The Yakima Valley Libraries

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New Book Alerts is a free online service that showcases the newest titles purchased by your local library. You can select to receive alerts via email and/or RSS feeds. If you see a new title that you are interested in, just click "borrow" to place a hold on the item right away.

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A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather than Nothing
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By Lawrence M. Krauss. Free Press.

“WHERE DID THE UNIVERSE COME FROM? WHAT WAS THERE BEFORE IT? WHAT WILL THE FUTURE BRING? AND FINALLY, WHY IS THERE SOMETHING RATHER THAN NOTHING?” Lawrence Krauss’s provocative answers to these and other timeless questions in a wildly popular lecture now on YouTube have attracted almost a million viewers. The last of these questions in particular has been at the center of religious and philosophical debates about the existence of God, and it’s the supposed counterargument to anyone who questions the need for God. As Krauss argues, scientists have, however, historically focused on other, more pressing issues—such as figuring out how the universe actually functions, which can ultimately help us to improve the quality of our lives.

Why Beauty Is Truth: The History of Symmetry
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By Ian Stewart. Basic Books; First Trade Paper Edition edition.

Anyone who thinks math is dull will be delightfully surprised by this history of the concept of symmetry. Stewart, a professor of mathematics at the University of Warwick (Does God Play Dice?), presents a time line of discovery that begins in ancient Babylon and travels forward to today's cutting-edge theoretical physics. He defines basic symmetry as a transformation, "a way to move an object" that leaves the object essentially unchanged in appearance. And while the math behind symmetry is important, the heart of this history lies in its characters, from a hypothetical Babylonian scribe with a serious case of math anxiety, through Évariste Galois (inventor of "group theory"), killed at 21 in a duel, and William Hamilton, whose eureka moment came in "a flash of intuition that caused him to vandalize a bridge," to Albert Einstein and the quantum physicists who used group theory and symmetry to describe the universe.

Concrete Planet: The Strange and Fascinating Story of the World's Most Common Man-made Material
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By Robert Courland. Prometheus Books.

Foreword by Dennis Smith, author of 17 books including the bestsellers Report from Engine Co. 82 and Report From Ground ZeroConcrete: We use it for our buildings, bridges, dams, and roads. We walk on it, drive on it, and many of us live and work within its walls. But very few of us know what it is. We take for granted this ubiquitous substance, which both literally and figuratively comprises much of the modern civilization's constructed environment; yet the story of its creation and development features a cast of fascinating characters and remarkable historical episodes. Concrete Planet delves into this history, opening readers' eyes at every turn.In a lively narrative peppered with intriguing details, author Robert Courland describes how some of the most famous personalities of history became involved in the development and use of concrete—including King Herod the Great of Judea, the Roman emperor Hadrian, Thomas Edison (who once owned the largest concrete cement plant in the world), and architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

Life Histories of Cascadia Butterflies
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By David G. James. Oregon State University Press.

"The publication of James and Nunnallee, or 'the Daves' as we know them, is a matter for unreserved celebration, not only for lepidopterists and nature lovers of all stripes, but for anyone who cares about our butterflies' lives, futures, conservation management, and the plants with which they have co-evolved."--Robert Michael Pyle, author of Mariposa Road: The First Butterfly Big Year