Bookshelf

Tap a cover to read what the group thought of it. Showing 13 of 13.

• Life on the EdgeThe Coming of Age of Quantum BiologyJim Al-Khalili and Johnjoe McFaddenHow matter becomes lifeLife on the EdgeThe necessary primer for both biologists, physicists, and for researchers beyond to explore quantum mechanics in the impossible environment of biology: warm, wet, and messy. Al-Khalili and McFadden have taken on the impressive challenge of explaining the missing puzzles in living organisms and act as the valuable but missing bridge in standard curricula. Their ability to build analogies, and construct a story from subatomic to macroscale to reframe your perspective of photosynthesis with quantum coherence, enzymatic catalysis with quantum tunneling, and even hereditary mutations will make you delve deeper into what life is.— IvyISBN 9780552778077 ↗ (opens in a new tab)
• Around the World in 80 TreesJonathan Drori, illustrated by Lucille ClercHow matter becomes lifeAround the World in 80 TreesBeautifully illustrated stories about tree species from all over the world to make someone in awe of the load-bearing, diverse, living systems that humans have admired and utilised for millennia. If you are fascinated by the cultural, material, ecological significance of trees and their valued materials of wood, sap, and bark, with humanity, flick through this book and enjoy.— IvyISBN 9781786276063 ↗ (opens in a new tab)
• Tools for ConvivialityIvan IllichHow technology becomes societyTools for ConvivialityIvan Illich’s Tools for Conviviality is a classic critique of current technology direction. It argues that technologies and institutions can grow past a threshold where they stop serving people and start dictating how people must live, work, and think. The book gives you a rigorous framework for judging any tool or system by whether it expands people’s autonomy and creativity or quietly captures and constrains it.— IvanISBN 9780714509747 ↗ (opens in a new tab)
• The Periodic TablePrimo LeviHow matter becomes lifeThe Periodic TableThe story of the life of the Jewish-Italian chemist throughout WWII captured through working with 21 elements. How can a single element impact one’s life so immensely? Prophetically written and endlessly humbling story that explores unpredictability and persecution. If you can only read one chapter, read the last chapter on Carbon that captures the balance between life and the material world. “If the elaboration of carbon were not a common daily occurrence, on the scale of billions of tons a week, wherever the green of a leaf appears, it would by full right deserve to be called a miracle.”— Ivy + LiviaISBN 9780141185149 ↗ (opens in a new tab)
• The Wizard and the ProphetScience and the Future of Our PlanetCharles C. MannHow technology becomes societyThe Wizard and the ProphetThis book gives excellent insight into two scientists who shaped how we think about sustainability and environmentalism today: Norman Borlaug and William Vogt. Borlaug was the techno-optimist, convinced that science and technology would always find a way to feed the world. Vogt was the apocalyptic environmentalist, warning that if we don’t slow down we’ll collapse the ecosystems we depend on. Mann gives a nuanced discussion of both views without taking sides, and he explores the lives of the two men alongside their ideas, which makes the whole debate feel personal rather than abstract. By the end you have a much clearer picture of the big question underneath it all: will humans always prevail with science and technology, or do we need to pull back before it’s too late?— KyleISBN 9781509884186 ↗ (opens in a new tab)
• Your Life Is ManufacturedHow We Make Things, Why It Matters and How We Can Do It BetterTim MinshallHow technology becomes societyYour Life Is ManufacturedFor the general public who grew up enamored by Discovery Channel’s How It’s Made, this approachable book by Tim Minshall delves into examples of manufacturing innovations in the UK to provocate his fellows back into the world of making. He challenges the reader to rationalise that manufacturing innovations are one of the most crucial elements to decarbonisation, from stories on bakeries, pulp mills, electric vehicles, and more.— Ivy + AnupamaISBN 9780571381029 ↗ (opens in a new tab)
• Stuff MattersThe Strange Stories of the Marvellous Materials that Shape Our Man-made WorldMark MiodownikHow matter becomes lifeStuff MattersIn one photo of a London rooftop terrace with the author himself, Mark Miodownik entrances you with stories of everyday objects and the matter that it is built from. A great introductory primer into the omnipresent field of materials science, this book provides you with a new perspective to be ground your curiosity. From concrete to chocolate to aerogels to graphene, the world is made of matter. So what does it mean to be built out of matter and be alive?— IvyISBN 9780241955185 ↗ (opens in a new tab)
• Post Growth InnovationResisting the Pursuit of Endless Economic GrowthMario Pansera and Javier LloverasHow technology becomes societyPost Growth InnovationThis book offers a synthesis of current critiques of technology and innovation, showing how innovation has been quietly conscripted to serve endless economic growth, and dismantles the “technology delusion” that better gadgets alone can fix ecological and social breakdown. In its later part, the book illustrates how we can build and imagine innovation and technology toward care, maintenance, and democratic control rather than novelty and markets.— IçvaraISBN 9781529249941 ↗ (opens in a new tab)
• Biomimicry in Architecture (3rd edition)Michael PawlynHow life becomes technologyBiomimicry in Architecture (3rd edition)What is biomimicry? How do we look at nature and find solutions to design better buildings not just for humans but for a wider synergistic ecology? Cities, buildings, and societies can have design principles applied by . Pawlyn examines form and function drawn from electron micrographs to biomimetic domed ceilings inspired by giant water lilies with commentary on materials choice and holistic health by collaborative design.— IvyISBN 9781915722683 ↗ (opens in a new tab)
• The OverstoryRichard PowersHow matter becomes lifeThe OverstoryThe Overstory is a great book that explores what pushes people to protect the nature they love. It follows a group of very different people whose lives are all changed by trees in some way, and whose paths eventually cross as they get drawn into the fight to save old-growth forests. A huge theme in the book is the disconnect between humans and nature, and it also asks how far people should go to protect the environment, a question it doesn’t answer easily. It’s a beautifully written piece of fiction, and it helped me think about what kind of impact I’d like my own work to have.— KyleISBN 9781784708245 ↗ (opens in a new tab)
• FrankensteinAnnotated for Scientists, Engineers, and Creators of All KindsMary Shelley, edited by David H. Guston, Ed Finn and Jason Scott RobertHow life becomes technologyFrankensteinIt might seem audacious to reintroduce Mary Shelley’s classic that has sparked conversation time and time again as researchers push onto the frontier of creating life from inanimate sources. Yet trust us, this is a worthwhile addition to Shelley’s classic for its contextualisation in historical advances in Shelley’s time and in modern day with advances in autonomous AI and synthetic life. Features seven essays that contribute to the theme of a very human choice in bringing forth an innovation and the necessary questioning on care, accountability, gender, and research motivation.— IvyISBN 9780262533287 ↗ (opens in a new tab)
• On the Future of SpeciesAuthoring Life by Means of Artificial Biological IntelligenceAdrian WoolfsonHow life becomes technologyOn the Future of SpeciesOne of the best books I’ve read on biotech that extends Darwin’s ‘Origin of’ forward, this is a fascinating primer discussing the convergence of synthetic biology and AI. Throughout, the book anticipates what AI guided sequence space exploration might unlock, with latent forms and functions unveiled at every scale from protein to genome. With an additional emphasis on the personal role of scientists in advancing fields, this book also covers and contextualises the history of science for advances from CRISPR to LLMs. Overall a great read!— WillISBN 9780262054898 ↗ (opens in a new tab)
• An Immense WorldHow Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around UsEd YongHow matter becomes lifeAn Immense WorldAn ode to diversity in the animal world. The book starts by introducing the word Umwelt (subjective perceptual world), which becomes a metaphorical lens through which we immerse ourselves in all the ways our realms can be sensed and perceived. “To perceive the world through other senses is to find splendor in familiarity, and the sacred in the mundane.”— LiviaISBN 9781529112115 ↗ (opens in a new tab)