July 1, 2011

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Recommended: The Book of Fungi: A Life-Size Guide to 600 Species from Around the World

Books and recommendations from Scientific American

By Kate Wong

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The Book of Fungi: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species from Around the World
by Peter Roberts and Shelley Evans. University of Chicago Press, 2011

Medusa brittlestem, hawthorn twiglet, olive earth­tongue—welcome to the weird and wonderful world of fungi, where the species have names that sound as though they could have been plucked from the pages of Harry Potter. Gorgeous color photographs, handy distribution maps and chatty descriptions celebrate edible and poisonous fungal varieties from around the globe.

Statues That Walked: Unraveling the Mystery of Easter Island
by Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo. Free Press, 2011
Recent discoveries suggest that the inhabitants of Easter Island were actually devoted stewards of their island’s natural resources. Archaeologists Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo describe how they solved the mystery of the society’s collapse.

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Lip Service: Smiles in Life, Death, Trust, Lies, Work, Memory, Sex and Politics
by Marianne LaFrance. W. W. Norton, 2011
There are many kinds of smiles, from knowing and joyful to pleading and fake. Smile expert Marianne LaFrance of Yale University discusses the latest science and shows that there is much more to a pair of upturned lips than meets the eye.

The End of Country
by Seamus McGraw. Random House, 2011
Journalist Seamus McGraw tells the story of what happened to a small town in rural Pennsylvania after one of the richest natural gas deposits on earth—the Marcellus shale deposit—was discovered there. McGraw’s own mother was among the first residents to receive an offer from the gas company to lease her property.

Eruptions That Shook the World
by Clive Oppenheimer. Cambridge University Press, 2011
Volcanologist Clive Oppenheimer of the University of Cambridge surveys the biggest eruptions of the past quarter of a billion years to illustrate how profoundly volcanoes have shaped our world and how we might apply the lessons of the past to managing disastrous eruptions in the future.

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Fiction Heaven’s Shadow, by David S. Goyer and Michael Cassutt. Ace, 2011

Abyss, by David Hagberg. Forge, 2011

Rule 34, by Charles Stross. Ace, 2011

The Silicon Jungle: A Novel of Deception, Power, and Internet Intrigue, by Shumeet Baluja. Princeton University Press, 2011

For Kids Me ... Jane, by Patrick McDonnell. Little, Brown, 2011

The Lucy Man: The Scientist Who Found the Most Famous Fossil Ever! by CAP Saucier. Prometheus, 2011

Storm Runners, by Roland Smith. Scholastic, 2011

The Geek Dad’s Guide to Weekend Fun: Cool Hacks, Cutting-Edge Games, and More Awesome Projects for the Whole Family, by Ken Denmead. Gotham Books, 2011

The Klutz Guide to the Galaxy, by Pat Murphy and the Scientists of Klutz Labs. Klutz, 2011

Kate Wong is an award-winning science writer and senior editor for features at Scientific American, where she has focused on evolution, ecology, anthropology, archaeology, paleontology and animal behavior. She is fascinated by human origins, which she has covered for nearly 30 years. Recently she has become obsessed with birds. Her reporting has taken her to caves in France and Croatia that Neandertals once called home to the shores of Kenya’s Lake Turkana in search of the oldest stone tools in the world, as well as to Madagascar on an expedition to unearth ancient mammals and dinosaurs, the icy waters of Antarctica, where humpback whales feast on krill, and a “Big Day” race around the state of Connecticut to find as many bird species as possible in 24 hours. Wong is co-author, with Donald Johanson, of Lucy’s Legacy: The Quest for Human Origins. She holds a bachelor of science degree in biological anthropology and zoology from the University of Michigan. Follow her on Bluesky @katewong.bsky.social

More by Kate Wong
Scientific American Magazine Vol 305 Issue 1This article was published with the title “Recommended: The Book of Fungi: A Life-Size Guide to 600 Species from Around the World” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 305 No. 1 ()
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican072011-6oeGCGxUgmqNr72UQhvM6O
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