Science and History

SCIENCE

The Cancer Chronicles
Unlocking Medicine’s Deepest Mystery

George Johnson

Knopf, $27.95

After his wife was diagnosed with a metastatic cancer, New York Times science writer Johnson embarked on an intense and comprehensive exploration of the history — and future — of cancer. (August)

A Short History of Nuclear Folly
Mad Scientists, Dithering Nazis, Lost Nukes, and Catastrophic Cover-Ups

Rudolph Herzog

Melville House, $26

The author and son of filmmaker Werner Herzog presents a sardonic, little-known history of misguided, accidental and irresponsible uses of nuclear technology. (May)

What Makes A Hero
The Surprising Science of Selflessness

Elizabeth Svoboda

Current, $27.95

Using real-life examples, Svoboda examines how biology, psychology and outside influences produce heroic and altruistic behavior, and what factors compel us to sacrifice for others. (August)

Rewire
Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection

Ethan Zuckerman

W.W. Norton, $26.95

An MIT scholar believes we could be better utilizing the internet to create global connections across cultures; drawing on psychology and sociology, he suggests ways to rethink human interaction in the digital age. (June)

HISTORY

Friend of the Court
On the Front Lines with the First Amendment

Floyd Abrams

Yale University Press, $32.50

This collection from the First Amendment lawyer gathers speeches, articles, briefs and testimony from his career, which includes some of the most controversial free-speech cases of the past four decades. (June)

Antarctica
A Biography

David Day

Oxford University Press, $34.95

A deeply researched exploration of the inhospitable continent spanning two centuries, this sprawling volume touches on the dynamic personalities racing to claim the territory and the establishment of scientific bases. (June)

Revolutionary Summer
The Birth of American Independence

Joseph J. Ellis

Knopf, $26.95

Focusing on the pivotal months in 1776 when the thirteen colonies seceded from the British Empire, the Pulitzer-winning Ellis tells the story of how the Continental Congress and Army came together amid chaos to win independence. (June)

The Deserters
A Hidden History of World War II

Charles Glass

Penguin, $27.95

Drawing on army archives, personal diaries and court-martial records, journalist Glass offers a new perspective on American and British soldiers pushed to their breaking point on the front lines in Europe during World War II. (June)

American Gun
A History of the U.S. in Ten Firearms

Chris Kyle and William Doyle

William Morrow, $29.99

Before his death earlier this year, the former Navy SEAL and top sniper highlighted several guns that have played a significant role in shaping U.S. history. (June)

The March on Washington
Jobs, Freedom, and the Forgotten History of Civil Rights

William P. Jones

W.W. Norton, $26.95

This book goes beyond Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, looking at the role of the labor movement and other networks on civil rights history, and provides a fresh take on events leading up to the 1963 March on Washington. (July)

Franco’s Crypt
Spanish Culture and Memory Since 1936

Jeremy Treglown

Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $30

British author Treglown reexamines the impact of Franco and the Spanish Civil War on the country, using cultural artifacts such as books and movies of the time to dispel stereotypes and look at the legacy of the era. (Aug)

Ecstatic Nation
Confidence, Crisis and Compromise 1848-1877

Brenda Wineapple

HarperCollins, $35

A wide array of historcal voices bring to life this deeply researched account of the political, social and cultural history of Civil War-era America, from politicians to suffragists, poets to Native American chiefs. (August)