Science Books for the Holidays

The gift-giving season is here, and people have been asking me about books on scientific topics as presents for general readers.

Taste in books is about as personal as taste in clothing, so that's not an easy question. And I'm no expert; I just read as much as I can, about nearly everything. But of course I have favorites, and have asked others for opinions.

For people living Outside or newcomers to Alaska, I've never found a better gift book than Alaska Science Nuggets, by Neil Davis ($14.95 in paper, $19.95 hardback). It's definitely not a glitzy coffee-table kind of publication, but its 400 very short essays on matters mostly northern are clear and often entertaining. Browsers can pick up more than most sourdoughs know about auroras and ice worms, glaciers and earthquakes. Originally published by the Geophysical Institute, it's now been reprinted by the University of Alaska Press.

Since that book is in the old-reliable category, I checked with the Press to see what was more recent. For people seriously interested in birds, they have Birds of the Seward Peninsula, by Brina Kessel ($34.95 hard cover only). This is not a colorful guide but a presentation of nearly everything known about the feathered creatures living in or visiting the area. Oddly, at least to me, the book is popular with birders in the South 48; it turns out that the Seward Peninsula is a dream trip for serious birdwatchers, because so many Siberian species appear there.

The University Press also offers William D. Berry 1954-1956 Alaska Field Sketches, a gorgeous and scientifically accurate treatment by a skilled artist of northern wildlife from voles to grizzlies ($49.95 in hard cover, $29.95 paperback). To the regret of the sales manager, the Press does not yet have copies of Enjoying a Life in Science, the autobiography of physiologist Per Scholander who did much work in Alaska. I had a chance to read the book in manuscript, and it's a wonderful disproof of the view that all science and scientists are stuffy. If you don't like to give IOUs for Christmas but would like to make the same point with a gift recipient, I recommend any of physicist Richard Feynman's narratives (such as Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman).

My favorite Fairbanks bookseller reports two relevant new books that sound good: Ravens in Winter, by Bernd Heinrich (Summit Books, $19.95); and Oil Notes, by Rick Bass (Houghton Mifflin, $16.95). Heinrich worked in Maine, but his study offers insight into the behavior of ravens--and scientists--everywhere. Bass is a petroleum geologist whose book takes the form of a journal, emphasizing the contrast between human and geological time scales.

Geology isn't the easiest subject to humanize, but John McPhee is up to the task. He's one of the best American writers for making technical subjects approachable. Last year his Basin and Range went to a few people on my gift list. Like most of his other books (all good), it's now available in inexpensive paperback versions.

Thanks to seismologist Steve Estes, I've found the book to send my science-buff father this Christmas. John Nance's On Shaky Ground (William Morrow & Co., $18.95) is so fast-paced and dramatic that I'd suspect the quality of the science it contains if it hadn't been recommended by a scientist. The book has received some national attention because it warns that the eastern U.S. could suffer damaging earthquakes, but the great Alaska earthquake of 1964 is featured most prominently. Nance concentrates on the people deciphering how Earth's crust works, and does a fine job of presenting what they find and how they find it. More than any other book I've read, this one gives the feel of science in operation. It also gives painfully vivid accounts of how it feels to live through an earthquake, something most readers will hope remains a vicarious experience.

So, for what it's worth, there's my short list. There are others, of course--anything by Stephen Jay Gould or Lewis Thomas could be added--but these could be a beginning for your own browsing. Happy shopping, and please don't tell Dad what he's getting this year.