Recommended Reads for Adults – October 2011
To continue our monthly series of book lists, the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library is turning its attention to scientists. They range from English ladies collecting bones by the seashore to members of a future scientific order on a planet facing uninvited visitors. Some create monsters and others befriend birds. And one of them explained how the scablands were created.
Remarkable Creatures by Tracey Chevalier.
1804. Spinster Elizabeth Philpot and her sisters are exiled from London to the coastal village of Lyme Regis when their brother marries. Elizabeth meets local girl Mary Anning, who hunts for fossils to support her family. Their interest in science leads to friendship despite different ages and social statuses. 2010. Digital Book DB 70792. Large Print Book LP 25057. Also available as a downloadable book from BARD: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.70792.
Armageddon Science: The Science of Mass Destruction by Brian Clegg.
Physicist discusses the fictional "mad scientist" and highlights what he considers to be the real dangers of science in our world. Examines antimatter, nuclear weapons, climate change, and biohazards, among other potential threats. Also debunks the alleged facts in Dan Brown's novel Angels and Demons (DB 51799). 2010. Digital Book DB 72357. Also available as a downloadable book from BARD: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.72357.
Next by Michael Crichton.
Cancer survivor Frank Burnet and his daughter and grandson are targets of an unscrupulous drug company that wants to profit from their unique disease-fighting genes. Meanwhile other genetic-engineering experiments involving a boy/chimpanzee hybrid and a talking parrot have gone awry. Strong language and some descriptions of sex. Bestseller. 2006. Braille Book BR 16884. Cassette Book RC 63691. Digital Book DB 63691. Also available as a downloadable book from BARD: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.63691.
A Version of the Truth by Jennifer Kaufman and Karen Mack.
Topanga Canyon, California. Widowed, dyslexic, high school dropout Cassie lies on her resumé to obtain a local university job assisting animal behavior professor Conner. Cassie, already a wildlife expert, discovers a different world of education, refinement, and love. Strong language and some descriptions of sex. Bestseller. 2008. Braille Book BR 17476. Cassette Book RC 65811. Digital Book DB 65811. Also available as a downloadable book from BARD: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.65811.
The Alchemist's Daughter by Katharine McMahon.
Early eighteenth century in Buckinghamshire. Secluded in his manor house, John Selden raises his motherless daughter Emilie to aid him in his scientific experiments. When Emilie is eighteen, two visitors interrupt the Seldens' work and first love overwhelms Emilie with far-reaching consequences. Some descriptions of sex and some strong language. Commercial audiobook. 2006. Cassette Book RC 61329. Large Print LP 22086. Digital Book DB 61329 is available as a downloadable book from BARD: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.61329.
Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl by Stacey O’Brien.
The author, an assistant in the Caltech owl department in 1985, recounts adopting Wesley, a four-day-old barn owl with a nerve-damaged wing. She portrays the strong bond they developed over nineteen years, manifested by the owl's efforts to feed her mice, build her nests, and make her his mate. 2008. Cassette Book RC 68258. Digital Book DB 68258. Large Print Book LP 24418. Also available as a downloadable book from BARD: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.68258.
Einstein In Love: A Scientific Romance by Dennis Overbye.
A biographical portrait of the Nobel Prize-winning physicist, focusing on his productive, youthful years in the first two decadesof the 1900s. Provides a detailed treatment of Einstein's romantic and family affairs while discussing his scientific theories.Based on correspondence and documents that became available in the 1990s. 2000. Cassette Book RC 52487. Digital Book DB 52487 is available as a downloadable book from BARD: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.52487.
Frankenstein: Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley.
Classic horror story. A monster, endowed with life by a young scientist named Frankenstein, later turns on his creator. Originally published in 1818. Braille Book BR 12173. Cassette Book RC 25835. Large Print Book LP 6845. Digital Book DB 25835 is available as a downloadable book from BARD: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.25835.
The Spanish language edition of Frankenstein is available as Cassette Book RC 25706.
Bretz's Flood: The Remarkable Story of a Rebel Geologist and the World's Greatest Flood by John Soennichsen.
At the end of the Ice Ages, repeated floods from Lake Missoula in Montana tore through North Idaho and Eastern Washington and down the Columbia Gorge to the Pacific. The floods took much of the topsoil and left behind the channeled scablands and Grand Coulee. J. Harlen Breitz was the first geologist to realize what had happened. His reports were roundly criticized. It took aerial photography and field trips by his doubters to prove him right. 2008. Braille Book BRW 1315. Digital Book DBW 8138. Also available as a downloadable book from WTBBL: http://www.wtbbl.org/login.aspx.
Anathem by Neal Stephenson.
In the thirty-seventh century, mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers are cloistered in sanctuaries to nurture and safeguard knowledge from the corrupting forces of the Scular realm outside. When catastrophe looms, young scholar Erasmas and his highly intelligent friends are called upon to save their world. Bestseller. 2008. Cassette Book RC 67760. Digital Book DB 67760. Also available as a downloadable book from BARD: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.67760.