Human Nature - by Kate Marvel (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A Scientific American Best Book of the Year

A captivating exploration of climate change that uses nine different emotions to better understand the science, history, and future of our evolving planet

Scientist Kate Marvel has seen the world end before, sometimes several times a day. In the computer models she uses to study climate change, it's easy to simulate rising temperatures, catastrophic outcomes, and bleak futures. But climate change isn't just happening in those models. It's happening here, to the only good planet in the universe. It's happening to us. And she has feelings about that.

Human Nature is a deeply felt inquiry into our rapidly changing Earth. In each chapter, Marvel uses a different emotion to explore the science and stories behind climate change. As expected, there is anger, fear, and grief--but also wonder, hope, and love. With her singular voice, Marvel takes us on a soaring journey, one filled with mythology, physics, witchcraft, bad movies, volcanoes, Roman emperors, sequoia groves, and the many small miracles of nature we usually take for granted.

Hopeful, heartbreaking, and surprisingly funny, Human Nature is a vital, wondrous exploration of how it feels to live in a changing world.

Human Nature is a biography of the Earth in nine emotions:

• Wonder
• Anger
• Guilt
• Fear
• Grief
• Surprise
• Pride
• Hope
• Love

Review Quotes

"Compelling. . . . Persuasive . . . . [Marvel's] personal reflections -- on the work and emotions of being a climate scientist -- add a sense of empathy and companionship for readers . . . . Human Nature offers a clear, approachable overview of the field and its broader issues. Everyone should read it." - Nature

"This book shook me to my core . . . Marvel connects our current climate catastrophes with our history of literature and history of archaeology . . . It was really beautiful to bring everything all the way back down to our feelings and being pissed off about climate change, being sad, trying to find hope in all of this darkness and also some humor along the way . . . A really, really special read...It had that sparkle from the first page . . . Human Nature [is] a wild ride. I could not put it down once I started." - Scientific American's Science Quickly

"In this impassioned debut report, climatologist Marvel uses the emotions engendered by the climate crisis to explore the science of global warming. . . . The history and climate science enlighten, and the poignant final chapter . . . is a bona fide tearjerker. This unique take on the climate crisis stands out." - Publishers Weekly

"A highly readable argument for tackling climate change that reckons with both cold hard facts and the human heart." - Kirkus Reviews

"Scientist Kate Marvel has examined the data and read through the evidence of climate change. But Human Nature looks at what climate change feels like for humanity. In a combination of evidence and storytelling, Marvel brings forth the emotions of climate change with passion and clarity." - Book Riot

"Excellent...Marvel deftly weaves together science, history, mythology, bad movies, and stories from her own personal journey as she explores a range of emotions engen­dered by climate change." - The American Biology Teacher

"Few books I've encountered have felt more immediately timely. Over and over again I was, and remain, struck and challenged by the fierce, wise beauty in these pages. Reading and feeling these words now--as scientists are silenced and defunded, and as our climate convulses--gives it the heft of a forbidden samizdat text, making the sharing of it that much more urgent." - John Vaillant, bestselling author of The Tiger and Pulitzer Prize finalist Fire Weather

"This is the book we've been waiting for. Both brilliant and hard-won, Marvel's Human Nature gives us ways not only to think about our planet in crisis but also to honor the powerful connection we have to this place we call home. Deeply personal and scientifically wise, this book will serve as a guide and an anchor for years to come." - Ada Limón, 24th U.S. Poet Laureate, author of Startlement: New and Selected Poems

"The brilliant gift of Human Nature is that not only does it educate, delight, and inspire, but it allows us to finally feel a multitude of responses to climate change--what many books fail to recognize, and yet what humans actually do. This is essential reading from one of the kindest and most whip-smart guides for understanding our planet. Kate Marvel's writing is very much a marvel--I'm left astonished and so grateful this book finally exists for my family, my students, and our broken and beautiful world." - Aimee Nezhukumatathil, New York Times bestselling author of World of Wonders and Bite by Bite

"An extraordinary, epoch-hopping meditation on life on our changing world. Marvel writes with the authority and urgency of a world-leading scientist who knows what is coming to our destabilizing planet, and the vulnerability of a human being who has to live on it." - Peter Brannen, author of The Ends of the World

"This is the best climate book I've ever read. It's magnificent--both planetary and personal, saturated with electric metaphors, incisive vignettes, legitimately funny jokes, and an unflappable, knowing love for Earth, our home." - Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, New York Times bestselling author of What If We Get It Right? and cofounder of Urban Ocean Lab

"Impassioned, deeply moving, fast-paced, and witty, Human Nature connects us to the climate crisis through our mythologies, our histories, and our very human emotions. Marvel implores and inspires us to create a better future." - Sasha Sagan, author of For Small Creatures Such As We