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Scientific American
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Scientific American
Recommended Books to the Beach This Summer
Rachel Feltman: For Scientific American 's Science Quickly, I'm Rachel Feltman. You might not know this, but Scientific American is a great place to go for book recommendations—and not just for nonfiction science titles either. Our team is packed with voracious readers, and we publish lists of our favorites at the end of each year. You can also get book recommendations every Friday in our daily newsletter, Today in Science. Now that summer is in full swing, we thought it would be fun to chat about some of our favorite beach reads. Today I'm joined by Bri Kane, Scientific American's resident reader, to go through some of her top picks for summer reading across a range of genres. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. Bri, thanks so much for coming on to chat with us. Would you start by just telling our listeners a little bit about what you do at SciAm and, of course, how it involves books? Bri Kane: Well, my day job is helping our contractors, writers and illustrators with their contracts and their invoices, but as everyone in the office knows, I'm constantly bullying people into reading more books and shoving books in their hand. Feltman: [Laughs] Yes, and we love it. We love that you do that [laughs]. Some of our listeners who read Scientific American might already know that you can get awesome book recommendations from there—and not just nonfiction science books: we also talk about science fiction and just our favorite books of the year—so we thought we would have Bri on to talk about some exciting summer reads as a way to give you some stuff to read this summer but also introduce you to the concept of getting book recommendations from Scientific American, because our editors and reporters read a lot [laughs]. Our expertise is: we're nerds [laughs]! Kane: Yeah, I mean, Scientific American has been reviewing books for over 100 years. I've been spending a lot of time in our archive this summer in anticipation of our 180th anniversary this August, and we've had some really spicy takes on books over the years, and I'm really excited to offer listeners my own spicy takes on books now. Feltman: Amazing, so why don't we start with the more obvious Scientific American book recommendations, the low-hanging fruit: those, like, nonfiction science books that we just have to read this summer. What do you have to recommend to us in that department? Kane: So the first one is Clamor by Chris Berdik. It's a really interesting deep dive into sound and hearing in a whole new way, beyond just the decibel count: how loud our human nature is and how loud we are making nature. It's a really interesting way to think about your own hearing, and as someone who is spending a lot of time on the New York City subway and trying to go to shows with my friends on the weekend, I've never been more aware of my long-term hearing health. Feltman: Yeah, that sounds great. And I think if listeners wanna get a little bit more information before they read it, I believe you recently reviewed this one, right? Where can folks find that? Kane: Oh, yeah, I'm reviewing books every Friday in our Today in Science newsletter. Feltman: So what else do you have for us today? Kane: The next one is Empire of AI by Karen Hao. It's a really buzzy book this year, but it's really good. It's an investigative reporter's deep dive into how AI and the companies that have built it have sprung up so fast and are making millions of dollars. I need to catch up on what's going on with AI in Silicon Valley, but this is a great one. Feltman: Yeah, I love when a book comes along that allows me to rectify the fact that I have been willfully trying to know as little about a subject [laughs] as possible. AI, I haven't quite been able to do that because it, it is too involved in my life and my job and this industry, but there are definitely things in the tech world where I'm like, 'Nope.' Everything I've learned about NFTs has been against my will. So when an incredibly talented science and technology reporter comes along and is like, 'Here, this is everything you need to know about this,' I'm like, 'Okay, great. Thank you.' [Laughs] Kane: I've never been to Silicon Valley, but I still wanna know what they're up to. Feltman: [Laughs] So what other recommendations do you have? Kane: I also wanted to recommend Waste Wars by Alexander Clapp. He spent two years living out of a backpack, traveling to the smelliest places of the most beautiful countries in the world, with hidden dump sites in jungles and millions of dollars being exchanged in black market economies just to move our garbage all around the world. Feltman: Wow, that sounds great. Do you have any fiction to recommend? Kane: There's a lot of really exciting fiction coming out this year, but one I wanted to talk to you [about], Rachel, is Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle. I know we're both big fans. Feltman: I love Chuck [laughs]. Kane: Lucky Day, coming out in August, is shockingly funny, and it's really scary. It's very existential: What is the meaning of life, and if there's no meaning in life, what's my meaning, and where am I going? It's really funny and really heartfelt in a way that Chuck Tingle can really handle: making you laugh and asking those big, existential questions. Feltman: Yeah, I haven't read that one yet. I know there are, like, ARCs floating around, and I'm, like, saving it, but I, I can't wait. I love all of his other books, so really excited. Kane: Yeah, another really weird and exciting fiction book out this year is Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert by Bob the Drag Queen. Feltman: Yeah, that one sounds really interesting. Kane: This one no one saw coming, but it's such a great take on historical fiction. I don't really read a lot of historical fiction, but I love the idea of taking a historical figure and bringing them to our modern world and [letting] the plot go from there. There's a lot of real history in this book, but Harriet Tubman has really been put on a pedestal for so long, and she's treated as a real person, with an incredible history and a searing, intense personality. It was so fun. This one is a great, really fast read—perfect for a beach day. Feltman: That sounds great. Kane: Another more interesting take on classic sci-fi is Metallic Realms by Lincoln Michel. It's a really funny and cringey story about someone who desperately loves their best friend and just wants to join their really cool science-fiction writing group—except he can't 'cause he's not really a writer and he's really annoying and weird. It's so funny to be stuck in this protagonist's head who just doesn't understand why they are being the cringey one, but they love science fiction, and it's a really creative version of the story within the story. Feltman: Yeah, that one sounds really interesting. Kane: And then for my own summer reading this year, I'm working on Octavia Butler's Lilith's Brood series. My book club made me read the first one, Dawn, and I absolutely fell in love. It's a really brilliant and disturbing first-contact story. I've never really seen one that handles not only who am I when I interact with an alien, but what is humanity, and where does the line between human and alien blur once we start—copulating, I'll say? Feltman: Yeah, that series has been on my list for a long time. Over the last couple of years I finally picked up Parable of the Sower, also by Octavia Butler, and I was like, wow, I always knew this was a good book; everybody says it—it's a great book, and I believed them, but it's also so prescient, you know? Her speculative-fiction writing was just brilliant and forward-looking, so I'm also looking forward to reading more of her this summer, and you have inspired me. Kane: Yeah, I mean, Octavia Butler is awesome. The hype is real. Like, if you haven't checked her out yet, I really recommend checking out the backlist, and if you're more of a straight science-fiction reader, I highly recommend Dawn and the Lilith's Brood series; it's really unique science fiction. Feltman: Amazing, well, Bri, thank you so much for coming on and giving us these amazing recommendations. Would you remind our listeners where else they can find info on SciAm 's book lovers and the amazing stuff we do [laughs]? Kane: Yeah, I'll be reviewing books every Friday in our daily newsletter Today in Science. And keep an eye out later this year for our three end-of-year books lists: our staff favorites as usual, but we also have some best-of coming out. Feltman: And I am also participating in making that list, so—I'm constantly behind on my reading assignments for Bri, but I [laughs], but I'm working on it. And if listeners do wanna sign up for Today in Science, which they absolutely should, we'll have a link in our show notes today. Bri, thank you so much for coming on today. Kane: Thanks for having me, Rachel. I can't wait to see what you end up reading this summer. Feltman: That's all for today's episode. Don't forget to subscribe to Today in Science so you can get more of Bri's recommendations. Science Quickly is produced by me, Rachel Feltman, along with Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Subscribe to Scientific American for more up-to-date and in-depth science news.
Scientific American
19 hours ago
- Science
- Scientific American
Spellements: Wednesday, July 23, 2025
How to Play Click the timer at the top of the game page to pause and see a clue to the science-related word in this puzzle! The objective of the game is to find words that can be made with the given letters such that all the words include the letter in the center. You can enter letters by clicking on them or typing them in. Press Enter to submit a word. Letters can be used multiple times in a single word, and words must contain four letters or more for this size layout. Select the Play Together icon in the navigation bar to invite a friend to work together on this puzzle. Pangrams, words which incorporate all the letters available, appear in bold and receive bonus points. One such word is always drawn from a recent Scientific American article—look out for a popup when you find it! You can view hints for words in the puzzle by hitting the life preserver icon in the game display. The dictionary we use for this game misses a lot of science words, such as apatite and coati. Let us know at games@ any extra science terms you found, along with your name and place of residence,
Scientific American
2 days ago
- Science
- Scientific American
Spellements: Tuesday, July 22, 2025
How to Play Click the timer at the top of the game page to pause and see a clue to the science-related word in this puzzle! The objective of the game is to find words that can be made with the given letters such that all the words include the letter in the center. You can enter letters by clicking on them or typing them in. Press Enter to submit a word. Letters can be used multiple times in a single word, and words must contain three letters or more for this size layout. Select the Play Together icon in the navigation bar to invite a friend to work together on this puzzle. Pangrams, words which incorporate all the letters available, appear in bold and receive bonus points. One such word is always drawn from a recent Scientific American article—look out for a popup when you find it! You can view hints for words in the puzzle by hitting the life preserver icon in the game display. The dictionary we use for this game misses a lot of science words, such as apatite and coati. Let us know at games@ any extra science terms you found, along with your name and place of residence,
Scientific American
3 days ago
- Science
- Scientific American
Were the Wright Brothers First in Flight? Inside a 1925 Dispute
Rachel Feltman: Happy Monday, listeners! For Scientific American 's Science Quickly, I'm Rachel Feltman. You may have noticed we've been taking a bit of a break from our usual Monday news roundup to make room for special episodes, including our bird flu series, as well as to accommodate some summer holidays and vacation plans for our small but mighty team. We'll be back to the news roundup format next week. For today I thought it would be fun to dip back into the Scientific American archives for a few minutes. Let's check in on what SciAm was up to exactly one century ago, in July of 1925. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. I'll start with the issue's cover story, which was contributed by the curator of marine life at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and seems to have been written, at least in large part, to introduce readers to the concept of tide pools. These are indents in rocky coastal areas that during high tide get filled with water, which remains trapped once the tide goes back out. The writer describes the abundant marine life that could be found in the high tide puddles of Woods Hole, Massachusetts and other Massachusetts tidal zones, waxing poetic about barnacles and sea worms, which he compares to 'acrobats' and 'Goddesses of the sea,' respectively. One hundred years later, scientists and laypeople alike are still quite taken with tide pools. They're really interesting environments: during low tide they're generally shallow enough that they can get quite warm, which can be challenging for the organisms living inside them. Other difficulties for these organisms include the fact that tide pools are easy for predators such as birds and crabs to access. On top of that, oxygen levels in the pool drop off between infusions of new seawater. Plus, tidal pool residents often have to withstand crashing waves when the ocean reaches them again. A lot has changed since 1925, but checking out tide pools is still a great pastime for anyone hanging around the coast. Depending on where you live, you can spot anemones, starfish, coral and even octopi, among other things. The issue also features a somewhat scathing assessment of the U.S. commercial aviation industry as it stood in 1925. According to Scientific American 's editors, someone visiting from abroad asked them whether one could travel from New York to Chicago by airplane. (He asked this question, by the way, by calling up the magazine's office. Life was hard before Google.) The editors told him that he'd have to hire his own airplane to make such a trip, which would be very expensive. But that got them thinking: Would this request have been reasonable in the traveler's home country? Thus began SciAm 's investigation into the world of commercial flight. RIP SciAM Editors, you would've loved The Rehearsal. The resulting article points out that in the U.S. in 1925 commercial aviation was mainly used to get mail from one coast to the other. Meanwhile, the article explains, countries in Europe were already in the midst of an aviation boom, using planes to move people and products all over the place. According to the article, one could travel from London to Berlin for $40, which amounts to about $753 today. That's not exactly bargain airfare, but it's not so far off from what a modern flier might pay to travel in business class, and one can imagine that most folks paying for the privilege of air travel in 1925 were either traveling for important business, flush with cash or more likely both. It's clear that the Scientific American editors were dismayed to find the U.S. lagging so far behind. In an inset titled, rather dramatically, 'Are We a Negligent People?' the magazine asks what has become of American aviation. 'We invented the airplane, neglected it, and left to Europe the task of putting it into widely extended commercial service,' the section reads probably in a transatlantic accent. 'As a people we are supposed to have a perfect genius for practising rapid-fire methods in our industrial activities. We are supposed to have developed time-saving into an exact science and have shown the world how to practise it. In the airplane, the Wrights gave us a time-saving machine which, if our business men had not been so possessed with the desire to make money and make it quickly, would today be one of our principal means of transportation for men, mail and light freight. Save for the fine work of the Army, the Navy, the Air Postal Service and a few private firms, we have done practically nothing, leaving to Europe the developing of commercial transportation.' That's not the only aviation tea in the July 1925 issue. In the magazine's 'Our Point of View' section the editors reflect on Orville Wright's decision to send the first power-driven, person-carrying aircraft to the British National Museum. If you're not familiar with this historical scandal, here's the gist: the Wright brothers are famous for making the first powered, controlled flight in 1903. But for decades the Smithsonian Institution tried to give that honor to Samuel Langley, its former secretary, whose own flying machine had crashed just days before the Wrights' aircraft succeeded. In 1914 the Smithsonian's director had Langley's aircraft retrofitted to prove it could have flown—if only it hadn't failed—and used that to award him the credit. The museum displayed the aircraft with a placard to that effect. Orville Wright was, understandably, displeased. In Scientific American 's July 1925 issue the editors say that the museum display is misleading and that Langley definitely did not beat the Wright brothers. 'The whole matter, indeed, may be regarded as very much of a tempest in a teapot,' the editors wrote, 'and it could easily be set right if the Smithsonian Institution would remove the objectionable placard and change it so that there could be no possible misunderstanding.' That wouldn't actually happen until 1928, and the Smithsonian didn't get around to apologizing until 1942. But hey, we tried! Though the U.S. was lagging behind in commercial flight, a graphic from the 1925 issue shows we were leading the charge in at least one technological arena: gabbing on the phone. The infographic contends that 62.9 percent of the world's telephones in 1925 were located in the U.S. and that the country led the way in phones per capita as well. We also came out ahead in terms of how often people got on the horn: the average person in the United States apparently sent 182 messages via phone each year, with second place going to Denmark with 123. And Russians, the editors noted, were 'content with four and one-half calls' each. Sure we're talking a lot, but are we actually saying anything? That's all for today's archival adventure. We'll be back on Wednesday to talk about some of SciAm 's hottest summer reading recommendations. And tune in next week for a return to our good old news roundup. Science Quickly is produced by me, Rachel Feltman, along with Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Subscribe to Scientific American for more up-to-date and in-depth science news.
Scientific American
3 days ago
- Science
- Scientific American
Spellements: Monday, July 21, 2025
How to Play Click the timer at the top of the game page to pause and see a clue to the science-related word in this puzzle! The objective of the game is to find words that can be made with the given letters such that all the words include the letter in the center. You can enter letters by clicking on them or typing them in. Press Enter to submit a word. Letters can be used multiple times in a single word, and words must contain three letters or more for this size layout. Select the Play Together icon in the navigation bar to invite a friend to work together on this puzzle. Pangrams, words which incorporate all the letters available, appear in bold and receive bonus points. One such word is always drawn from a recent Scientific American article—look out for a popup when you find it! You can view hints for words in the puzzle by hitting the life preserver icon in the game display. The dictionary we use for this game misses a lot of science words, such as apatite and coati. Let us know at games@ any extra science terms you found, along with your name and place of residence,
