Also, for the super geeky, you will want to know about this forthcoming book by my friend Kevin Trenberth, The Changing Flow of Energy Through the Climate System.

I’ve seen some of the information and graphics going into this book. Let me tell you: If you are an erg, Kevin knows where you are, where you came from, and where you are going. Indispensable for those interested in climate systems. This is an academic book, so get serious with it.

Everything here is a book, because books are what gets us through a pandemic. Except this: Pandemic, the Board Game

New and Amazing Science Books

Drunk Flies and Stoned Dolphins: A Trip Through the World of Animal Intoxication by One Pagan.

From parrots to primates, consuming medicinal chemicals is an instinctive behavior that helps countless organisms fight infection and treat disease. But the similarities don’t end there: Like us, many creatures also consume substances that have no apparent benefit . . . except for inducing intoxication. In fact, animals have been using drugs for recreational purposes since prehistoric times. We may even have animals to thank for the idea—legend says that coffee was discovered by observing the behavior of goats that had eaten it.

Combining fascinating science with humor and enthusiasm, Pagán’s latest is full of the kind of unforgettable stories and odd facts that you’ll find yourself repeating to everyone you meet. From fruit fly happy hour to the evolutionary reasons behind nature’s drugs, Drunk Flies and Stoned Dolphins takes you on a trip through the colorful world of animal intoxication—and along the way, explores what this science reveals about the surprising connections between all the world’s creatures.

Pump: A Natural History of the Heart by Bill Schutt.

In this lively, unexpected look at the hearts of animals—from fish to bats to humans—American Museum of Natural History zoologist Bill Schutt tells an incredible story of evolution and scientific progress.

Written with verve and authority, weaving evolutionary perspectives with cultural history, Pump shows us this mysterious organ in a completely new light.

I’ve gotten great value out of these next two books. I used Inkscape and Gimp for years before sitting down to learn how to actually get the most out of them. Then, I read and used these books and everything is different! (In a good way). Admittedly, these and many of the items listed here are probably more for you than anyone you know, but feel free to stuff your own stockings, as it were.

–The Book of Inkscape, 2nd Edition: The Definitive Guide to the Graphics Editor

–The Book of GIMP: A Complete Guide to Nearly Everything

Scenic Science of the National Parks: An Explorer’s Guide to Wildlife, Geology, and Botany by Emily Hoff and Maygen Keller

The national parks are some of the most beloved, visited, and biodiverse places on Earth. They’re also scientific playgrounds where you can learn about plants, animals, and our planet’s coolest geological features firsthand. Scenic Science of the National Parks curates and breaks down the compelling and offbeat natural science highlights of each park, from volcanic activity, glaciers, and coral reefs to ancient redwood groves, herds of bison, giant bats, and beyond. Featuring full-color illustrations, information on the history and notable features of each park, and insider tips on how to get the most out of your visit, this delightful book is the perfect addition to any park lover’s collection.

Why Trust Science? by Naomi Oreskes.

Are doctors right when they tell us vaccines are safe? Should we take climate experts at their word when they warn us about the perils of global warming? Why should we trust science when so many of our political leaders don’t? Naomi Oreskes offers a bold and compelling defense of science, revealing why the social character of scientific knowledge is its greatest strength?and the greatest reason we can trust it. Tracing the history and philosophy of science from the late nineteenth century to today, this timely and provocative book features a new preface by Oreskes and critical responses by climate experts Ottmar Edenhofer and Martin Kowarsch, political scientist Jon Krosnick, philosopher of science Marc Lange, and science historian Susan Lindee, as well as a foreword by political theorist Stephen Macedo.

Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World by Rachel Ignotofsky

A charmingly illustrated and educational book, New York Times best seller Women in Science highlights the contributions of fifty notable women to the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) from the ancient to the modern world. Full of striking, singular art, this fascinating collection also contains infographics about relevant topics such as lab equipment, rates of women currently working in STEM fields, and an illustrated scientific glossary. The trailblazing women profiled include well-known figures like primatologist Jane Goodall, as well as lesser-known pioneers such as Katherine Johnson, the African-American physicist and mathematician who calculated the trajectory of the 1969 Apollo 11 mission to the moon.

Women in Science celebrates the achievements of the intrepid women who have paved the way for the next generation of female engineers, biologists, mathematicians, doctors, astronauts, physicists, and more!

Data your thing? New edition:

Practical SQL, 2nd Edition: A Beginner’s Guide to Storytelling with Data

You’ll learn how to:
• Create databases and related tables using your own data

This updated second edition has been thoroughly revised to reflect the latest in SQL features, including additional advanced query techniques for wrangling data. This edition also has two new chapters: an expanded set of instructions on for setting up your system plus a chapter on using PostgreSQL with the popular JSON data interchange format.

For the adult interested in programming: Learning Python, These books:

Preorder Object-Oriented Python: Master OOP by Building Games and GUIs by Irv Kalb.
Object-Oriented Python is an intuitive and thorough guide to mastering object-oriented programming from the ground up. You’ll cover the basics of building classes and creating objects, and put theory into practice using the pygame package with clear examples that help visualize the object-oriented style. You’ll explore the key concepts of object-oriented programming — encapsulation, polymorphism, and inheritance — and learn not just how to code with objects, but the absolute best practices for doing so. Finally, you’ll bring it all together by building a complex video game, complete with full animations and sounds. The book covers two fully functional Python code packages that will speed up development of graphical user interface (GUI) programs in Python

And these:

–Learning Python, 5th Edition

–Python Crash Course, 2nd Edition: A Hands-On, Project-Based Introduction to Programming

–Automate the Boring Stuff with Python: Practical Programming for Total Beginners

For kids, Scratch programming

Scratch 3 Programming Playground: Learn to Program by Making Cool Games by Al Sweigart.

Scratch, the colorful drag-and-drop programming language, is used by millions of first-time learners worldwide. Scratch 3 features an updated interface, new programming blocks, and the ability to run on tablets and smartphones, so you can learn how to code on the go.

Learning how to program shouldn’t be dry and dreary. With Scratch 3 Programming Playground, you’ll make a game of it!

And also, Super Scratch Programming Adventure! (Scratch 3)

The Outdoor Science Lab for Kids and the other books in the same series are excellent, highly recommended, and reviewed here.

Treecology is also a science activity book that people seem to love. Chance are you already have it. Obviously, it focuses on trees, but that does not stop it from being year round, and there are, of course, many non-tree things that relate to trees, and that stuff is covered as well. My review.

Electronics for Kids and The Arduino Project Handbook are great DIY books, the first explicitly for kids, and the second for older kids or adults, or younger kids working with older kids. Click the links to see my reviews.

For kids into math and related fields, check out the Manga guides. Here, I review the latest one on Regression Analysis, and in that post, I’ve got a list of the others.

For smaller kids, there is a new (early last year) David Macaulay book on machines. The book itself is, in fact, a machine.

The box contained two kinds of items. There were some commercially available items selected by Bill Nye, and a few other items that were home made or printed up just for this box, including some documents written by Bill, one with a personal autograph.

The retail items were a salt water fuel cell car kit, a solar powered robotic bug, some zany color changing beads, a nice pen, and a carabiner compass. The home made items included the parts and instructions for making a sun dial.

This particular package costs $50. When I calculate the retail costs of the items available for purchase, it comes to over $50. When I search around for the best price I can get it down to just below $50 not counting shipping. So, it seems to be the case that you get pretty close to what you pay for, with respect to just those items alone. The additional things, the personalized stuff from Bill Nye and the sundial kit obviously add more value. And, the idea is that this collection of stuff was put together by someone you admire (or stalk).

The sundial kit comes with all the parts and things you need to make it work, but every one of those parts is a common classroom item. It comes with instructions to use the sundial in a teaching setting, either with your family or in a classroom, and since the items are commonly available, the project is extensible and can be redone again and again. Also, the sundial kit comes with a well thought out list of links between specific national educational standards and the things learned by using the kit, which covers several items in science and a bit of history.

I’m not sure if I would personally subscribe to this, because I’m more of a curator type than a curatee type. But I can think of several people to whom I would like to give at least one box as a gift. Considering the range of curators, there is actually quite a range of possibilities. Bill Nye is The Science Guy of course, so that’s for sciencey people and science teachers.

Do you know Ted Vadakan, Angie Myung, Jon Shook, Kristian Bush, Sean Bonner, Viny Dotolo, Q-Tip, Amanda Hesser, Merril Stubbs, Book Riot, Megan Collins, Brandon Long, Pharrell Williams, Andy Dalton, Siobhan O’Conner, Alexandra Spunt, Charles Tillman, or Coco? Those are some of the other curators representing design, art, style, cooking, sports, entertainment, and other things many of which I know virtually nothing. There’s also technology stuff and a home organizing box. But I have friends and relatives who so, and some of them might be getting Quarterly boxes as birthday presents this year. (Too bad most of my extended family breeds seasonally and most of the birthdays have just passed!) There’s also technology stuff (e.g. Mark Frauenfelder of Boing Boing and MAKE) and a home organizing box. There’s even a blogger that is not me (Jason Kottke) and a Viking (Brian Robison). A full list of curators is HERE. Most of the boxes are $50, but a couple are $100, shipping included in the US.

Here’s a video that Bill Nye made to go with this kit (If it does not load properly here, you can watch it HERE.):

#NYE01 Video from Quarterly Co. on Vimeo.

This is an interesting idea and I hope it does well. If you get any boxes, let us know how it goes!

I’m including a couple of bird books in this list, but I also recently wrote up a summary of just bird books that you may want to check out.

These are in no particular order, and I’m not paying a lot of attention to publication dates. What matters is that I’ve I’ve put the book in this stack of books I’ve got here that I clean out every year about this time; Some are clearly older than one year but if you’ve not read them or know someone who has not, this simply must be corrected. I’m also not listing anything I’ve reviewed in the last few days because you just saw them. This is more a reminder of what you forgot to read last June or whenever!

And the books are:

Mummies, Cannibals and Vampires. OMG. This is an academic books that has not gotten much hype and probably won’t, but you simply must read it. For the average reasonably well educated person, this book probably has more stuff in it you didn’t know, or even suspect, than most books you’ll ever read.

Bird Migration and Global Change, a new book, and the much older On the Move are significantly contrasting books that make a great pair. One is natural history and accessible the other ore academic and scientific, both are about movement and migration, which will become an increasingly important topic over the next decades as global climate change exerts its rather uncertain influence.

Speaking of climate change and related issues, Shaw Otto’s new book, “Fool Me Twice” is my choice for stocking stuffer of the year. Various relatives and friends will be getting this book from me. Everybody has to read it.

Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Death By Black Hole is not new but I just read it this year so I’m including it. This volume covers all the current cosmic controversies and makes points usually left aside because of NdGT’s specific academic interests in Magnitogorsk and plasma and stuff. The question raised in this book formed part of my strategy for my interview of him.

The other physics book you must read is Jim Kakalios’ The Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics. There is no math in this book. For those of you who think that is a bad thing, OK, you’ve got extra geekkred. For the rest of you, you will love this book.

If you haven’t read The Science of Kissing then just go read it. Until then, No Kissing For You!

Another stocking stuffer, because of its important message, is Deadly Choices by Paul Offit. This is on the anti-vax movement, and is the perfect gift for your homeopathic cousin in Peoria.

Do you watch birds? Good. Do you now a LOT about birds? No? Then start here!. It’s really bird science disguised as a book for birders. Pretty sneaky.

And now a short list of other books that are much older but that I want to re-recommend. Seriously. If you’ve not read these than you can’t really be my friend:

• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
• Newton and the Counterfeiter: The Unknown Detective Career of the World’s Greatest Scientist
• Mothers and Others: The Evolutionary Origins of Mutual Understanding
• The Periodic Kingdom: A Journey Into The Land Of The Chemical Elements (Science Masters)
• Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human