Texts in this collection explore topics like climate change, energy, and humanity's place in the environment through a variety of genres, whether the science fiction of Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake or the scientific journalism of Dan Egan's The Death and Life of the Great Lakes.
Publication year 1999
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos
Tags Psychology, Philosophy, Sociology, History: World, Science / Nature, Philosophy, Psychology, Fantasy, Self Help, Religion / Spirituality
Publication year 2015
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Self Discovery, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Natural World: Nurture v. Nature, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger
Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Action / Adventure, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Science / Nature, Education, Technology, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Children's Literature
Publication year 2007
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Tags Race / Racism, Science / Nature, History: World, Social Justice, Health / Medicine
In the 2007 nonfiction book Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present, medical researcher Harriet A. Washington describes the long history of American medical experiments on Black Americans. Although some of these abuses are well-known, such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, the book presents a comprehensive history that describes the long-standing pattern of exploitative practices. By uncovering how American medicine has been built upon the... Read Medical Apartheid Summary
Publication year 1818
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Natural World: Environment, Life/Time: Aging, Identity: Femininity
Tags Lyric Poem, British Literature, Science / Nature
“Meg Merrilies” (sometimes titled “Old Meg she was a gipsy” or simply “old Meg”) is a short, playful ballad by the English Romantic poet John Keats. It was written on Keats’s walking tour of northern England and Scotland in 1818. At the time, Keats was worried about the health of his brother, Tom, and about his own health; the tuberculosis that would soon kill Tom had already begun to manifest in Keats. While his doctor... Read Meg Merrilies Summary
Publication year 1989
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Life/Time: The Past, Self Discovery, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology
Tags Philosophy, Psychology, Religion / Spirituality, Science / Nature, Philosophy, History: World, Psychology, Biography
Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction
Themes Society: Education, Society: Nation, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies
Tags Philosophy, Education, Politics / Government, Science / Nature, Ancient Greece, Education, Philosophy, History: World, Classical Period, Classic Fiction
One of the founding documents of Western philosophy, Plato’s Meno recounts a dialog on the nature of virtue between Socrates and his pupil Meno, a rising star among the leaders of ancient Greece. They discuss how virtue can be recognized, where it comes from, and whether it can be taught.Meno takes place in 402 BCE in Athens; Plato, Socrates’s most famous student, in 385 BCE wrote down his recollection of the conversation. It offers a... Read Meno Summary
Publication year 2010
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Society: Economics, Natural World: Environment
Tags Business / Economics, Science / Nature, Climate Change, History: World, Politics / Government
Written by historians Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway, Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming (2010) is a nonfiction account of how a loose-knit group of scientists—Fred Seitz, Fred Singer, Bill Nierenberg, and Robert Jastrow—with similar political agendas worked to prevent government regulation by creating the appearance of scientific debate on several topics. These topics included smoking (both first- and secondhand hand... Read Merchants of Doubt Summary
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Natural World: Space & The Universe, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Natural World: Objects
Tags Philosophy, Education, Education, Philosophy, History: World, Classical Period, Classic Fiction, Ancient Greece, Science / Nature
Aristotle’s Metaphysics, a foundational text in Western philosophy, is attributed to the ancient Greek philosopher and polymath Aristotle and is believed to have been compiled around 350 BCE. As a work of philosophy, the book, thought to be based on his lectures and subsequently recorded by his students, dwells in the genre of metaphysical inquiry, exploring topics such as existence, reality, and the nature of being. Aristotle, a student of Plato and a teacher to... Read Metaphysics Summary
Publication year 2009
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Relationships: Family
Tags Sociology, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Science / Nature, Journalism, Social Science, History: World, Politics / Government
Methland: The Death and Life of a Small American Town is a nonfiction book published in 2009 by American journalist Nick Reding. Focusing on the small town of Oelwein, Iowa, Reding traces the beginnings of America’s meth epidemic to its current prevalence in the rural Midwest. Methland is a blend of sociology, economics, memoir, and history that provides a perspective that is ultimately hopeful about America’s ability to solve its meth problem, even if the... Read Methland Summary
Publication year 2019
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Natural World: Environment
Tags Science / Nature, Russian Literature, History: World, Politics / Government
Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster (2019) is a non-fiction book by the English author and journalist Adam Higginbotham. The book explores the causes and consequences of the 1986 explosion at the Soviet Union’s Chernobyl Atomic Energy Station in Ukraine, which killed at least 31 plant workers and firefighters and resulted in the evacuation of over 100,000 people. The radioactive fallout from the disaster ostensibly caused an unknown number... Read Midnight in Chernobyl Summary
Publication year 1984
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Identity: Race, Society: Immigration, Society: Colonialism
Tags Lyric Poem, Science / Nature, Philosophy
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Natural World: Environment, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Natural World: Nurture v. Nature
Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Science / Nature, Animals, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2016
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Society: Economics, Society: Community, Society: Politics & Government
Tags Science / Nature, Business / Economics, Sociology, History: World, Psychology, Psychology, Self Help
Publication year 1931
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Identity: Mental Health, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Values/Ideas: Art
Tags Psychology, Philosophy, Religion / Spirituality, Science / Nature, Psychology, Philosophy, Self Help, Classic Fiction
Publication year 2003
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Relationships: Teams, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Natural World: Appearance & Reality
Tags Business / Economics, Sports, Science / Nature, History: World, Biography
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game is a nonfiction book by Michael Lewis published in 2003 by W. W. Norton. Lewis holds a master’s degree in economics and made his writing debut with the acclaimed Liar’s Poker (1989), based on his experience working for the investment bank Salomon Brothers. This background prepared him for Moneyball, a book about how statistics is applied to baseball in a method known as sabermetrics. A movie adaptation... Read Moneyball Summary
Publication year 1817
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Natural World: Nurture v. Nature, Natural World: Objects, Natural World: Place, Natural World: Environment
Tags Philosophy, Science / Nature, Romanticism / Romantic Period, Education, Education, British Literature, Classic Fiction
Publication year 2003
Genre Biography, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Equality, Society: Class, Society: Economics
Tags Health / Medicine, Science / Nature, Social Justice, History: World, Biography
Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World is a 2003 nonfiction book by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tracy Kidder. It is an expansion of “The Good Doctor,” a 2000 article for The New Yorker and the winner of the 2004 Lettre Ulysses Award for the Art of Reportage. The book profiles Dr. Paul Edward Farmer, co-founder of Partners in Health, as he treats patients in Haiti and... Read Mountains Beyond Mountains Summary
Publication year 1971
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Life/Time: Aging, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Natural World: Place, Relationships: Friendship, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Relationships: Mothers, Natural World: Animals, Relationships: Family, Life/Time: The Past, Life/Time: The Future, Society: Education, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Hope
Tags Fantasy, Children's Literature, Classic Fiction, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Action / Adventure, Animals, Technology, Grief / Death, Agriculture, Parenting, Science / Nature, Philosophy, Sociology
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH is a children’s science fiction novel written in 1971 by Robert C. O’Brien. It tells the story of a field mouse whose son becomes ill as moving day approaches, so she enlists the help of a group of highly intelligent experimental rats for help. Robert C. O’Brien was inspired to write the Rats of NIMH after a visit to the National Institute of Mental Health’s experimental rat compound... Read Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH Summary
Publication year 2007
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Music, Natural World: Nurture v. Nature, Identity: Mental Health, Emotions/Behavior: Memory
Tags Music, Science / Nature, Psychology, Health / Medicine, Psychology
Publication year 1816
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Values/Ideas: Fate, Values/Ideas: Music, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos
Tags Lyric Poem, Science / Nature, Romanticism / Romantic Period