Cech, Tom. The Catalyst: RNA and the Quest To Unlock Life’s Deepest Secrets. Norton. Jun. 2024. 320p. ISBN 9781324050681. $28.99. SCI

Nobel Prize winner and National Medal of Science awardee Cech explains RNA, telomerase, CRISPER, mRNA vaccines, such as those created during the pandemic, and much more in this wide-ranging work that explores the science of RNA and profiles the scientists redefining the frontier of medicine.

Jabr, Ferris. Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life. Random House. Jun. 2024. 304p. ISBN 9780593133972. $29. SCI

Jabr, a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine, explores how the living world shaped the planet—filling the atmosphere with oxygen and turning rocky ground into dynamic soil. He also addresses the human role in creating a living world—and a threatened one—introducing figures trying to fight climate change.

Kingdon, Amorina. Sing Like Fish: How Sound Rules Life Under Water. Crown. Jun. 2024. 288p. ISBN 9780593442777. $30. SCI

With historical insight and contemporary science, award–winning writer Kingdon details how the sonic array of the sea sings in ways humans cannot hear. Yet, deaf to the sounds, humans disturb it with a dangerous cacophony of their own. With dozens of line-drawings by the author. Look for the audio edition with sound recordings from the sea.

Mather, Tamsin. Adventures in Volcanoland: What Volcanoes Tell Us About the World and Ourselves. Hanover Square. Jun. 2024. 320p. ISBN 9781335080851. $32.99. SCI

Volcanologist Mather (Oxford Univ.) crosses the globe in this mix of memoir, travelogue, and explanatory science. She details how volcanoes function, their cultural importance, and much more as she helps readers peer into the depths of spouters in Indonesia and Greece.

Stewart, Amy. The Tree Collectors: Tales of Arboreal Obsession. Random House. Jun. 2024. 336p. ISBN 9780593446850. $32. SCI

Stewart, best-selling author of The Drunken Botanist and the Kopp Sisters mystery series, is also an artist, and her work is on display in this fully illustrated guide to those who love and collect trees. Through 50 profiles she considers lay arborists using trees to transform their communities, heal the world, and enrich the landscape.

Townsend, Alan. This Ordinary Stardust: A Scientist’s Path from Grief to Wonder. Grand Central. Jun. 2024. 256p. ISBN 9781538741184. $29. SCI

An Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow and a Google Science Communication Fellow, renowned ecologist Townsend merges science and spirituality as he explores scientific wonder and muses on how its focus and beauty create awe and helped him endure a horrific family tragedy.

Upholt, Boyce. The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi. Norton. Jun. 2024. 352p. ISBN 9780393867879. $29.99. SCI

Journalist Upholt explicates the natural history of the Mississippi River and the ways humans have long sought to control it. From Thomas Jefferson’s expansionist visions to modern-day arrays of dikes and dams, humans have altered, damaged—and sought to restore—the vast waterway and its ecosystems.