• Science

    The Natural World

    The Forest For the Trees: How “Backyard Biology” Can Lead to Scientific Breakthroughs

    Thor Hanson on the Joys of Slowing Down and Discovering the Unknown In the Familiar

     
    By Thor Hanson  April 3, 2025
    Genetics

    What the Science of Gene Inheritance Reveals About the Humans Behind It

    By Dalton Conley  April 2, 2025
    New in Nonfiction

    From the Nightmares of the Third Reich to Elon Musk: 10 Nonfiction Books to Read in April

    By Literary Hub  March 31, 2025
    Birds

    What the Mysterious Mating Habits of an Enigmatic Species Reveal About the Secrets of Evolution

    By Matt Ridley  March 24, 2025
    Parenting

    Babies Don’t Need to Be Built: Alex Bollen on the Danger of the “Good Mother” Myth

    By Alex Bollen  March 20, 2025
    Natural History

    Dissolving Certainties: On Reading the Complex Story of Carbon in Our World

    By Paul Hawken  March 18, 2025
    Book Marks: What the Critics Are Saying
    The Hub

    A Small Press Book We Love:
    Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

    By Jonny Diamond  March 4, 2025
    Nonfiction

    From Bowie to Baseball to Bitcoin: Ten Nonfiction Books to Check Out in March

    By Literary Hub  February 28, 2025
    Blindness

    An Invisibility Cloak of the Self: Jane Tara on Being Told She Was Going Blind in Her Forties

    By Jane Tara  February 26, 2025
    Scientific Discovery

    The Eureka Moment: How Calculated Risk-Taking Can Lead to Scientific Innovation

    Alex Hutchinson on the Intellectual Factors and Cognitive Processes That Produce Boundary-Pushing Science

    By Alex Hutchinson  April 2, 2025
    Psychology

    How the Twin Desires of Connection and Autonomy Motivate Us to Success

    By William von Hippel  February 20, 2025
    Language

    What Our First and Last Words Reveal About the Way We Express Ourselves

    By Michael Erard  February 13, 2025
    The Hub

    The first issue of Reader’s Digest from 1922 is both shocking and relevant.

    By James Folta  February 7, 2025
    The Arctic

    How a Norwegian Scientist Used Unconventional Means to Reach the North Pole

    Neil Shubin on Fridtjof Nansen and the Scientific Legacy of 19th-Century Arctic Exploration

    By Neil Shubin  February 6, 2025
    Happiness

    The Pursuit of Happiness: How Do We Find Purpose and Fulfillment in a Chaotic World?

    By Shigehiro Oishi  February 5, 2025
    Psychology

    How Many Licks? On Tootsie Pops, Desire and the Science of Delayed Gratification

    By Sarah Perry  February 4, 2025
    Human Behavior

    Laugh a Little: Why We All Should Be Telling More Jokes

    By Alison Wood Brooks  January 24, 2025
    Mathematics

    How the Islamic Golden Age Helped Create Modern Mathematics

    Raúl Rojas on the Origins and Etymology of Some of Our Most-Used Mathematical Terms

    By Raúl Rojas  January 15, 2025
    Prehistory

    Out of Africa: Discovering Our Shared Human Family, From Toumai to Turkana Boy

    By Zeinab Badawi  January 15, 2025
    Neuroscience

    An Emotional Time Machine: How Our Sense of Smell Can Unlock Childhood Memories

    By Jonas Olofsson  January 13, 2025
    Family Histories

    From Red Dust to Distrust: On the Unhealed Wounds of Nuclear Testing

    By Emily Yates-Doerr  January 9, 2025
    Best of 2024

    Lit Hub’s 50 Noteworthy Nonfiction Books of 2024

    Because Facts Still Matter

    By Literary Hub  December 24, 2024
    Psychology

    The Green-Eyed Monster: On the Benefits and Pitfalls of Experiencing Envy

    By Dr. Guy Leschziner  December 11, 2024
    Illness

    An Ageist Disease: On Living in Fear of Alzheimer’s

    By Andrea Gilats  November 21, 2024
    The Natural World

    Winter is Coming: The Changing of the Seasons Through a Mastodon’s Eyes

    By Riley Black  February 24, 2025
    Page 1 of 36

    • We Need Your Help:

    Become a Lit Hub Supporting Member

    Lit Hub has always brought you the best of the book world for free—no paywall. But our future relies on you. In return for your contribution, you'll get an ad-free site experience, editors' picks, and our Joan Didion tote bag. Most importantly, you'll keep independent book coverage alive and thriving.