Reviews

  1. Health & Medicine

    ‘Rehab’ exposes the dark underside of U.S. drug treatment centers

    In Rehab, journalist Shoshana Walter investigates the systemic pitfalls of drug treatment programs, which prevent people’s recovery from addiction.

    By Meghan Rosen
  2. Artificial Intelligence

    Does the AI industry operate like a modern colonial empire?

    In Empire of AI, journalist Karen Hao investigates OpenAI and the social and environmental costs of a multinational tech arms race.

    By Shi En Kim
  3. Animals

    U.S. seal populations have rebounded — and so have their conflicts with humans

    Alix Morris’s new book, A Year with the Seals, explores humans’ complicated relationship with these controversial marine mammals.

    By Aaron Tremper
  4. Science & Society

    Is nuclear energy good? A new book explores this complex question

    Atomic Dreams explores nuclear energy's future in the U.S. through the history of Diablo Canyon, California's last operational nuclear power plant.

    By Alka Tripathy-Lang
  5. Quantum Physics

    The unsung women of quantum physics get their due

    The new book, Women in the History of Quantum Physics, spotlights the oft-forgotten contributions of women scientists in the field.

    By Emily Conover
  6. Science & Society

    Some science seems silly, but it’s still worthwhile

    The Salmon Cannon and the Levitating Frog contends that curiosity-driven research helps us understand the world and could lead to unexpected benefits.

    By Karen Kwon
  7. Artificial Intelligence

    Tech billionaires’ vision of an AI-dominated future is flawed — and dangerous

    Adam Becker’s new book, More Everything Forever, investigates the dangers of a billionaire-driven tomorrow, in which trillions of humans live in space, served by AI.

    By Ashley Yeager
  8. Science & Society

    ‘Pseudoscience’ digs into the allure and dangers of believing fake science

    In their new book, Lydia Kang and Nate Pedersen survey flat Earth theory, fake moon landings and other scientific myths and why people believe them.

    By Sibani Ram
  9. Animals

    Snakes are often the villains. A new book gives them a fair shake

    From demon to danger noodle, human ideas about snakes can be as contradictory as the creatures themselves. In Slither, Stephen S. Hall challenges our serpent stereotypes.

    By Victoria Jaggard
  10. Health & Medicine

    Tuberculosis could be eradicated. So why isn’t it?

    John Green’s new book, Everything Is Tuberculosis, reveals how social injustice sustains the disease, despite available cures and vaccines.

    By Andrea Tamayo
  11. Neuroscience

    Human memory is flawed. But a new book says that’s OK

    The new book Memory Lane convincingly demonstrates how memories are like Lego buildings that are constantly being rebuilt.

    By Laura Sanders
  12. Life

    A new book chronicles the science of life in the air 

    Carl Zimmer’s Air-Borne recounts centuries of aerobiology’s greatest moments and mistakes.

    By Andrea Tamayo