Archives de catégorie : Nonfiction

OCTOPUS X de Kenna Hughes-Castleberry

A fascinating narrative about “citizen science” and the discovery of the mysterious creature that has been called “the Bigfoot of Octopuses” – perfect for readers of Sy Montgomery and Ed Yong

OCTOPUS X
by Kenna Hughes-Castleberry
Island Books, 2026
(via The Martell Agency)

OCTOPUS X will be an exploration of passionate “citizen science” in the person of diver and artist Arcadio Rodaniche, who, along with his mentor and famed cephalopod behavioralist Martin Moynihan, found a mysterious colony of social octopuses off the coast of Panama. These octopuses were unlike any previously described, as they lived in mated pairs, constantly laid eggs, mated beak-to-beak, and exhibited unique hunting strategies, all of which went against the norm for octopus behavior.

Fascinated by these creatures, Rodaniche studied them at his Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) laboratory. He tried to present his findings at a Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) symposium but was laughed out of the event as few believed his claims about this bizarre octopus (it didn’t help that he didn’t have an academic background in cephalopod research but instead had an electrical engineering degree). Rejected, his paper and findings sat untouched for decades, with only his drawing of the animal accompanying them, adding to the allure of this creature.

Then, some years later, a team of researchers at U.C. Berkeley obtained samples of Rodaniche’s mysterious octopus, and their observations validated everything Rodaniche found. They asked Rodaniche to co-author their paper, and in 2016, they released their findings to the world. Even with this validation, Rodaniche’s story has never been fully told. Unfortunately, Rodaniche died only five months after seeing his work validated.

Currently, this octopus (known commonly as the Larger Pacific Striped Octopus or LPSO) is being genetically analyzed by a separate team from U.C. Berkeley working to classify it as its own species scientifically. If this happens, the lead researcher, Dr. Gul Dolen, plans to name the animal Octopus rodaniche, giving a further victorious ending to Rodaniche’s story. Kenna also plans to highlight ongoing research to study the LPSO in its wild habitat, which has never been done before.

Kenna Hughes-Castleberry is the Science Communicator at JILA (a world-leading physics research institute established by CU Boulder and NIST) and a freelance science journalist. She focuses on animal intelligence, specifically in corvids and cephalopods. Her work has appeared in such publications as National Geographic, Scientific American, New Scientist, and Discover Magazine. She holds several degrees, including undergraduate degrees in English and Biology from Colorado State University and a Master’s degree in Science Communication from Imperial College London.

NANOCOSMOS de Michael Benson

A breathtaking tour of the natural world is offered in NANOCOSMOS, an examination of majestic topographies revealed by powerful scanning electron microscope (SEM) technologies.

NANOCOSMOS:
Journeys in Electron Space
by Michael Benson
Abrams, October 2025

The humbling beauty and cosmic immensity of our surrounding universe of planets, stars, and galaxies has inspired humanity since prehistoric times. But what about the vistas at the other end of the size-scale?

The tiny worlds here, invisible to our unassisted eyes, are if anything more intricate, complex, and extraordinary than anything so far seen in deep space. Lauded artist and author Michael Benson’s sensational NANOCOSMOS corrects this oversight with an unprecedented examination of natural design at sub-millimeter scales.

Nothing like NANOCOSMOS has ever been seen before. Previously renowned for his solar system landscapes, Benson here documents complex microscopic worlds visible at sub–millimeter scales in aesthetically stunning chromogenic prints. Assembled and refined over many years of painstaking work, this book constitutes a mesmerizing photographic tour of micro–worlds. These images constructed from SEM scans reveal the sublime and sensational beauty in aspects of the natural world invisible to the naked eye.

Michael Benson is an artist, writer, and filmmaker who focuses on the intersection of art and science. His highly regarded books include Beyond, Far Out, Planetfall, and Cosmigraphics. He lives in New York City.

HOW WE GROW UP de Matt Richtel

Building off his award-winning New York Times series on the contemporary teen mental-health crisis, the Pulitzer Prize–winning science reporter delivers a groundbreaking investigation into adolescence, the pivotal life stage undergoing profound—and often confounding—transformation.

HOW WE GROW UP:
Understanding Adolescence
by Matt Richtel
Mariner Books/HarperCollins, July 2025

The transition from childhood to adulthood is a natural, evolution-honed cycle that now faces radical change and challenge. The adolescent brain, sculpted for this transition over eons of evolution, confronts a modern world that creates so much social pressure as to regularly exceed the capacities of the evolving mind. The problem comes as a bombardment of screen-based information pelts the brain just as adolescence is undergoing a second key change: puberty is hitting earlier. The result is a neurological mismatch between an ultra-potent environment and a still-maturing brain that can lead to anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges. It is a crisis that is part of modern life but can only be truly grasped through a broad, grounded lens of the biology of adolescence itself. Through this lens, Richtel shows us how adolescents can understand themselves, and parents and educators can better help.

For decades, this transition to adulthood has been defined by hormonal shifts that trigger the onset of puberty. But Richtel takes us where science now understands so much of the action is: the brain. A growing body of research that looks for the first time into budding adult neurobiology explains with untold clarity the emergence of the “social brain,” a craving for peer connection, and how the behaviors that follow pave the way for economic and social survival. This period necessarily involves testing—as the adolescent brain is programmed from birth to take risks and explore themselves and their environment—so that they may be able to thrive as they leave the insulated care of childhood.

Richtel, diving deeply into new research and gripping personal stories, offers accessible, scientifically grounded answers to the most pressing questions about generational change. What explains adolescent behaviors, risk-taking, reward-seeking, and the ongoing mental health crisis? How does adolescence shape the future of the species? What is the nature of adolescence itself?

Matt Richtel is a reporter at the New York Times. He received the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting for a series of articles about distracted driving that he expanded into his first nonfiction book, A Deadly Wandering, a New York Times bestseller. His second nonfiction book, An Elegant Defense, on the human immune system, was a national bestseller and chosen by Bill Gates for his annual Summer Reading List. Richtel has appeared on NPR’s Fresh Air, CBS This Morning, PBS NewsHour, and other major media outlets. He lives in San Francisco, California.

ROXANNE DUNBAR-ORTIZ’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES: A GRAPHIC INTERPRETATION by Paul Peart-Smith

In stunning full color and accessible text, a graphic adaptation of the American Book Award winning history of the United States as told from the perspective of Indigenous peoples—perfect for readers of all ages.

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz’s
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES:
A Graphic Interpretation
by Paul Peart-Smith
Beacon Press, October 2024

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz’s influential New York Times bestseller exposed the brutality of the USA’s founding and its legacy of settler-colonialism and genocide. Through evocative full color artwork, renowned cartoonist Paul Peart-Smith brings this watershed book to life, centering the perspective of the peoples displaced by Europeans and their white descendants to trace Indigenous perseverance over four centuries against policies intended to obliterate them.

Recognized for his adaptation of W.E.B. DuBois’ The Souls of Black Folk and his extensive expertise in the comics industry, Peart-Smith collaborates with experienced graphic novel editor Paul Buhle to provide an accessible introduction to a complex history that will attract new generations of readers of all ages. This striking graphic adaptation will rekindle crucial conversations about the centuries-long genocidal program of the US settler-colonial regime that has largely been omitted from history.

Paul Peart-Smith is a celebrated cartoonist of over 35 years, with experience in concept art, graphic design, and animation. Having studied to be an Illustrator in Cambridge, England, he has worked on comics for2000 AD, including Slaughter Bowl from its digital-only collections. He is the illustrator and adapter of W. E. B. Du Bois Souls of Black Folk: A Graphic Interpretation. He lives in Tasmania, Australia.

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz grew up in rural Oklahoma in a tenant farming family. She has been active in the international Indigenous movement for more than four decades and is known for her lifelong commitment to national and international social justice issues. Dunbar-Ortiz is the winner of the 2017 Lannan Cultural Freedom Prize and a recipient of the American Book Award (2015) for An Indigenous History of the United States. The author or editor of numerous books, including Not “A Nation of Immigrants,”she lives in San Francisco. Connect with her at reddirtsite.com or on Twitter @rdunbaro.

OUTSMARTING CANCER d’Adam Barsouk

OUTSMARTING CANCER aims to share the history and latest data on cancer prevention interwoven with narratives of patients that have inspired Dr. Adam Barsouk to see oncology in a new light.

OUTSMARTING CANCER:
Risk Reduction and the Power of Prevention
by Adam Barsouk, M.D.
Johns Hopkins University Press, Winter 2026
(via Vertical Ink)

Dr. Adam Barsouk will break down the most common risk factors for cancer worldwide, sharing historical anecdotes, the latest epidemiological statistics, and studies on the best lifestyle and public health interventions, all interspersed with patient narratives and personal anecdotes. In sharing his patients’ and his family’s stories, Dr. Barsouk gives cancer a face and prevention the urgency it deserves. While virtually every cancer prevention book on the market today focuses on a specific type of diet that people should follow to avoid getting cancer, Dr. Barsouk takes a much broader approach, dealing with a wide variety of cancer risk factors and how to avoid them practically in people’s everyday lives. Dr. Barsouk’s writing and storytelling ability is on par with Dr. Atul Gawande or even an Dr. Oliver Sachs, and he is able to relate the humanity and pain and tragedy and triumph that he has seen firsthand through the stories of not only his patients, but also his own family, and translate the science of cancer into relatable and practical everyday advice.

Adam Barsouk, M.D.’s medical journey began at a young age, when in the 2010’s he acted as his Ukrainian grandparents’ translator at the cancer clinic in Pittsburgh where they both received treatment for rare blood cancers which were, in all likelihood, due to exposure to radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. After they passed, Adam knew he wanted to continue to change lives through medicine, and he started volunteering with cancer patients and in cancer research labs at the University of Pittsburgh. Working with patients, he got to translate not just Russian or Spanish, but also the complex science of oncology to ordinary people in need. He became their advocate, and he continued that advocacy by publishing articles in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Newsweek, the DailyMail, and more, and through numerous appearances on television to talk about healthcare and policy. He went on to graduate summa cum laude from the accelerated undergraduate medical program at Penn State University, and top of his class from Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. He is currently a resident physician in Internal Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he rotates in the oncology ward and clinic.