SCIENCE & NATURE
SCIENCE & NATURE
IN THE CIRCLE OF ANCIENT TREES
Valerie Trouet( ed.), Blaze Cyan( illus.)
HB $ 59.99
In the Circle of Ancient Trees narrates the stories of 10 ancient trees. Valerie Trouet curates chapter essays by ecologists with specialist knowledge of each tree, exploring how human and environmental history share common roots, while drilling down into the ecology, persistence and resilience of each species. Illustrated with commissioned wood-engravings and tree-ring infographics, In the Circle of Ancient Trees considers what lessons for our future might be discovered in our planet’ s past.
WHY DO BIRDS SING?
Dr Gráinne Cleary
PB $ 34.99
While the question‘ why do birds sing?’ might seem a simple one, the answer is complex! Throughout our history birdsong has influenced art, poetry and music. It can elevate our mood and bring our backyards to life. We often hear birds singing as we go about our lives, but have you ever wondered what they are singing about? Why Do Birds Sing? provides an insight into the world of bird communication that will surprise and delight you. It’ s an absorbing and informative book filled with answers to many of the common and often uncommon questions we ask about birdsong.
METAMOR- PHOSIS
Oren Harman
PB $ 34.99
Metamorphosis has always been one of biology’ s greatest wonders and toughest riddles. To emerge a butterfly, a caterpillar dissolves inside its chrysalis and builds a brand-new brain, wings and legs. Why all this destruction and remodelling? Why all this wasted energy and time? Oren Harman beautifully unfurls the untold story of metamorphosis across two millennia, asking why it has obsessed and inspired us so profoundly. Metamorphosis is a new classic of natural history: a book that, by explaining a mystery of nature, causes us to relearn ourselves.
THE IMPOSSIBLE BOMB
Gareth Williams
HB $ 51.95
Atomic weaponry is widely understood as a story of American scientific achievement, but scientists working in Britain played a vital role in its development. Including Nobel Prize winners and Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany, these scientists have long since been forgotten. But without their expertise, Robert Oppenheimer’ s research at Los Alamos would never have succeeded. The Impossible Bomb sheds new light on how humanity’ s deadliest weapons came to exist – and the massive destruction they wrought.
SPEED Vaclav Smil
PB $ 36.99
due dec 2
Prepare to view the world through a new lens. A groundbreaking exploration that challenges your perceptions of life’ s driving force. In SPEED, Smil combines his trademark compelling statistics with insightful analysis to take readers on a captivating journey through the vast timescales of Earth’ s history and the complexities of modern life. He explains how we measure speed, and reveals the theoretical limits that shape our societies, offering a thoughtprovoking exploration of the forces that define our world.
HERE COMES THE SUN
Bill McKibben
HB $ 49.95
Here Comes the Sun tells the story of the sudden spike in power from the sun and wind, and the desperate fight of the fossil fuel industry and their politicians to hold this new power at bay. Bill McKibben shows how solar power is more than just a path out of the climate crisis: it is a chance to reorder the world on saner and more humane grounds. There’ s no guarantee we can make this change in time, but there is hope. In McKibben’ s eyes, our best hope for a new civilisation is one that looks up to the sun, every day, as the star that fuels our world.
shop online at hillofcontentbookshop. com or hillofcontentbalmain. com. au Summer Reading Guide 2025 | 17