Nature & Science

On the Origin of Time : Stephen Hawking’s Final Theory

by Thomas Hertog

available in April, hardcover, Bantam

"Like his mentor and colleague Stephen Hawking, Thomas Hertog has never shied away from being ambitious in theorizing about the universe. This sweeping book provides an accessible overview of both what we know about cosmology and some audacious ideas for moving into the unknown. It is an introduction to Hawking's final theory, but also a glimpse into even grander theories yet to come." –Sean Carroll, author of The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: Space, Time, and Motion.

OMFG, BEES! : Bees Are So Amazing and You're About to Find Out Why

by Matt Kracht

available in March, paperback, Chronicle Books

Are you ready for the ultimate bee book?

With lighthearted watercolor and ink drawings, humorous quips, lists, and musings, OMFG, BEES! will show you just how important these esteemed bee-list celebrities really are. (Hint: We can't live without them.) Delving into various bee topics, from distinguishing between bees and not bees (very crucial), to exploring the absolute wonder that is bee behavior (they do a coded dance directing their bee friends to food, for crying out loud!), to divulging the mind-blowing bee-magic behind honey making (within some extremely intricate and precisely constructed hexagonal honeycomb, no big deal), and more, Kracht's ode to bees paints a charming and enthusiastic picture of our favorite pollinators. Bee-autiful full-color illustrations fill these pages that playfully and earnestly examine different kinds of bees, from the honeybee to the teddy bear bee, providing unbelievably cool facts about bees and reasons why they deserve a lot more credit as well as our appreciation and advocacy. Because omfg, BEES!!

The Essential Skills of Wilderness Survival : A Guide to Shelter, Water, Fire, Food, Navigation, and Survival Kits

by Jason Knight

available now, paperback, Alderleaf Press

The Devil’s Element : Phosphorous and a World Out of Balance

by Dan Egan

available in March, hardcover, W.W. Norton & Co. Phosphorus has played a critical role in some of the most lethal substances on earth: firebombs, rat poison, nerve gas. But it’s also the key component of one of the most vital: fertilizer, which has sustained life for billions of people. In this major work of explanatory science and environmental journalism, Pulitzer Prize finalist Dan Egan investigates the past, present, and future of what has been called “the oil of our time.”

Nature of Writing Series

Saturday, May 13, 4pm

MATT KRACHT at Village Books in Fairhaven

The Language of Trees : A Rewilding of

Literature and Landscape

by Katie Holten

available in April, hardcover, Tin House Books

In this gorgeously illustrated and deeply thoughtful collection, Katie Holten gifts readers her tree alphabet and uses it to masterfully translate and illuminate beloved writing in praise of the natural world. She guides readers on a journey from "primeval atoms" and cave paintings to the death of a 3,500 year-old cypress tree, from Tree Clocks in Mongolia and forest fragments in the Amazon to the language of fossil poetry, unearthing a new way to see the natural beauty all around us and an urgent reminder of what could happen if we allow it to slip away.

Nature of Writing Series

Saturday, April 8, 4pm

JASON KNIGHT at Village Books in Fairhaven

By reading this book, you will learn about a systematic approach to survival that will increase your confidence in the outdoors and teach you exactly what to do, and in what order, if you find yourself in an emergency. Discover key strategies of shelter, water, fire, food, and other life-saving skills.