Nominated to be a Cornerstone by Lee Grodzins
Illustrated Longitude
This illustrated version contains the entire original narrative of Longitude, accompanied by 178 images, from portraits of key figures, to maps, diagrams and photographs of scientific instruments invo…
author: Dava Sobel and William J.H. Andrewes
Nominated to be a Cornerstone by National Academy of Sciences 2011, Susan Ryan
Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
From the author’s website:
Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells – taken without her knowledge in 1951 – became one of the mos…
author: Rebecca Skloot

Improbable Warriors: Women Scientists and the US Navy in World War II
Highlights the achievements of four women who served in the US Navy during WWII: Mary Sears, oceanographer; Florence von Straten, meteorologist; Grace Murray Hopper, computer scientist; and Mina Spieg…
author: Kathleen Broome Williams
Nominated to be a Cornerstone by 2007 LA Times Sci. &Tech. Prize
In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind
Eric R. Kandel, the Austrian-born Nobel Prize winning neuroscientist is the author of In Search of Memory, the winner of the 2007 LA Times Science and Technology Prize and a finalist for the Royal Soc…
author: Eric R. Kandel
Nominated to be a Cornerstone by Lee Grodzins
In Search of Nature
A collection of essays published between 1975 and 1993, addressing both nature and human nature and how they are closely interwoven. Wilson argues that the only way to fully understand both is to stu…
author: Edward O. Wilson
Nominated to be a Cornerstone by Peter Lea
In Suspect Terrain
This book is the second in a series of five that together make up Annals of the Former World. In this volume, McPhee travels with and profiles the work of geologist Anita G. Harris as they cover the …
author: John McPhee
In the Beginning was the Worm: Finding the Secrets of Life in a Tiny Hermaphrodite
The story of how three men won the Nobel Prize for their research on the nematod worm (C. elegans), and how their discovery led to the sequencing of the human genome.
author: Andrew Brown

In the Blink of an Eye
Parker puts forth his theory that the great proliferation of life during the Cambrian period was directly related to the evolution of eyes and, consequently, the active hunting strategy that developed…
author: Andrew Parker
In the Womb: Animals
Follows the developmental path of three different mammals – dog, dolphin, and elephant – and compares the time involved and the different developmental stages, from conception to when the offspring …
author: Michael Sims
Inconvenient Truth – A Global Warning (DVD)
Vice President Al Gore’s eye-opening and compelling documentary that delivers the message that global warming is a real and present danger. Also encourages each individual to become part of the soluti…
author: Al Gore
Incredible Journey of the Butterflies (DVD)
NOVA flies along with the monarchs on their incredible 2000-mile journey across North America, documenting the dangers they face along the way. Interviews with scientists studying this amazing feat of…
author: NOVA
Insect Societies
Covers the classification, evolution, anatomy, physiology, and behavior of the higher social insects ? ants, social wasps and bees, and termites. As Wilson writes in the introduction, ?Why do we stud…
author: Edward O. Wilson

Invention of Clouds: How an Amateur Meteorologist Forged the Language of the Skies
The story of Luke Howard, an amateur English meteorologist who named the clouds in 1802 (cumulus, cirrus, stratus) and gained international fame. Combines the history of science with an entertaining …
author: Richard Hamblyn
Nominated to be a Cornerstone by Lee Grodzins
Invention that Changed the World
How a small group of British and American radar pioneers won the second world war and launched a technological revolution.
author: Robert Buderi
Invisible Allies: Microbes That Shape Our Lives
An enlightening look at the microbes that share and shape our daily lives from our bed to breakfast table, to our innards and our demise… and a look at why we should be thankful they are with us.
author: Jeanette Farrell
Invisible Enemies – Stories of Infectious Disease
Chronicles the history of seven diseases that have had great impact on human history: smallpox, leprosy, plague, tuberculosis, malaria, cholera, and AIDS. Looks at causes, misguided and forward-think…
author: Jeanette Farrell
Nominated to be a Cornerstone by LA Times Best Books List 2003
Isaac Newton
An intimate look at the life and work of Isaac Newton by award-winning author James Gleick. Includes black & white illustrations.
author: James Gleick

It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex & Sexual Health
A straight forward illustrated guide to puberty, sexual development, sexual hygiene, and reproduction for pre-teens and teens. Recommended for parents and health teachers.
author: Robie H. Harris