Science & Nature

Texts in this collection explore topics like climate change, energy, and humanity's place in the environment through a variety of genres, whether the science fiction of Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake or the scientific journalism of Dan Egan's The Death and Life of the Great Lakes.

Publication year 2015

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Self Discovery, Society: Economics, Society: Globalization, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Tags Education, Education, Science / Nature, Sociology, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy, Philosophy, Self Help, Arts / Culture


Publication year 2005

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Tags Science / Nature, Education, Education, Business / Economics, Sociology, History: World, Politics / Government

The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century is a nonfiction book by Thomas L. Friedman. It was first published in 2005 and was updated with two new editions in 2006 and 2007. The book is a wide-ranging examination of globalization at the turn of the 21st century and its impact on the United States. The book is divided into sections that explain the origin, impact, and meaning of a “flat world.”... Read The World Is Flat Summary


Publication year 2007

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Life/Time: The Future

Tags Science / Nature, Climate Change, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, History: World


Publication year 2005

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment

Tags History: U.S., Science / Nature, American Literature, History: World, Action / Adventure

The Worst Hard Time, written by New York Times journalist Timothy Egan, won the National Book Award for Nonfiction (2006) and the Washington State Book Award (2006). Egan chronicles the history of the Dust Bowl from the late 1800s to 1939, unfolding the tragedy of errors that led to the environmental and economic disasters of the 1930s. Readers experience historical events through stories of survivors: farmers, cowboys, ranchers, merchants, investors and professionals. Egan chooses survivors... Read The Worst Hard Time Summary


Publication year 2015

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Society: Education, Society: Politics & Government

Tags History: U.S., Technology, History: World, Science / Nature, Technology, Biography


Publication year 2021

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Society: Community

Tags Business / Economics, Education, Education, Science / Nature, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy, Philosophy, Self Help


Publication year 2011

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Economics, Society: Politics & Government

Tags Psychology, Science / Nature, Self Help, Leadership/Organization/Management, Business / Economics, Psychology, Philosophy, Philosophy

Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011), written by Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman, examines how people exercise judgment and make decisions. It draws from Kahneman’s long career—particularly his collaboration with fellow psychologist Amos Tversky beginning in 1969—identifying the mechanisms, biases, and perspectives that constitute human decision-making. Its 38 chapters provide detailed information affecting disciplines ranging from mathematics to law. The book was named one of the best books of 2011 by The New York Times and The... Read Thinking, Fast and Slow Summary


Publication year 1995

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Disability

Tags Disability, Animals, Science / Nature, Psychology, Psychology, Biography

Thinking in Pictures: My Life With Autism (1995) is a scientific memoir by author Temple Grandin. Grandin is a Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University, where she fomented her specialized career as one of only a handful of livestock-handling equipment designers in the world. Thinking in Pictures narrates Grandin’s experiences as a world-renowned cattle handler, a professor, and a woman living with autism. Grandin fills each chapter with anecdotal stories and empirical research.Thinking... Read Thinking in Pictures Summary


Publication year 1991

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt

Tags Business / Economics, Self Help, Science / Nature, Leadership/Organization/Management, Psychology, Psychology, Politics / Government


Publication year 2014

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Economics, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Self Help, Business / Economics, Science / Nature, Sociology, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy, Philosophy

Think Like a Freak is a nonfiction book published in 2014 by Steven D. Levitt, a professor of economics at the University of Chicago, and Stephen J. Dubner, a journalist based in New York City. It is a follow-up to the authors’ successful books Freakonomics (2005) and SuperFreakonomics (2009), and ties in with their blog and podcast, which can be found at freakonomics.com. A fourth book in the series, When to Rob a Bank, was... Read Think Like a Freak Summary


Publication year 1917

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Natural World: Animals, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Natural World: Environment

Tags Animals, Science / Nature, Lyric Poem, American Literature, Education, Education, Classic Fiction

Wallace Stevens is the author of “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird,” and he first published the poem in 1917 as a part of the literary anthology Others: An Anthology of New Verse. In 1923, he included the poem in his first collection of poetry, Harmonium, which features many of Stevens’s most well-known poems—poems that continue to appear in anthologies—like “The Snow Man“ and “The Emperor of Ice-Cream.” Stevens was born in Pennsylvania and... Read Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird Summary


Publication year 2014

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Globalization, Natural World: Environment

Tags Science / Nature, Climate Change, Business / Economics, Politics / Government

This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate is Naomi Klein's fourth book. Published in 2014, it explores the issue of climate change from an anticapitalistic political perspective and considers whether contemporary market-driven policies are adequate for responding to the global crisis. The book won the 2014 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction and was adapted into a documentary by Avi Lewis.Klein is a Canadian author, filmmaker, and activist whose work centers on anticapitalist critique... Read This Changes Everything Summary


Publication year 2017

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Mental Health, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Teams, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed

Tags Health / Medicine, Humor, Science / Nature


Publication year 2021

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Identity: Indigenous, Society: Colonialism, Society: Politics & Government

Tags Science / Nature, Psychology, Health / Medicine, Addiction / Substance Abuse, Agriculture, Anthropology, Business / Economics, History: European, History: U.S., Politics / Government, History: World, Journalism, Religion / Spirituality, Psychology, Food


Publication year 1905

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Sexuality, Identity: Gender, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth

Tags Psychology, Science / Nature, Psychology, Philosophy, Classic Fiction, Love / Sexuality, Philosophy

Sigmund Freud’s Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality was first published in 1905. Freud expanded it several times in later editions, and it reached its final form in 1924. The book occupies a major place in Freud’s body of work, but it was controversial when it first appeared. Freud pointedly blurs the line between perversions and normal sexual behaviors, and he develops a radically new and surprising theory of human sexuality—in particular, of childhood... Read Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality Summary


Publication year 2006

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Relationships: Marriage, Society: Class, Society: Community, Society: Globalization, Society: Immigration, Values/Ideas: Fame, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed

Tags Crime / Legal, History: European, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Science / Nature, History: World, Biography

Erik Larson’s Thunderstruck is a 2006 work of narrative nonfiction that braids two seemingly unrelated historical events that captured public attention in the pre-World War I years. The first involves the emerging and transformative technology of wireless communication designed by Marconi, the second a gruesome murder in London perpetrated by a seemingly docile and genial doctor named Crippen. Thunderstruck follows the success of Larson’s 2003 Devil in the White City, which coupled America’s first major... Read Thunderstruck Summary


Publication year 2009

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Natural World: Nurture v. Nature, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Natural World: Environment, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Natural World: Place, Natural World: Climate, Natural World: Objects, Life/Time: The Future

Tags Allegory / Fable / Parable, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Climate Change, Science / Nature, Finance / Money / Wealth


Publication year 2019

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance

Tags Self Help, Psychology, Business / Economics, Health / Medicine, Leadership/Organization/Management, Science / Nature, Psychology


Publication year 1786

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Natural World: Animals

Tags Science / Nature


Publication year 1820

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death

Tags Science / Nature, Romanticism / Romantic Period, Education, Education, British Literature, History: World, Classic Fiction