Microcosmos: Four Billion Years of Evolution From...

Microcosmos: Four Billion Years of Evolution From Our Microbial Ancestors, Lynn Margulis and Dorion Sagan (Summit). A distinguished biologist and a first-rate science writer argue that evolution took off not when multicelled organisms crawled out of the oceans onto the land, but when bacteria invaded cells and began living inside them (Lee Dembart).

Poetry Loves Poetry, edited by Bill Mohr, photographs by Sheree Levin (Momentum). “A valuable primer to a hardy band of individualists. . . . The L.A. “style” as presented by (the editor) is an oral, narrative poetry: It is written to be read aloud” (James Bartruff).

The Year’s Best Science Fiction (Third Annual), edited by Gardner Dozois (Bluejay). “This collection is certainly the best-buy, economy-size way to review last year’s short fantastic fiction” (Gregory Benford).

The Shaping of America: A Geographical Perspective on 500 Years of History, Vol. 1: Atlantic America, 1492-1800, D. W. Meinig (Yale University), “is obviously a scholarly work, yet easy to read for the layman. It should be required reading for any person . . . who wants to understand the many forces and interests that shaped the United States and its neighbors in the New World” (Carlos B. Hagen-Lautrup).

God’s Country: America in the Fifties, J. Ronald Oakley (Dembner Books); Private Lives: Men and Women of the Fifties, Benita Eisler (Franklin Watts). “Highly readable and vigorously researched, J. Ronald Oakley’s chronological account emphasizes the political landmarks and forces that gave the decade its character.” “Private Lives” is a “more subjective account of the decade in which the author went to college and came of age” (Wanda Urbanska).

Should I Call the Doctor?, Christine A. Nelson MD and Susan Pescar (Warner); Taking Care of Your Child, Robert H. Pantell MD, James F. Fries MD and Donald M. Vickery MD (Addison Wesley). “ ‘Should I Call the Doctor?’ is a mammoth, encyclopedic pediatric medical guide” while “Taking Care of Your Child” describes “in a caring, easy-to-read style the essential information and skills a parent needs to know to manage the health of their children from birth to adolescence” (David Sobel).