Featured Book Review
A Remarkable New Type of Field Guide
Back in May of 2025, whilst attending The Biggest Week in American Birding, Dr. Robert Kirk, Princeton University Press’ Publisher of the Press’ Princeton Field Guides and Natural History categories, drew my attention to the then recently published Habitats of North America: A Field Guide for Birders, Naturalists, and Ecologists. Right away I could tell it was a particularly significant book, and I took it up for reading promptly. I even wrote a Newly Noted article about it. But there was something not quite right; I had the nagging feeling that I wasn’t understanding it properly. And as it turns out, I was correct in that.
The problem wasn’t that it is not a significant, or innovative, or extraordinarily useful book – it most certainly is. The problem was that I hadn’t done the background reading necessary to understand fully the significance of what I was reading. The background reading in question being the inaugural volume of what is proving to become a remarkable series indeed: Habitats of the World: A Field Guide for Birders, Naturalists, and Ecologists.
Newly Noted Books
The Inheritors
William Golding’s 1955 novel “The Inheritors” has been added to the list of works available in the famous Penguin Classics series. For those unfamiliar with this lesser known work of Mr. Golding, this new edition is presents a fine opportunity to read a truly engaging story that takes a band of Neanderthals as its main characters.
Bats of the World
Newly published in the U.S. as of March 2026, “Bats of the World: A Guide to Every Family” by Winifred Frick and M. Teague O’Mara offers a richly illustrated profile of every family of the Order Chiroptera.
Butterflies of Britain and Western Europe and Their Caterpillars
For those aurelians who have been eagerly awaiting the publication of Jean-Pierre Moussus’ “Butterflies of Britain and Western Europe and Their Caterpillars: An Identification Guide” to be published in the United States following its publication last December in the United Kingdom, the wait is finally over.
The Lives of Bats
Through overviews of their general life history, biology, and particular abilities such as echolocation, enhanced with profiles of representative as well as particularly interesting bat species, “The Lives of Bats” offers all interested in these remarkable mammals a very useful way to develop their understanding of them.
Biographies
Seduced by Logic
When it comes to the spread of knowledge – particularly the communication of some of the most paradigm-shifting ideas of all time – it is Émilie Du Châtelet and Mary Somerville whose names should not only be familiar to anyone who would call her or himself educated, they should leap to mind as two of the most significant authors in the history of mathematics and physics.
The Marvelously Multifaceted Mr. Newton
Most of us likely first heard the name Isaac Newton when we were in primary school. For some, it may have been in a classroom; for others it may have been while viewing a television program – most likely a cartoon. However, in most all instances, I’d be willing to wager that the name was […]
Life Science Books
A Remarkable New Type of Field Guide
Back in May of 2025, whilst attending The Biggest Week in American Birding, Dr. Robert Kirk, Princeton University Press’ Publisher of the Press’ Princeton Field Guides and Natural History categories, drew my attention to the then recently published Habitats of North America: A Field Guide for Birders, Naturalists, and Ecologists. Right away I could tell […]
Bats of the World
Newly published in the U.S. as of March 2026, “Bats of the World: A Guide to Every Family” by Winifred Frick and M. Teague O’Mara offers a richly illustrated profile of every family of the Order Chiroptera.
Physical Science Books
Black Gold
In his new book “Black Gold; The Rise, Reign, and Fall of American Coal,” Prof. Bob Wyss presents a detailed and multi-faceted narrative history of the industry that includes the effects it has had upon American society, organized labor, governmental policy, and U.S. natural resource management.
From This Point
In 1964, U.S. Supreme Court decided the case Jacobellis v. Ohio, involving whether the state government of Ohio could ban the showing of the Louis Malle film The Lovers (Les Amants), which the state had deemed to be obscene. In deciding the case, Justice Potter Stewart (now) famously declared, “”I shall not today attempt further […]
Interdisciplinary Natural Science Books
From This Point
In 1964, U.S. Supreme Court decided the case Jacobellis v. Ohio, involving whether the state government of Ohio could ban the showing of the Louis Malle film The Lovers (Les Amants), which the state had deemed to be obscene. In deciding the case, Justice Potter Stewart (now) famously declared, “”I shall not today attempt further […]
Palaeontology in Public
Edited by Dr. Chris Manias, “Palaeontology in Public” features a collection case studies, each published as a chapter, by a remarkable assembly of noteworthy authors in the field. It’s as informative as it is lively and interesting, and if you’re interested in the subject, it’s a book about which you should know.
History (of Natural History, of Science, of Medicine) Books
A Tour Through One of History’s Greatest Minds
The legacy of the late eighteenth, early nineteenth century polymath Alexander von Humboldt is as extraordinary as the life he lived. Natural philosopher, world traveler, explorer, mountain climber, geographer, social and political thinker, von Humboldt packed so much into his eighty-nine years of existence on our planet that in reading his biography it is sometimes […]
Black Gold
In his new book “Black Gold; The Rise, Reign, and Fall of American Coal,” Prof. Bob Wyss presents a detailed and multi-faceted narrative history of the industry that includes the effects it has had upon American society, organized labor, governmental policy, and U.S. natural resource management.
Natural History Books
A Remarkable New Type of Field Guide
Back in May of 2025, whilst attending The Biggest Week in American Birding, Dr. Robert Kirk, Princeton University Press’ Publisher of the Press’ Princeton Field Guides and Natural History categories, drew my attention to the then recently published Habitats of North America: A Field Guide for Birders, Naturalists, and Ecologists. Right away I could tell […]
The Rachel Carson Collection Boxed Set
This coming October, The Library of America will publish a new boxed set of their Rachel Carson Collection. I doubt that most regular readers of “The Well-read Naturalist” need any introduction to Rachel Carson or her work, but but for those who might be just beginning their journey into the wonders of natural history, she was a marine biologist whose trilogy of books about the sea have introduced the wonders of the ocean world and the challenges facing it to readers all around the world.
Nature Writing
The Almanac; A Seasonal Guide To 2026
Of all the many joys of Autumn, one I’ve recently come to welcome with particular enthusiasm is the publication of the new edition of Lia Leendertz‘s very handy as well as superbly edifying little book “The Alamanac; A Seasonal Guide.”
The Stubborn Light of Things
After my beloved wife and daughter, one of the people who has most helped me to survive the madness of this past year is Melissa Harrison. Although we’ve never met in person, hearing her gentle and soothing voice asking me “Hi, how’re you doing?” at the beginning of each episode of her superb “The Stubborn Light of Things” podcast has more times than I can recall helped me to pick up and carry on in the face of all that was wearing me down.
Books for Children
In Praise of Folly Brook
B.B.’s novel “The Little Grey Men,” originally published in 1942, as it was the recipient of the Carnegie Medal that same year and was later adapted into a television series in 1975, is most likely to be his most popularly known amongst his many books. It recounts the story – as directly received from one with personal knowledge of it, as he tells it – of the last four gnomes in England who live inside an old oak tree beside Folly Brook in Warwickshire.
Meeting Your Local Spiders
When it comes to lists of common phobias, arachnophobia – the fear of spiders – almost always makes the top ten, and more often than not, the top five. Some have even argued that the fear of spiders, like the fear of snakes, is an innate fear – people are simply born with it thanks […]