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 2002

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Education, Relationships: Teams, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed

Tags Business / Economics, Education, Education, Science / Nature, Social Science, Psychology, Psychology, Finance / Money / Wealth, Politics / Government

Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science is a nonfiction book by Charles Wheelan published in 2002. The author holds a PhD from the University of Chicago and is a senior lecturer and policy fellow at Dartmouth College. Previously, he was a correspondent for the magazine The Economist. He has written a number of other books, including Naked Statistics and Naked Money. This study guide refers to the 2019 third edition of Naked Economics.SummaryNaked Economics is... Read Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science Summary


Publication year 1836

Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Literature

Tags Philosophy, Science / Nature, American Literature, Transcendentalism, Education, Education, History: World, Philosophy, Classic Fiction


Publication year 1991

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Society: Colonialism, Society: Economics

Tags History: U.S., Business / Economics, Urban Development, Science / Nature, American Literature, History: World


Publication year 1963

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

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

Tags Science / Nature, Animals, Action / Adventure, Classic Fiction, Biography

Farley Mowat published Never Cry Wolf in 1963. The book is a non-fiction memoir of the 18 months he spent in the Barrens, a treeless area of tundra, studying arctic wolves for the Dominion Wildlife Service. Told that these wolves killed caribou for sport, Farley was surprised to discover that wolves never attacked humans and only culled the deer herds of unhealthy animals. Farley also encountered rampant inefficiency among his government colleagues, which he reports... Read Never Cry Wolf Summary


Publication year 2024

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Tags History: World, Science / Nature, Philosophy


Publication year 2017

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Tags History: U.S., Health / Medicine, Poverty, Science / Nature, Biography

No Apparent Distress: A Doctor’s Coming of Age on the Front Lines of American Medicine is author Rachel Pearson’s 2017 account of her intensive medical education and the initial years of her career as a physician. She focuses on stories that illustrate her themes of medical ethics, regret, depression, bias against the poor, and racism. Rather than bogging the reader down in medical jargon, Pearson uses anecdotes to convey her experiences to a layman audience.Pearson... Read No Apparent Distress Summary


Publication year 2021

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Society: Economics

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


Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Values/Ideas: Fate, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Life/Time: The Future, Life/Time: The Past, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Natural World: Flora/plants, Natural World: Objects, Natural World: Place, Self Discovery, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger

Tags Historical Fiction, Science / Nature, History: World, Magical Realism


Publication year 1860

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Teams, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Values/Ideas: Equality, Society: Community, Society: Education

Tags Health / Medicine, Psychology, Relationships, Science / Nature, History: World, Classic Fiction

Florence Nightingale was an English nurse commonly known as the founder of modern nursing practices. Born in Italy, she became an experienced nurse and formed many of her opinions while serving in the Crimean War, enrolling in nursing school at age 24 in Germany. She penned Notes on Nursing: What It Is, and What it Is Not in 1859, just a few years after serving in the war, and the work was first published in... Read Notes on Nursing Summary


Publication year 1785

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Politics & Government, Society: Nation, Society: Colonialism

Tags Education, Education, Science / Nature, History: World, Philosophy, American Revolution, Classic Fiction, History: U.S., Politics / Government, Philosophy, Race / Racism


Publication year 1923

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Natural World: Environment

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


Publication year 1620

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Philosophy, Science / Nature

Novum Organum is an epistemological tract written by Francis Bacon, an early modern statesman and polymath. It was published in 1620 and written in Latin. Its full title is Novum Organum, sive Indicia Vera de Interpretatione Naturae, meaning “New Organon, or true suggestions for the interpretation of nature.” Novum Organum was intended to be the second part of a larger work—the Instauratio Magna, or “Great Instauration,” Bacon’s proposal for an overhaul and new birth of... Read Novum Organum Summary


Publication year 2024

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Society: Politics & Government, Society: War, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Science / Nature, History: World, Politics / Government, Military / War


Publication year 2008

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Economics, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Society: Politics & Government

Tags Self Help, Psychology, Business / Economics, Science / Nature, Sociology, Psychology, Politics / Government

In 2021 the behavioral economists Richard H. Thaler and the legal scholar Cass R. Sunstein released an updated, “final” version of their 2008 book Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness. Drawing on research from psychology, economics, sociology, and elsewhere, Thaler and Sunstein make the case for the importance of “nudges.” Nudges, according to these authors, are “aspects of choice architecture” that predictably alter behavior without forbidding or commanding anything (8). Choice architecture refers... Read Nudge Summary


Publication year 1913

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Life/Time: Aging

Tags Lyric Poem, Science / Nature, Grief / Death, American Literature


Publication year 2022

Genre Novel/Book in Verse, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Natural World: Place, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger

Tags Animals, Science / Nature, Realistic Fiction, Action / Adventure, Children's Literature


Publication year 1957

Genre Poem, Fiction

Tags Lyric Poem, Animals, Science / Nature, Grief / Death, Latin American Literature, Food


Publication year 1973

Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Mental Health, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Science / Nature, Psychology, Psychology, Mental Illness, Health / Medicine


Publication year 2024

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Family, Society: Community, Society: Nation, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Tags Biography, Politics / Government, Science / Nature, History: World, Health / Medicine


Publication year 1928

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Natural World: Place

Tags Narrative / Epic Poem, Science / Nature