlcnNlLWJyZWFrZXIucG5nJTIwODAwdywlMjBodHRwczovL2xlZGUtYWRtaW4ubmF1dGlsLnVzL3dwLWNvbnRlbnQvdXBsb2Fkcy9zaXRlcy83MC8yMDI2LzA1L0VjaG9uaW5ndW5pdmVyc2UtYnJlYWtlci5wbmc" alt class="wp-image-1280491" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Hachette Book Group</figcaption></figure> We can solve many of the outstanding mysteries in the universe, if we only listen. Far from a soundless vacuum, everything in space, from moons to stars to maybe even extraterrestrial life, sends out signals. Radio astronomy has already revealed exoplanets and an invisible type of star. Author Emma Chapman tunes us in to the boundless possibilities of what radio astronomy might uncover next, as the technology continues to improve.   <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9781642833829/forest-of-the-sea" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Forest of the Sea: The Remarkable Life and Imperiled Future of Kelp</a> By David Helvarg <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="482" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/aZdqRspSycRgkqTHCyF2BqkxFfmvqOoyoct4HguAU-Y/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNS9Gb3Jlc3RvZnRoZXNlYS1icmVha2VyLnBuZyUyMDgwMHcsJTIwaHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNS9Gb3Jlc3RvZnRoZXNlYS1icmVha2VyLnBuZw" alt class="wp-image-1280492" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Princeton University Press</figcaption></figure> Kelp forests are massive, vital underwater ecosystems. Unfortunately, they grow in cold coastal waters, so they don’t get the same attention as, say, coral reefs, which are very visible to vacationing humans. Even more unfortunately, kelp forests are also threatened by warming ocean waters. In this new book, author (and scuba diver) David Helvarg talks to Indigenous leaders, out-of-work urchin fisherman, documentary filmmakers, and ocean scientists, all of whom are trying to find ways to protect kelp forests, while also promoting the many ways humans can sustainably use the unique ecosystems.  <img decoding="async" class="wp-image-13765" style="width: 14px" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/K5BeklfetpcQfE9CFaCTJtB6WTBLqf3PmyQUNQIA9Js/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hc3NldHMubmF1dGlsLnVzL3NpdGVzLzMvbmF1dGlsdXMvbmF1dGlsdXMtZmF2aWNvbi0xNC5wbmc" alt referrerpolicy="no-referrer"> Lead image: Pixelbuddha Studio and LIGHTFIELD STUDIOS / Adobe Stock

2026/5/5

The Nautilus Reading List of Science Biographies

<img src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/Gb5y0Cql9tZjVBonp5QpfWEIXv2SaMT4xnfLAxo5Vkw/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNC9CZXJnZXJfSEVST180M2RmOWEucG5n" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"> Is time travel possible? You can have heady fun <a href="https://nautil.us/a-nonlinear-history-of-time-travel-236118" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">delving into the debate</a> that echoes from the writings of Kurt Godel, Stephen Hawking, and Albert Einstein. The answer, by the way, is yes, no, maybe. But there is one form of time travel that always feels real and thrilling—a totally engaging biography. You live inside the life and times of a person who saw the world as nobody else did. You walk the streets where they lived and feel the people and cultures, loves and trials, that made and unmade them. This list of beautifully composed biographies is our invitation to travel back in time and be dazzled by scientists who stretched the boundaries of their fields and thought and humanity themselves. Welcome. It’s a four-century tour. <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/170020/galileos-daughter-by-dava-sobel/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Galileo’s Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love</a> by Dava Sobel <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="415" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/NDIdCuc4MH6_sR40z1XEIK9TkumQ1i5hmocww9kmYLw/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNC9nYWxpbGVvc2RhdWdodGVyLWJyZWFrZXIucG5nJTIwODAwdywlMjBodHRwczovL2xlZGUtYWRtaW4ubmF1dGlsLnVzL3dwLWNvbnRlbnQvdXBsb2Fkcy9zaXRlcy83MC8yMDI2LzA0L2dhbGlsZW9zZGF1Z2h0ZXItYnJlYWtlci5wbmc" alt class="wp-image-1280105" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Penguin Random House</figcaption></figure> You don’t really know Galileo until you meet him through the eyes of his oldest daughter, Maria Celeste, the name she adopted for herself in the convent where she was consigned for her short life, in honor of her father’s illumination of the stars. Sobel portrays the 16th-century astronomer, inventor, and <a href="https://nautil.us/galileo-the-science-publicist-237804" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">rebel against Catholic doctrine</a> in all his scientific glory. But Sobel goes where no biographer has gone before in capturing the gentle sides of Galileo by introducing readers to Maria Celeste and spotlighting her warm letters to her father, full of questions about astronomy and her own supple insights into it. <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/227866/the-invention-of-nature-by-andrea-wulf/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World</a> by Andrea Wulf <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="415" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/9EpkUwOjlQlBq638DVBh3OVoy5_T5WoOqAO97Cif37E/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNC9pbnZlbnRpb25uYXR1cmUtYnJlYWtlci5wbmclMjA4MDB3LCUyMGh0dHBzOi8vbGVkZS1hZG1pbi5uYXV0aWwudXMvd3AtY29udGVudC91cGxvYWRzL3NpdGVzLzcwLzIwMjYvMDQvaW52ZW50aW9ubmF0dXJlLWJyZWFrZXIucG5n" alt class="wp-image-1280106" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Penguin Random House</figcaption></figure> The title of Wulf’s book about 19th-century Prussian explorer and writer Alexander von Humboldt is the giveaway to its originality and timeliness. Today we take for granted the veracity of ecology, the interrelationship among species, as a key trait of life and survival. But it was Humboldt, a bold adventurer, who cast <a href="https://nautil.us/as-mountains-rise-biodiversity-blooms-1205605" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">this Earthly principle</a> into the world. It  seeded the evolutionary biology of Charles Darwin and environmental philosophy of Henry David Thoreau. And what a character. “Fascinated by scientific instruments, measurements and observations, he was driven by a sense of wonder,” Wulf writes. “He could be vain, but would also give his last money to a struggling young scientist.” <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691026060/charles-darwin?srsltid=AfmBOopZmwPlZopAU-2LkCxn8_E7MPSuG-5LjyKqd72ooP2UDZELNHH-" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Charles Darwin: Voyaging</a> and <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/367647/charles-darwin-volume-2-by-janet-browne/9780712668378" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Charles Darwin: The Power of Place</a> by Janet Browne <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="415" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/kJ73XToaEYWi0iWZRqknhT3vaQpI9DFWp0RDDrWUk5o/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNC9kYXJ3aW5zLWJyZWFrZXIucG5nJTIwODAwdywlMjBodHRwczovL2xlZGUtYWRtaW4ubmF1dGlsLnVzL3dwLWNvbnRlbnQvdXBsb2Fkcy9zaXRlcy83MC8yMDI2LzA0L2RhcndpbnMtYnJlYWtlci5wbmc" alt class="wp-image-1280116" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Princeton University Press and Penguin Random House</figcaption></figure> Speaking of perhaps the most world-shattering scientist of all time, you can certainly read Darwin’s The Voyage of the Beagle, On the Origin of Species, and The Descent of Man on their own. And we all should. Once you settle into the rhythms of the Victorian prose, you become immersed in Darwin’s lucent observations, so <a href="https://nautil.us/why-darwin-admired-the-humble-earthworm-361515" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">uncanny and exciting</a>, and the hours of the <a href="https://nautil.us/darwin-was-a-slacker-and-you-should-be-too-236532" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">modern day slip by</a>. But if you want to put it all in perspective, truly understand how Darwin got to the insights he did, who and what experiences influenced him, and what the cultural and social impact of his science was and is, then it’s time for this utterly magnificent two-volume biography by Browne, a British historian of science. <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-professor-and-the-madman-simon-winchester?variant=41005285769250" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary</a> by Simon Winchester <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="415" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/bv-baOhnANfyUb3v9IVxq1TRMBDaFtPXm4Vy2bB9i3o/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNC9wcm9mZXNzb3JtYWRtZW4tYnJlYWtlci5wbmclMjA4MDB3LCUyMGh0dHBzOi8vbGVkZS1hZG1pbi5uYXV0aWwudXMvd3AtY29udGVudC91cGxvYWRzL3NpdGVzLzcwLzIwMjYvMDQvcHJvZmVzc29ybWFkbWVuLWJyZWFrZXIucG5n" alt class="wp-image-1280108" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">HarperCollins Publishers</figcaption></figure> The science of lexicography is fascinating. And not just because it’s about how words make the cut for a dictionary. It’s also about <a href="https://nautil.us/i-was-made-of-language-989146" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">how words get infused with meaning</a> and who infuses them. There’s no more amazing tale of lexicography than this 19th-century origin story of the Oxford English Dictionary. Winchester recreates the relationship between OED director James Murray and William Chester Minor, a Civil War surgeon who submitted more than 10,000 quotations with possible new entries for the dictionary, sent from his incarceration in an asylum for the criminally insane. How a “madman” understood language so deeply is a remarkable neurological story on its own. But ultimately a look into the enigmatic depths of humanity. <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Einstein/Walter-Isaacson/9780743264747" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Einstein: His Life and Universe</a> by Walter Isaacson <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="415" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/30F4Upp-KfnoFV7oNyOIc0-yjqyCayIFG1ApvB9B1XY/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNC9laW5zdGVpbi1icmVha2VyLnBuZyUyMDgwMHcsJTIwaHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNC9laW5zdGVpbi1icmVha2VyLnBuZw" alt class="wp-image-1280109" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Simon & Schuster</figcaption></figure> Isaacson’s achievement is to make you feel you know Einstein and understand his breakthroughs as if you were reading a novel not a textbook. You experience Einstein’s emotions over his theories and equations. When his calculations for the <a href="https://nautil.us/einsteins-other-theory-of-everything-823245" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">theory of relativity</a> proved to be correct, “I was beside myself with joyous excitement,” he wrote to a friend. And who doesn’t like <a href="https://nautil.us/when-einstein-tilted-at-windmills-236253" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">personal touches about an icon</a>? By 1907 Einstein had “devised a revolutionary quantum theory of light,” Isaacson writes, “upended the concept of space and time, and produced what would become science’s best-known equation.” That year, tired of his drudge work in a patent office, he thought about becoming an electric-device salesman. His wife Mileva Maric told a friend, “My husband often spends his free time at home just playing with the boy,” his first son, Hans. <a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/graham-farmelo/the-strangest-man/9780465019922/?lens=basic-books" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Mystic of the Atom</a> by Graham Farmelo <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="415" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/c3BFcsEK7wh76bDOy7Ofpdx3spxAgiZY9YW-_FO9_EM/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNC9zdHJhbmdlc3RtYW4tYnJlYWtlci5wbmclMjA4MDB3LCUyMGh0dHBzOi8vbGVkZS1hZG1pbi5uYXV0aWwudXMvd3AtY29udGVudC91cGxvYWRzL3NpdGVzLzcwLzIwMjYvMDQvc3RyYW5nZXN0bWFuLWJyZWFrZXIucG5n" alt class="wp-image-1280110" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Hachette Book Group</figcaption></figure> Venturing into the mind of Dirac, “one of the pre-eminent pioneers of quantum mechanics,” just in the wake of Einstein, is a startling and compelling experience. What lurks behind the facade of the expressionless man? Farmelo peels back the onion layers one story at a time. <a href="https://nautil.us/when-reality-came-undone-796994" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Revolutionary physicist Niels Bohr</a>, who called Dirac “a complete logical genius”—Dirac would work out the equation for the behavior of electrons and <a href="https://nautil.us/the-joy-of-condensed-matter-238136" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">predict antimatter</a>—recalls visiting an art gallery with Dirac to look at impressionistic paintings. Looking at a boat sketched with a few lines, Dirac remarked, “This boat looks as if it was not finished.” Of another painting, the mathematically precise Dirac said, “I like that because the degree of inaccuracy is the same all over.” Of all the people who had visited his institute, Bohr said, Dirac was “the strangest man.” <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/60762/genius-by-james-gleick/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman</a> by James Gleick <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="415" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/6YO8Q7U6Q3j7XK0ievlc3PTco85aXpwUsQNQYa-HfDY/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNC9nZW5pdXMtYnJlYWtlci5wbmclMjA4MDB3LCUyMGh0dHBzOi8vbGVkZS1hZG1pbi5uYXV0aWwudXMvd3AtY29udGVudC91cGxvYWRzL3NpdGVzLzcwLzIwMjYvMDQvZ2VuaXVzLWJyZWFrZXIucG5n" alt class="wp-image-1280111" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Penguin Random House</figcaption></figure> Ladies and gentlemen, Richard Feynman. The charismatic and <a href="https://nautil.us/what-impossible-meant-to-richard-feynman-238358" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">preternaturally confident</a> Nobel laureate in physics is the flipside of the emotionally distant Dirac, Feynman’s scientific hero. Feynman, the prodigal protege, would later work out one of Dirac’s recondite hypotheses on a blackboard. (<a href="https://nautil.us/the-day-feynman-worked-out-black_hole-radiation-on-my-blackboard-237372" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">He would do the same</a> with a Hawking thesis about black-hole radiation.) Like all good biographies, Genius gets beneath the myth to meet the man. If you only know Feynman by his wiseacre reputation and his surprisingly popular collection of lectures and talks, Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!, you will be moved most of all by his tender love and care for his first wife Arline, who died at 25 of tuberculosis, and her lifelong presence in his memory. <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780805074581/afeelingfortheorganism10thaniversaryedition/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">A Feeling for the Organism: The Life and Work of Barbara McClintock</a> by Evelyn Fox Keller <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="415" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/JdJRy3MGBIXkWo9k2u7IolCKW81BG_WC5V3Wwy6ynmY/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNC9mZWVsaW5nb2ZvcmdhbmlzbS1icmVha2VyLnBuZyUyMDgwMHcsJTIwaHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNC9mZWVsaW5nb2ZvcmdhbmlzbS1icmVha2VyLnBuZw" alt class="wp-image-1280131" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Macmillan Publishers</figcaption></figure> Barbara McClintock, who won the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her discovery that genetic elements can change positions on a chromosome, which causes genes to be active or inactive, just seemed like the coolest person to know. She died at age 90 in 1992. When Keller, herself a scientist, first ventured to Cold Spring Harbor to interview McClintock in 1978 about her work and women in science, McClintock said she couldn’t see how she was interesting or representative of women. She never married, had kids, or had any interest in “decorating the torso.” She was <a href="https://nautil.us/the-prizefighters-543303" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a born rebel</a> and remained one throughout her career, you learn from her own words in Keller’s book. In her Nobel acceptance speech, McClintock said that being an outcast didn’t create personal difficulties, it “proved to be a delight. It allowed complete freedom to continue investigations without interruption.” <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674919198" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Vera Rubin: A Life</a> by Jacqueline Mitton and Simon Mitton <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="415" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/W5M1MDegWfF4bu5DzjKdqBL-7asE7CAiz4pOkb8kXcg/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNC9hbGlmZS1icmVha2VyLnBuZyUyMDgwMHcsJTIwaHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNC9hbGlmZS1icmVha2VyLnBuZw" alt class="wp-image-1280129" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Harvard University Press</figcaption></figure> An astrophysicist renowned for confirming the presence of dark matter in the rotation of galaxies in the 1970s, Rubin led a very different personal life than McClintock. For one thing, she had four kids, which she raised at the same time she did her research, wrote papers, and taught university courses. <a href="https://nautil.us/the-woman-behind-the-worlds-biggest-camera-1219688" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">She also spoke out</a> against the discrimination and condescension that she and her women colleagues faced in science. But as authors Jacqueline Mitton and Simon Mitton underscore throughout their lucid narrative, Rubin too remained an independent scientist fearlessly committed to her vision. When it came to her research, they write, “Vera was at heart a loner.” <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/168191/the-immortal-life-of-henrietta-lacks-by-rebecca-skloot/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks</a> by Rebecca Skloot <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="415" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/m3l2-YxM0AajrEFCKjbLv0HfWLHX_C-_EEEefEmZeWc/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNC9pbW1vcnRhbGxpZmUtYnJlYWtlci5wbmclMjA4MDB3LCUyMGh0dHBzOi8vbGVkZS1hZG1pbi5uYXV0aWwudXMvd3AtY29udGVudC91cGxvYWRzL3NpdGVzLzcwLzIwMjYvMDQvaW1tb3J0YWxsaWZlLWJyZWFrZXIucG5n" alt class="wp-image-1280130" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Penguin Random House</figcaption></figure> This biography is focused not on a scientist but on the practice of science, <a href="https://nautil.us/the-misguided-history-of-racial-medicine-263508" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">its racism</a> in this case, and the divorce of medical research from decency and humanity. The life that author Skloot brings back to life is Lacks, daughter of a Virginia tobacco farmer, who died in 1951 from cervical cancer. Cells sliced from her cervix without her or her family’s knowledge have been grown in labs ever since for research by medical institutions. The tremendous success of Skloot’s moving narrative has spurred institutional change in consent laws and <a href="https://nautil.us/why-the-ethical-rules-of-human-subjects-research-need-a-fresh-look-236653" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bioethical practices</a> in the medical industry. With this extraordinary biography, the past, present, and future, really have been enjoined. To the benefit of us all. <img decoding="async" class="wp-image-13765" style="width: 14px" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/K5BeklfetpcQfE9CFaCTJtB6WTBLqf3PmyQUNQIA9Js/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hc3NldHMubmF1dGlsLnVzL3NpdGVzLzMvbmF1dGlsdXMvbmF1dGlsdXMtZmF2aWNvbi0xNC5wbmc" alt referrerpolicy="no-referrer"> Lead image: fran_kie / Adobe Stock

2026/4/22

A Poet of Science Who Shook Faith in God

<img src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/pWk9iHur7x0vNuqO44WhRvFapOD-LkBME9oZSwfzrL4/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNC9CZXJnZXJfSEVSTy5wbmc" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"> When Richard Holmes was a fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 2001, researching the surprising affinity among Romantic poets and scientists, he often walked by a giant white marble statue of Alfred Lord Tennyson, looking imposing and, well, irrelevant. Tennyson was the Victorian poet born after the wild Romantics, vaguely remembered by English senior citizens who had to memorize “The Charge of the Light Brigade” in school. “When can their glory fade?/O the wild charge they made!” “With his long beard, Tennyson looked monolithic, like he had nothing to do with anything,” Holmes said to me recently, from his home in Norfolk, England. “Life had passed on.” Being the natural-born biographer he was—Holmes had written vivid books about the poets Shelley and Coleridge—he began to wonder about the young man beneath the beard. Who was Tennyson before he became England’s stodgy poet laureate? Holmes seemed to recall that Tennyson was tutored by another one of the marble statues in the chapel, William Whewell, a Cambridge don of science, who in the first decades of the 1800s published works on astronomy, physics, mineralogy, and philosophy. Perhaps science lurked in Tennyson’s background. <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="341" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/MT4r1G-W_4sTKbOilbDj77wdWAMFoomDn--hFLPKusg/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNC9wcTEucG5nJTIwODAwdywlMjBodHRwczovL2xlZGUtYWRtaW4ubmF1dGlsLnVzL3dwLWNvbnRlbnQvdXBsb2Fkcy9zaXRlcy83MC8yMDI2LzA0L3BxMS5wbmc" alt class="wp-image-1279493" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></figure> Holmes filed away the thought as he went on to write his 2008 book about the Romantic poets and scientists, The Age of Wonder, a brilliant corrective to the “<a href="https://nautil.us/who-said-science-and-art-were-two-cultures-238351" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">two-cultures</a>” trope that 19th-century science cut the heart out of humanity and the humanities. The era’s radical poets—Byron, Shelley, Coleridge—read deeply in the burgeoning sciences of astronomy, chemistry, and electricity. The scientific revelations supercharged their poetry and amplified the natural world and the cosmos with astonishing beauty and terror. The poets palled around with scientists like gregarious chemist Humphry Davy, whose experiments with dosing himself and volunteers with nitrous oxide, formed a blueprint for anesthesia. Getting high on the gas was an “unmingled pleasure,” Coleridge said, echoing Xanadu, with its “stately pleasure dome,” in his poem “Kubla Khan.” Read more: “<a href="https://nautil.us/who-said-science-and-art-were-two-cultures-238351" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Who Said Science and Art Were Two Cultures?</a>” In London taverns with Coleridge and essayist Charles Lamb, anarchist philosopher William Godwin and his wife <a href="https://nautil.us/when-mary-wollstonecraft-was-duped-by-love-287905" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mary Wollstonecraft</a>, Davy loved to hold forth on the likeminded mission of science and art. The genius of Newton and Shakespeare are not remote in character, Davy would say. “Imagination, as well as the reason, is necessary to perfection in the philosophic mind.” Holmes spoke with infectious enthusiasm for his subjects, as if they were old friends. “One of the most interesting exchanges that Coleridge and Davy had was on the idea of pain,” he told me. “What is the function of pain, particularly in animal life? What is it doing? Why was it put there? They would frame it in terms of, ‘Why did God put pain into this system?’ This was the kind of metaphysical discussion they often had.” Crossing the wires of science and poetry sparked a dangerous new awareness. Through the eyepieces of the new telescopes, illuminating the vastness of space, Earth suddenly looked insignificant. Fossils of extinct species, uncovered in rock layers that had to be hundreds of thousands of years old, gave lie to the Bible story that God created all creatures great and small in six days. Religion was losing its hold on truth. <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="800" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/at_xr51aeAVxJC-EAn4v7eOLVRtnwjwwsY4T8OVfbdA/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNC9CZXJnZXJfQlJFQUtFUi5wbmclMjA4MDB3LCUyMGh0dHBzOi8vbGVkZS1hZG1pbi5uYXV0aWwudXMvd3AtY29udGVudC91cGxvYWRzL3NpdGVzLzcwLzIwMjYvMDQvQmVyZ2VyX0JSRUFLRVIucG5n" alt class="wp-image-1279494" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">WHO ARE YOU?: While biographer Richard Holmes was a fellow at the University of Cambridge, he would walk by this statue of Alfred Lord Tennyson. He began to wonder if he could chip away the image of the ancient Victorian bard and expose the young poet beneath. Photo courtesy of Vysotsky / Wikimedia Commons.</figcaption></figure> The complex feelings caused by the new revelations can’t be understated. Nature wasn’t as people had been told—it was more extraordinary! The Romantic poets captured the vertigo of a worldview caving in, and a new one evolving. And their poems were widely read. As a kaleidoscope of images from astronomy, chemistry, and geology, Romantic poetry was the first popular science. After The Age of Wonder was published, Holmes wrote about the adventures and scientific discoveries (the layered spheres of Earth’s climate system) of the <a href="https://nautil.us/up-up-and-away-with-science-234667" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">first hot-air ballooners</a>, and candid reflections on his experiences as a biographer, the Frankenstein art of bringing the dead alive. But he knew the story of science and poetry couldn’t have ended with the Romantics and began to think about the next chapter. He didn’t have to think long. His curiosity about Tennyson returned. He decided to chip away the marble statue and meet the real man underneath. Tennyson was born in 1809, the same year as Charles Darwin and Edgar Allan Poe. He came of age in a chaotic family of 11 in the country parish of Somersby in England. His father was the parish’s highly educated rector who carried a chip on his shoulder for being left out of his family inheritance for being “rude and ungovernable” as a kid. To escape his father’s drunken rages, Tennyson journeyed to the seaside town of Mablethorpe and strolled along the windy dunes and beaches on the North Sea. “I come again,” he wrote in a poem: “Gray sand-banks, and pale sunsets, dreary wind, Dim shores, dense rains, and heavy-clouded sea.” Not the cheeriest of chaps, that Tennyson. At Cambridge, Tennyson often hid behind his sullen self. At the same time, Holmes would write, the budding poet was “strange, energetic, independent, and subtly engaged with contemporary questions” arising from the daring science offending the Christians in his midst. Tennyson read through works on astronomy, geology, and the incipient science of evolution with his mind ablaze. <figure class="wp-block-video"><video controls="" src="https://lede-admin.nautil.us/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2026/04/Holmes-reading.mp4"></video><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">RED IN TOOTH AND CLAW: Richard Holmes, at his home in Norfolk, England, reads a famous stanza from Tennyson’s epic, “In Memoriam,” drawn from the poet’s reading of Principles of Geology by Charles Lyell.</figcaption></figure> Holmes grew up farther south in Kent County. In his early teens, following his own wandering spirit, he and his older sister rode their bikes a couple hundred miles north to camp on the dunes along the North Sea beaches. Holmes hadn’t returned for decades when in 2020, deep into his research on Tennyson, with England under lockdown during the dreary Covid days, he had the freeing idea to make like the poet and return to the gray sand banks and wander under pale sunsets himself. “The North Sea coast is quite fierce, and always meant rather a lot to me,” Holmes said. “It was wonderful returning there. I felt Tennyson’s childhood excitement as my own. Coming back to the atmosphere of that wild North Sea coast was quite another level of inspiration. It was like returning to my old idea to go and walk in the footsteps of people to write about them.” Holmes’ reference is to his 1985 book Footsteps, which trailblazed a new model for the literary biography as autobiography, and travel writing too. Holmes’ own life and passions emerge as he traces the footsteps of his young idols, including Robert Louis Stevenson, Wollstonecraft, and publicly flamboyant Romantic French poet Gerard de Nerval, best known (if at all), for walking through the gardens of Paris with a lobster on a leash. After his drives to the North Sea coast in 2020, Holmes felt a newfound closeness to Tennyson. Discovering Tennyson’s engagement with science deepened the connection. Through Tennyson’s eyes, Holmes thought, he could portray the social earthquake of science in the Victorian era—and take readers with him. Which he has done beautifully in The Boundless Deep: Young Tennyson, Science, and the Crisis of Belief, published earlier this year. Read more: “<a href="https://nautil.us/up-up-and-away-with-science-234667" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Up, Up, and Away With Science</a>” Tennyson is an ideal lens on the insurrections of science because his brooding nature made him so incredibly sensitive. His father’s violent outbursts not only cracked apart the family—two of Tennyson’s siblings were confined to a mental asylum—but Tennyson’s faith. “Because of the nature of what we’d now call a dysfunctional family,” Holmes said, “Tennyson, despite his golden education, became a kind of permanent outsider. That allowed him to take on board all these rather frightening things about science, to educate himself and write about them.” If Tennyson was a saturnine fellow by nature, he sunk even deeper into his tenebrous self when his closest friend, Arthur Hallam, died of a stroke at age 22. Tennyson and Hallam trekked across the mountains and villages of Europe together, sharing the kind of conversations that you can only have once in your life, the kind that liberates you from yourself, allowing you to feel what love is. Hallam’s death haunted Tennyson nearly every waking and sleeping hour. For 16 years, from 1833 to 1849, he wrote about his friend, a “fragmented graveyard,” Holmes writes. In total, Tennyson wrote 131 cantos, published together as “In Memoriam.” The intensely autobiographical work opens with one elegy of pain after another. But gradually a transformation takes place. Hallam’s death leads Tennyson to consider “death in general, and the meaning of ‘Extinction’ throughout nature.” These reflections stemmed from his reading in science. <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="341" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/XI84v0Cb38GSlxAffxbg97pJuEl3tNF_0tNk4ky_rLE/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZWRlLWFkbWluLm5hdXRpbC51cy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvNzAvMjAyNi8wNC9wcTIucG5nJTIwODAwdywlMjBodHRwczovL2xlZGUtYWRtaW4ubmF1dGlsLnVzL3dwLWNvbnRlbnQvdXBsb2Fkcy9zaXRlcy83MC8yMDI2LzA0L3BxMi5wbmc" alt class="wp-image-1279496" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></figure> One work that had a profound influence on Tennyson was Principles of Geology by Charles Lyell. In it, Tennyson read, “Amidst the vicissitude of the earth’s surface, species cannot be immortal, but must perish, one after another, like the individuals which compose them. There is no possibility of escaping from this conclusion … None of the works of a mortal being can be eternal.” “It’s difficult to appreciate today what a bewildering impact this would have had back then,” Holmes said. “Here was evidence that individual animals, creatures, had become extinct. From that came the logical idea that mankind itself was destined to become extinct.” In his epic mourning for his beloved friend, Tennyson transformed Lyell’s science into mourning for the cruelty of nature, a decade before Darwin published On the Origin of Species. Before Tennyson or anyone could have read Darwin, Holmes explained, Tennyson captured “the metaphysical crisis that Darwinism and the actual theory of evolution would subsequently produce throughout society.” In fact, Tennyson penned one of the most famous lines about nature—“red in tooth and claw”—often mistaken for something Darwin wrote. A stanza of “In Memoriam” goes like this: Who trusted God was love indeed And love Creation’s final law— Tho’ Nature, red in tooth and claw With ravine, shriek’d against his creed Tennyson uses “ravine” in its Victorian sense of rapine or plundering; in other words, God’s love is fine and all, but no match for nature’s violence. “That phrase, ‘red in tooth and claw with ravine,’ would have struck Tennyson’s original readers with horror,” Holmes said. And not just readers in elitist academies. “In Memoriam” was published in May of 1850; by the end of that year, it had sold 60,000 copies. That number, unheard of for a book of poetry today, made “In Memoriam” the talk of English towns. Many biographies and books of criticism have been written about Tennyson since the poet’s death in 1892. What’s exceptional about The Boundless Deep is how modern that Holmes makes Tennyson feel. In one of his youthful conversations with Hallam, Holmes writes, Tennyson told “a story about a Brahmin destroying a microscope because it showed animals killing each other in a drop of water. He and Hallam agreed that this was a ‘significant’ kind of unscientific response: ‘as if we could destroy facts by refusing to see them.’” Tennyson’s relevance today “is not so much about science itself, but what science does to the human imagination,” Holmes said. “That was Tennyson’s subject. Science shares things that we can’t face but have to face. We still undergo the same emotions today. Science can haunt and depress. But it can also expand and excite.” In a poem Tennyson began in the 1830s, “The Palace of Art,” he imagines a woman astronomer describing what she sees through a telescope. Brushes of fire, hazy gleams, Clusters and beds of worlds, and bee-like swarms Of suns, and starry streams. Edwin Hubble, the 20th-century astronomer who established that galaxies exist far beyond our own, planting awe in humanity’s conception of the universe, wrote, “Our stellar system is a swarm of stars isolated in space. It drifts through the universe as a swarm of bees drift through the summer air.” “I don’t know if Hubble read Tennyson,” Holmes said. “But isn’t the image of the universe as a swarm of bees wonderful?” Yes, it is. In The Boundless Deep, Holmes has done what science does. He has stripped away myths calcified in culture to expose what’s real. Tennyson is not the stodgy marble statue anchored in the Trinity Chapel at the University of Cambridge. He was and is a magnificent voice of humanity and the universe, ringing out today. <img decoding="async" class="wp-image-13765" style="width: 14px" src="https://imgproxy.citrusreader.com/K5BeklfetpcQfE9CFaCTJtB6WTBLqf3PmyQUNQIA9Js/raw:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hc3NldHMubmF1dGlsLnVzL3NpdGVzLzMvbmF1dGlsdXMvbmF1dGlsdXMtZmF2aWNvbi0xNC5wbmc" alt referrerpolicy="no-referrer"> Lead image: Portrait of Alfred Lord Tennyson by Samuel Laurence / Wikimedia Commons

2026/4/3

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