“What are the best Science and Nature books released in 2019?” We looked at 224 of the top Science and Nature books, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!

The top 29 books, all appearing on 2 or more “Best Science and Nature” book lists, are ranked below by how many times they appear. The remaining 175+ titles, as well as the sources we used, are in alphabetical order on the bottom of the page.

Our other Best Of 2019 Articles:

• The Best Young Adult Books
• The Best Science Fiction And Fantasy Books
• The Best Science And Nature Books
• The Best Mystery, Horror, and Thriller Books
• The Best Nonfiction Books
• The Best History Books
• The Best Fiction Books
• The Best Cookbooks
• The Best Graphic Novels And Comics
• The Best Biography And Memoir Books
• The Best Art And Photography Books
• The Best Kids, Children, and Youth Books
• The Best Poetry Books

Our Other Years: 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015

Happy Scrolling!

Top 29 Best Science and Nature Books From 2019

29 .) Because Internet: Understanding The New Rules of Language written by Gretchen McCulloch

Lists It Appears On:

• Goodreads
• Science Friday

The internet isn’t the first technology to alter how we communicate, but it is making our language change faster and in more interesting ways than ever before. The programmers behind the apps and platforms we use decide how our conversations are structured

28 .) Bottle of Lies written by Katherine Eban

Lists It Appears On:

• Science Friday
• Kirkus Reviews

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From an award-winning journalist, an explosive narrative investigation of the generic drug boom that reveals fraud and life-threatening dangers on a global scale—The Jungle for pharmaceuticals Many have hailed the widespread use

27 .) Choked: Life and Breath in the Age of Air Pollution written by Beth Gardiner

Lists It Appears On:

• Guardian
• Library Journal

Nothing is as elemental, as essential to human life, as the air we breathe. Yet around the world, in rich countries and poor ones, it is quietly poisoning us. Air pollution prematurely kills seven million people every year, including more than one hundred

26 .) Crisis in the Red Zone: The Story of the Deadliest Ebola Outbreak in History, and of the Outbreaks to Come written by Richard Preston

Lists It Appears On:

• Amazon
• Goodreads

The 2013-2014 Ebola epidemic was the deadliest ever–but the outbreaks continue. Now comes a gripping account of the doctors and scientists fighting to protect us, an urgent wake-up call about the future of emerging viruses–from the #1 bestselling author

25 .) Infinite Powers: The Story of Calculus written by Steven Strogatz

Lists It Appears On:

• Amazon
• Five Books 2

From preeminent math personality and author of The Joy of x, a brilliant and endlessly appealing explanation of calculus – how it works and why it makes our lives immeasurably better. Without calculus, we wouldn’t have cell phones, TV, GPS, or ultrasound.

24 .) Midnight at Chernobyl written by Adam Higginbotham

Lists It Appears On:

• Science Friday
• Amazon

–THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER– ‘An invaluable contribution to history.’ Serhii Plokhy, Evening Standard ‘Tells the story of the disaster and its gruesome aftermath with thriller-like flair. Midnight in Chernobyl is wonderful and chilling … written wit

23 .) No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us written by Rachel Louise Snyder

Lists It Appears On:

• Library Journal 2
• Kirkus Reviews

“A seminal and breathtaking account of why home is the most dangerous place to be a woman . . . A tour de force.” -Eve Ensler “Terrifying, courageous reportage from our internal war zone.” -Andrew Solomon “Extraordinary.” -New York Times ,“Editor’s Choice”

22 .) Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber written by Mike Isaac

Lists It Appears On:

• Goodreads
• Evening Standard

New York Times and Wall Street Journal Bestseller A New York Times technology correspondent presents the dramatic story of Uber, the Silicon Valley startup at the center of one of the great venture capital power struggles of our time. In June 2017, Travis

21 .) The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays written by Esmé Weijun Wang

Lists It Appears On:

• Smithsonian Magazine
• NPR

Powerful, affecting essays on mental illness, winner of the Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize and a Whiting Award An intimate, moving book written with the immediacy and directness of one who still struggles with the effects of mental and chronic illness, Th

20 .) The First Cell: And the Human Costs of Pursuing Cancer to the Last written by Azra Raza

Lists It Appears On:

• Amazon
• Smithsonian Magazine 2

A world-class oncologist’s devastating and deeply personal examination of cancer We have lost the war on cancer. We spend $150 billion each year treating it, yet — a few innovations notwithstanding — a patient with cancer is as likely to die of it as one

19 .) The Ice at the End of the World written by Jon Gertner

Lists It Appears On:

• Science Friday
• Library Journal

Greenland: a remote, mysterious, ice-covered rock with a population of just 56,000, has evolved from one of earth’s last physical frontiers to its largest scientific laboratory. Locked within that vast ‘white desert’ are some of our planet’s most profound

18 .) The Mosquito: A Human History Of Our Deadliest Predator written by Timothy C. Winegard

Lists It Appears On:

• Amazon
• NPR

A pioneering and groundbreaking work of narrative nonfiction that offers a dramatic new perspective on the history of humankind, showing how through millennia, the mosquito has been the single most powerful force in determining humanity’s fate Why was gin

17 .) The Optimist’s Telescope: Thinking Ahead In A Reckless Age written by Bina Venkataraman

Lists It Appears On:

• NPR
• Science Friday

We live in a time of instant gratification, where we have forgotten to consider the long-term consequences of our actions. Whether it’s decision about out health, our finances or our jobs, we lack the tools we need to choose what’s best for the future. In

16 .) The Perfect Predator: A Scientist’s Race to Save Her Husband from a Deadly Superbug: A Memoir written by Steffanie Strathdee

Lists It Appears On:

• Amazon
• Goodreads

A “fascinating and terrifying” (Scientific American) memoir of one woman’s extraordinary effort to save her husband’s life-and the discovery of a forgotten cure that has the potential to save millions more. Epidemiologist Steffanie Strathdee and her husban

15 .) The Second Kind of Impossible: The Extraordinary Quest for a New Form of Matter written by Paul J. Steinhardt

Lists It Appears On:

• Five Books 2
• Five Books 4

One of the most fascinating scientific detective stories of the last fifty years, an exciting quest for a new form of matter. “A riveting tale of derring-do” (Nature), this book reads like James Gleick’s Chaos combined with an Indiana Jones adventure. When

14 .) This Land: How Cowboys, Capitalism, and Corruption are Ruining the American West. written by Christopher Ketcham

Lists It Appears On:

• Kirkus Reviews 2
• National Outdoor Book Awards

A hard-hitting look at the battle now raging over the fate of the public lands in the American West–and a plea for the protection of these last wild places The public lands of the western United States comprise some 450 million acres of grassland, steppe

13 .) Volume Control: Hearing in a Deafening World written by David Owen

Lists It Appears On:

• Library Journal
• Science Friday

Millions of Americans suffer from hearing loss. Faced with the cost and stigma of hearing aids, the natural human tendency is to do nothing and hope for the best, usually while pretending that nothing is wrong. In Volume Control, David Owen argues this ina

12 .) We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast written by Jonathan Safran Foer

Lists It Appears On:

• Amazon
• Goodreads

Some people reject the fact, overwhelmingly supported by scientists, that our planet is warming because of human activity. But do those of us who accept the reality of human-caused climate change truly believe it? If we did, surely we would be roused to ac

11 .) Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death written by Caitlin Doughty and Dianné Ruz

Lists It Appears On:

• Goodreads
• Amazon

Best-selling author and mortician Caitlin Doughty answers real questions from kids about death, dead bodies, and decomposition. Every day, funeral director Caitlin Doughty receives dozens of questions about death. The best questions come from kids. What wo

10 .) Archaeology from Space: How the Future Shapes Our Past written by Sarah Parcak

Lists It Appears On:

• Amazon
• Science Friday
• Kirkus Reviews 2

National Geographic Explorer and TED Prize-winner Dr. Sarah Parcak welcomes you to the exciting new world of space archaeology, a growing field that is sparking extraordinary discoveries from ancient civilizations across the globe. In Archaeology from Spac

9 .) Floating Coast: An Environmental History of the Bering Strait written by Bathsheba Demuth

Lists It Appears On:

• Library Journal
• NPR
• Kirkus Reviews 2

A groundbreaking exploration of the relationship between capitalism, communism, and Arctic ecology since the dawn of the industrial age. Whales and walruses, caribou and fox, gold and oil: through the stories of these animals and resources, Bathsheba Demut

8 .) How To: Absurd Scientific Advice For Common Real-World Problems written by Randall Munroe

Lists It Appears On:

• Amazon
• Goodreads
• NPR

The world’s most entertaining and useless self-help guide, from the brilliant mind behind the wildly popular webcomic xkcd and the #1 New York Times bestsellers What If? and Thing Explainer For any task you might want to do, there’s a right way, a wrong wa

7 .) The Body: A Guide for Occupants written by Bill Bryson

Lists It Appears On:

• Amazon
• Goodreads
• Smithsonian Magazine 2

THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER _______ ‘A directory of wonders.’ – The Guardian ‘Jaw-dropping.’ – The Times ‘Classic, wry, gleeful Bryson…an entertaining and absolutely fact-rammed book.’ – The Sunday Times ‘It is a feat of narrative skill to bak

6 .) Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men written by Caroline Criado Perez

Lists It Appears On:

• Guardian
• Five Books 2
• Goodreads
• Smithsonian Magazine 2

THE #3 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER Discover the shocking gender bias that affects our everyday lives ‘A rallying cry to fight back’ Sunday Times ‘Press this into the hands of everyone you know. It is utterly brilliant!’ Helena Kennedy ‘A game-changer; an uncom

5 .) Mama’s Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us about Ourselves written by Frans de Waal

Lists It Appears On:

• Amazon
• Goodreads
• Kirkus Reviews 2
• Library Journal

Mama’s Last Hug is a fascinating exploration of the rich emotional lives of animals– beginning with Mama, a chimpanzee matriarch who formed a deep bond with biologist Jan van Hooff. Her story and others like it show that humans are not the only species wi

4 .) Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime written by Sean Carroll

Lists It Appears On:

• Amazon
• Goodreads
• symmetry
• GeekWire

Quantum physics is not mystifying. Its implications may be mind-bending, and not yet fully understood, but the theory is illuminating. It is the best explanation of reality we have. And no, God does not play dice with the universe. Spanning the history of

3 .) Superior: The Return of Race Science written by Angela Saini

Lists It Appears On:

• Guardian
• Library Journal
• Smithsonian Magazine 2
• Science Friday

“In Superior award-winning science writer Angela Saini explores the concept of race, past and present. She examines the dark roots of race research and how race has again crept gently back into science and medicine. And she investigates the people who use

2 .) The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming written by David Wallace-Wells

Lists It Appears On:

• Smithsonian Magazine
• Goodreads
• NPR
• Kirkus Reviews 2

“The Uninhabitable Earth hits you like a comet, with an overflow of insanely lyrical prose about our pending Armageddon.”–Andrew Solomon, author of The Noonday Demon It is worse, much worse, than you think. If your anxiety about global warming is dominate

1 .) Underland: A Deep Time Journey written by Robert MacFarlane

Lists It Appears On:

• Guardian
• Goodreads
• Amazon
• Library Journal
• NPR
• Kirkus Reviews 2
• National Outdoor Book Awards

The unmissable new book from the bestselling, prize-winning author of Landmarks, The Old Ways and The Lost Words ‘You’d be crazy not to read this book’ The Sunday Times ‘Underland is a magnificent feat of writing, travelling and thinking that feels genuine

The 175+ Additional Best Science and Nature Books Released In 2019

25 Best Science and Nature Book Sources/Lists