American Scientist

Summer reading. For me, this is a juicy blackberry of a phrase, loaded with anticipation, promise, and a tinge of mystery. After all, there’s no way to know whether the books I’ll dive into will be sweet, a touch sour, or crammed with an unexpected number of bitter, gritty seeds. But the reading will almost certainly be delicious and well worth the wait.

When I was a kid, there were always summer reading lists from school to be considered. But what most excited me was spending my summer vacation as a book tourist. Summer brought trips to see family, and each destination had its own topical specialty. My father’s parents had rows of books on the Roman Empire and on archaeological excavations that had helped flesh out historians’ accounts. My mother’s parents had books on local flora and fauna, including a well-thumbed copy of the Audubon guide to eastern North American birds, as well as novels and books on history and folklore.

There were plenty of treasures at home too. Summer break gave me a chance to dig into my eldest brother’s books on Greek mythology and sample his science fiction titles. There was even plenty of time to take long, leisurely tours through the pages of the encyclopedia set that filled a whole bookshelf in my elder brother’s room. And every summer I’d reread our book on the origin of dogs, the nature of different breed families, and all the amazing things canines could do.

Sometimes we’d head to the library and come away with more stacks of books. If we found a topic we were interested in, my folks didn’t discourage us from going down that rabbit hole as far as we liked. And if we happened to be taking a trip, we were encouraged to pick up books about the places we’d be traveling and the things we might see. Books were also the inevitable answer to our relentless chorus of whys.

Inspired by those long summers and delirious windfalls of books, I’ve assembled some suggestions for your own summer reading adventures. The titles below span the fields of geology, meteorology, and biology. You’ll find selections for STEM enthusiasts of all ages, across a variety of readerly inclinations—with something for those who just want to get their feet wet and for those who want to dive in head first.

On the Grand Canyon and Other Geologic Marvels

The Grand Canyon is a classic summer vacation destination, and there are plenty of excellent books travelers can check out to heighten their excitement about the trip and help them better understand the significance of what they view, whether from the canyon’s edge or on an excursion into the canyon itself.

For young readers, the 2017 Caldecott Honor Book Grand Canyon, by Jason Chin, offers a splendid depiction of the canyon’s complex intersection of habitats in which geology is the true star, alongside a father-daughter hiking duo that explores the area layer by geologic layer. (Incidentally, we included Grand Canyon in our 2017 STEM books for young readers gift guide, which includes lots of titles well worth checking out any time of year.)

Older readers interested in piecing together the Grand Canyon’s geologic puzzle, at least to the extent that it’s currently understood, can dig into Carving the Grand Canyon: Evidence, Theory, and Mystery, by Wayne Ranney. (Be sure to pick up the second edition, which was published in 2012 and includes updated research.) In this compact volume, geologist Ranney provides a lucid explanation of what scientists have learned over 150 years of research into the canyon’s origins. He also takes readers on an intriguing exploration of how much more remains mysterious, discussing and comparing a number of different theories about precisely how the geologic phenomenon came to be. The foreword to Carving the Grand Canyon was written by historian and MacArthur Fellow Stephen J. Pyne, whose classic 1999 work How the Canyon Became Grand: A Short History, is another terrific read for those interested in the region from an environmental history perspective. Here, discussion of geology becomes part of a bigger cultural picture as Pyne explores how the Grand Canyon captured public interest and affection gradually, as artists and researchers were increasingly drawn to it.

Mary Caperton Morton also discusses the Grand Canyon in her gorgeous paean to large-scale North American geologic features, Aerial Geography: A High-Altitude Tour of North America's Spectacular Volcanoes, Canyons, Glaciers, Lakes, Craters, and Peaks. Her book, however, broadens the geographic scope, exploring 100 North American geologic features—such as Michigan’s Sleeping Bear dunes; the Badlands of South Dakota; and, yes, the Grand Canyon—that may be observed during air travel. Each feature gets its own chapter, in which Morton tells the geologic story behind its formation, collects handsome aerial photographs and maps, and discusses what makes the feature remarkable. Especially handy for summer travelers is a brief section in each chapter titled “Flight Pattern” that tells readers how to spot the feature during air travel and notes which flight itineraries are likely to yield a view. Morton portrays geology as an intriguing, dynamic field, highlighting questions that researchers are still working to resolve. For example, diagrams included in the chapter on Upheaval Dome, Utah, depict two schools of thought about the feature’s origin, showing in one illustration how the formation could have resulted from a collapsed salt dome and in the other how it might be an impact crater from a meteor.

On Nature’s Fireworks: Volcanoes

The recent eruption of Guatemala’s Fuego volcano (June 4, June 6, June 14) and the lava continuing to flow from the Kilauea volcano on the big island of Hawaii (May 17 , June 11, June 21) have turned public attention to the subject of volcanology, as well as the plight of communities located near active volcanoes. For those of us who don’t live in such a community, it can be difficult to imagine what that experience must be like—both day to day and when an eruption occurs.

Younger readers whose curiosity has been piqued by news reports may be interested in reading Eruption: Volcanoes and the Science of Saving Lives, written by Elizabeth Rusch and photographed by Tom Uhlman. Geared for readers aged 10–14, Eruption is part of the terrific “Scientists in the Field” series. It offers an in-depth look at the geologic science, exploring factors such as the array of hazards volcanoes can produce, from lava bombs to volcanic landslides; how earthquake patterns may help with eruption predictions, and what volcanologists take into account when determining whether to urge local evacuations. And the book doesn’t stint on images. Vivid photographs of eruptions make the formidable scale of many of these events clear.

Coverage of the events in Guatemala and Hawaii has provided a reminder that different types of volcanoes behave very differently. Fuego is a stratovolcano; they’re characterized by thick magma that traps gases, which escape in explosive eruptions. Kilauea, however, is classified as a shield type volcano. The magma of shield volcanoes is thinner; gases are able to escape, preventing a massive buildup of pressure, and the shape of the volcanoes allow the magma to flow out. When an eruption may be imminent, it’s crucial to understand an active volcano’s type so the range of hazards that could be triggered can be considered when safety measures and evacuation plans are put in place. And over time, a volcano’s type shapes the terrain and geologic properties of its local region.

Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens by Steve Olson, explores both of these time scales in its examination of the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, a stratovolcano similar to Fuego. Olson details the event—from the volcano’s initial rumblings to the eruption itself and its aftermath—discussing it in the context of the volcanological knowledge available at the time and then extending the conversation to include information from more recent research. He goes on to discuss the eruption’s effect on the landscape, on area residents and communities, and on the scientists studying Mount St. Helens, who lost a colleague in the blast and were galvanized all the more to advance the science of predicting eruptions. (For more about this title, check out James G. Lewis’s review.)

For a look at the study of Kilauea over time, readers may be interested in The Last Volcano: A Man, a Romance, and the Quest to Understand Nature's Most Magnificent Fury, by engineer and planetary geophysicist John Dvorak. He tells the story of Thomas Jaggar, who dedicated his life to volcanology, spending 50 years traveling the globe to study volcanoes and, in 1912, founding what is now the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. Jaggar conducted studies at the research station, which was adjacent to a molten lava lake produced by Kilauea, for two decades. (Dvorak himself was stationed for some years at the observatory; he includes some discussion of native Hawaiian legends about Kilauea in “Volcano Myths and Rituals,” a column he wrote for American Scientist in 2007.)

Of Clouds and Cloudbursts

Although it may seem counterintuitive to read about rain in the summertime, what better way to spend a drizzly summer weekend than by immersing yourself in a book about the rain itself.

For children aged 4–8, Raindrops Roll, by April Pulley Sayre, is soft sun shower of a book, full of soothing tableaux and everyday wonders. We included it in our gift guide back in 2015, and it remains one of my favorite children’s books from recent years. Sayre introduces kids to the water cycle through photos that follow raindrops as they travel through the environment, descending into the habitats of birds, insects, and amphibians alike; turning soil into mud; and journeying eventually to bodies of water.

Adults seeking a great rainy-day book may want to check out National Book Award nominee Rain: A Natural and Cultural History, by Cynthia Barnett, which follows rain’s environmental role on Earth, from the origins of our atmosphere to modern climate change.

Those interested in reading about more cataclysmic summer storms have a number of good options. Here are a few:

• When the Sky Breaks: Hurricanes, Tornadoes, and the Worst Weather in the World, by Simon Winchester, and Eye of the Storm: NASA, Drones, and the Race to Crack the Hurricane Code, by Amy Cherrix—These well-researched books for kids aged 10–14 focus on hurricanes, tornadoes, and other violent storms.
• The Big Cloud, by Camille Seaman—Storm chaser Seaman’s photographs capture the beauty and destruction of mighty summer storms.

Readers who’d like to gain a better understanding of cloud formations and weather patterns will enjoy An Observer's Guide to Clouds and Weather: A Northeastern Primer on Prediction by Toby Carlson, Paul Knight, and Celia Wyckoff. In addition to presenting some of the basic science involved in weather prediction, the authors also provide detailed instruction on how to identify an impressive variety of clouds—everything from the baroque altocumulus castellanus (a high, somewhat tower-shaped cloud that often forms in rows and indicates a likely change in weather) to the cottony cumulus humilis (a short, fluffy fair-weather cloud produced during daytime heat increases). Although the book focuses on weather patterns in the northeastern region of the United States, the authors note that the meteorological principles and the portents of cloud forms discussed apply globally.

The story of how this book came into being is worth mentioning—it involves cross-generational collaboration and a shared desire to revive culturally languishing skills and is, frankly, inspiring. Wyckoff, a writer and editor, contacted Carlson, a meteorologist, when her 92-year-old father asked if she could help him find a home for his collection of clouds that he’d photographed over the years. Carlson was interested in seeing them, and he and Wyckoff began what became a cherished correspondence. Carlson used some of the images to illustrate his university lectures, and eventually he and Wyckoff teamed up with Knight, also a meteorologist, to write An Observer’s Guide to Clouds and Weather; they’ve used many of Wyckoff’s father’s photos to illustrate the book. Wyckoff explains the shared goal that led to the book: “My father told me about a remark [Carlson] had made that really stuck with him: ‘Nobody forecasts the weather by looking at the sky anymore.’ This book is our opportunity to change that, and to study the clouds that will enable one to read the sky.” That sounds like a pretty fun activity to me—shared among family members or friends and taken up in the back yard, during a long drive to summer camp, or while lounging on beach towels—learning to read the skies together.

Of Flora and Fauna

Finally, no list of summer STEM reads would be complete without a few titles about plants, animals, and their habitats.

For readers aged 6–10, a recent book about educator and biological illustrator Anna Comstock should have special appeal for outdoorsy kids. In Out of School and into Nature: The Anna Comstock Story, writer Suzanne Slade and illustrator Jessica Lanan show how Comstock’s work as a naturalist was inspired by her childhood experiences. As a young girl, Comstock loved spending summertime running barefoot, raising tadpoles, learning the names of wildflowers, and exploring every inch of her family’s farm. These summers had been so vital to her that she became a tireless advocate for nature education in public schools, laying the groundwork for curricula and classroom experiences that continue to benefit children a century later. (See our 2017 gift guide for more about this book.)

For kids who can’t get enough of the animal kingdom, here are two more standouts:

• The Truth about Bears, by Maxwell Eaton III—Kids 4 through 8 years old will get a kick out of this irreverent book about bears, their habits and habitats, and how to stay safe if you encounter a bear in the wild. The book is part of a new series called Seriously Funny Facts about Your Favorite Animals; the recently released The Truth about Hippos is well worth checking out too.
• Atlas of Animal Adventures: A Collection of Nature's Most Unmissable Events, Epic Migrations, and Extraordinary Behaviors. Written by Rachel Williams and Emily Hawkins; illustrated by Lucy Letherland—This gorgeously illustrated book, written for kids from 7 to 10 years old, presents information about an array of animals hailing from around the globe, providing a fascinating glimpse into their behaviors across a range of habitats: under water, in the air, out in the wilderness, and occasionally in suburban back yards.

Biologist Cameron MacDonald took his interest in endangered species to the extreme when he embarked on a four-month-long summer road trip with his wife, toddler, baby, and dog, driving 16,000 miles around North America with the objective of observing in the wild 34 species categorized as globally endangered. He tells the story, informatively and hilariously, in The Endangered Species Road Trip: A Summer's Worth of Dingy Motels, Poison Ivy, Ravenous Insects, and the Rarest Species in North America.

It’s an inspiring story. That said, you may or may not feel moved to load your whole family into a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan for 4 months of camping out, with the occasional stay in a cheap hotel with damp carpets and all family members crowded into the same bed. If you instead feel moved to seek out some additional books about endangered species, there are plenty of fine choices for the whole family. Here are a few noteworthy titles:

• Red Alert: Endangered Animals around the World, by Catherine Barr, illustrated by Anne Wilson—Intended for kids from 5 to 8 years old, this colorful compendium of endangered species follows a clever structural scheme: Readers are invited to select a species to read about from an assortment mapped by habitat in the book’s opening pages. After being guided to the section that presents information about that species, readers are encouraged to flip to a corresponding resource page that connects them to information about conservation efforts for that species and suggests how to get involved. Then readers are guided back to the map to select their next species to investigate.
• Endangered, by photographer Tim Flach; text by Sam Wells—Flach’s stunning, unforgettable book collects his photography documenting threatened species from around the globe. Readers of all ages can appreciate the beauty and intimacy of these remarkable images.
• Relicts of a Beautiful Sea: Survival, Extinction, and Conservation in a Desert World, by Christopher Norment—This beautifully written book focuses on six rare desert species native to the Death Valley region, none of which are especially charismatic, some of which are critically endangered, and all of which occupy key niches in the desert ecosystem. This is a book I continue to think about years after first encountering it. Biologist Norment tells the story of this environment expertly, at the same time keeping readers at the edge of their seats over conservation efforts for species that few will find familiar. (For more, Norment discussed his work on the book in this podcast.)