In 1998 we read lots of terrific science and nature titles, and we had a hard time picking 10 favorites. The books we chose were compelling, accessible, and made us want to learn more. Here's our list of 10 of the best science and nature books of the year.

1. The Cambridge Quintet
   by John L. Casti
   If you've ever thought about which famous scientists you'd invite to dinner, you'll be fascinated by "The Cambridge Quintet." Scientist and author John L. Casti decided he'd contemplate what four brilliant thinkers--Schrodinger, Wittgenstein, Haldane, and Turing--would discuss given the following topic: Can we build a machine that could duplicate human cognitive process? This speculative evening, imaginarily moderated by C.P. Snow, makes for an absorbing narrative.

2. Wind: How the Flow of Air Has Shaped Life, Myth, and the Land
   by Jan DeBlieu
   Put wind in your sails with Jan DeBlieu's excellent book examining the movement of air--such a simple thing, yet it can change our moods, fill our sails, power our machines, and sometimes threaten our lives. DeBlieu's elegant prose marks this as a classic in the making. Go fly a kite!

3. My Brain Is Open: The Mathematical Journeys of Paul Erdos
   by Bruce Schechter
   Mathematical folk hero Paul Erdos used to show up to meetings, clutching the two small suitcases containing everything he owned, and announce to a group of waiting mathematicians, "My brain is open!" Bruce Schechter's biography of Erdos opens that famous brain for us, revealing "an Ali Baba's cave, glittering with mathematical treasures."

4. Great Feuds in Science: Ten of the Liveliest Disputes Ever
   by Hal Hellman
   Hal Hellman picks some fights in "Great Feuds in Science"-- and not just squabbles but the knockdown, drag-out mental fisticuffs that have colored the history of science. It's Cope vs. Marsh, Johanson vs. the Leakeys, and Lord Kelvin vs. everybody in the fight of the millennium!

5. A Field Guide to the Invisible
   by Wayne Biddle
   Take a deep breath and hold it because you'll never want to inhale again after reading Wayne Biddle's "A Field Guide to the Invisible." Find out what's in the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the pollutants we produce... if you dare.

6. Blood
   by Douglas Starr
   Science writer Douglas Starr takes a look at blood and examines the huge worldwide trade in this liquid, which is both beautiful life essence and carrier of feared disease. Read this book and understand why a barrel of blood is worth far more than a barrel of oil.

7. Song for the Blue Ocean
   by Carl Safina
   The world's oceans are in trouble, says scientist and fisherman Carl Safina, and our own survival is connected to the health of the seas. In "Song for the Blue Ocean," Safina examines our relationship with the sea and the creatures living in it. He uncovers both greedy exploitation and hopefulness in unlikely places.

8. Civilization and the Limpet
   by Martin Wells
   "Limpets sit about, doing nothing much, most of the time," writes zoologist Martin Wells in "Civilization and the Limpet." This pithy collection looks at some of nature's unappreciated beauties. Wells's essays are elegant and funny, inviting readers to share his love of sea urchins, lugworms, and other denizens of the briny deeps.

9. Life: A Natural History of the First Four Billion Years of Life on Earth
   by Richard Fortey
   Life probably began in "something approximating the medieval idea of Hell," writes paleontologist Richard Fortey in "Life." Investigate the connections between individual lives and the lives of everything from bacteria to whales in this personal, poetic chronicle. The Guardian says, "This is not a book for people who like science books. It is a book for people who love books, and life."

10. Encompassing Nature
    edited by Robert M. Torrance
    In an anthology destined to become a classic of ecological literature, Robert Torrance gathers nature writing from all times and locales, ranging from the creation stories of Native American people to the lyrics of the Chinese T'ang dynasty poet Li Bai.

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