Books for general audiences

Professor Steve Brusatte, Pan Macmillan (2018)

66 million years ago, the dinosaurs were wiped from the face of the Earth. In this captivating narrative, Professor Steve Brusatte, one of the leading scientists of a new generation of dinosaur hunters —masterfully tells the complete, surprising, and new history of the dinosaurs.  Drawing on cutting-edge science, he dramatically brings to life their lost world. He illuminates their enigmatic origins, spectacular flourishing, astonishing diversity, cataclysmic extinction, and startling living legacy.

Along the way, Steve introduces us to modern-day dinosaur hunters and gives an insight into what it's like to be a palaeontologist. 'The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs' is full of thrilling accounts of some of his personal discoveries, including primitive human-sized tyrannosaurs, monstrous carnivores even larger than T. rex, and feathered raptor dinosaurs preserved in lava from China.

This extraordinary book has sold over 100,000 copies worldwide and been translated into 16 international editions. It has reached best-selling lists in the USA (New York Times), UK (Sunday Times) and Canada (Globe and Mail).  It was the Goodreads Choice Awards Winner, and UK Times 'Science Book of the Year'.

President Bill Clinton called it: "the best book I read this year."

• "A masterpiece of science writing."  (Washington Post)
• "A page-turner. The emotional connection, and Brusatte's collection of personal stories and characters, make his book special." (New York Times )
• "Thrilling . . . the best book on the subject written for the general reader."  (The Sunday Times)

Awarded a 'Best Book of the Year' by:  Smithsonian, NPR Science Friday, The Times (London), Popular Mechanics, Science News, Library Journal, Booklist​​​​​​

Professor David (Dave) Reay, Palgrave Macmillan (2006) 

Climate change is one of the greatest threats that humankind faces in the twenty-first century. The next hundred years could see coastlines and islands submerged, and a surge in heat waves, hurricanes, droughts, floods and therefore in pests, disease, famine and displacement. This book argues that while government and industry dither, we could all cut our personal greenhouse gas emissions by 60 per cent - the level necessary to halt the current trend according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

After summarizing today's state of affairs, scientifically and politically, climatologist Dave Reay explores the climate impact of housing, gardening, food, money, work, transport, and even death. Packed with provocative case studies, calculations and lifestyle comparisons, this entertaining and authoritative book makes the complexities of climatology understandable and challenges readers to rethink their notions of 'doing their bit'.

This book has been translated into Japanese and Korean, and was shortlisted for 'Young Academic Author of the Year' by Times Higher Education.

• "Dave Reay's book...was a huge inspiration to us when making our films"  (Nicolas Brown, director BBC1/Discovery Channel Climate Chaos with David Attenborough)
• "You will learn everything you need to know about cutting your contribution to emissions of greenhouse gases, and some good ideas for turning climate saving into a communal activity." (Times Higher Educational Supplement)
• "I think it's the most important book I've ever read."  (Nick Crane, presenter BBC Coast)
• "How can David Reay be this wise, and still so funny? If you want to get to grips with your own CO2 emissions - from air- freighted grapes to the family runaround - this Edinburgh boffin has written a brilliant, incredibly motivating book. Read it and see." (Nicola Baird, Friends of the Earth)

Dr Fraser MacDonald, Profile Books (2019)

Lies, spies, sex-magic and socialism: the secret history of the first American rocket in space.

'Escape from Earth' is the untold story of the engineers, dreamers and rebels who started the American space programme. In particular, it is the story of Frank Malina, founder of what became NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the scientist who cracked the, as he called it, 'problem of escape from the Earth by rocket'.

Armed with hitherto unpublished letters, journals, and documents from the Malina family archives, Dr Fraser MacDonald reveals what we didn't know.  This is a story of soaring ideals entangled in the most human of complications: infidelity and divorce, betrayal and treason.

This book was shortlisted for Scottish national literary award, Saltire First Book of the Year 2019.

• "A compelling saga of secrecy, activism, betrayal....superb, illuminating." (Herald)
• "Excellent...has raised a crucially influential American pioneer rocketeer from obscurity to the recognition he deserves" (Spectator)
• "Riveting...MacDonald has vastly enriched the overarching story - and in ways transformed it' (Times Literary Supplement)
• "Meticulously researched yet immensely readable, I have never before seen anyone express with such clarity the contradiction at the heart of the space age." (Times Higher Education)
• "A tangled, fascinating story that is a mixture of science, politics and soap opera...an extraordinary, important yet neglected slice of space history." (Literary Review)

Dr Laura Watts, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press (2019)

On the northern coast of Scotland, the islands of Orkney are closer to the Arctic Circle than to London. Surrounded by fierce seas and shrouded by clouds and mist, the islands seem to mark the edge of the known world. Yet, they are a centre for energy technology innovation, from marine energy to hydrogen fuel networks, attracting the interest of venture capitalists and local communities. 

In this book, Dr Laura Watts tells a story of making energy futures at the edge of the world.  The islanders turned to energy innovation when forced to contend with an energy infrastructure they had outgrown. Today, Orkney is home to the European Marine Energy Centre. There are about forty open-sea marine energy test facilities globally, many of which draw on Orkney expertise. 

Mixing storytelling and ethnography, empiricism and lyricism, Laura tells an Orkney energy saga—an account of how the islands are creating their own low-carbon future in the face of the seemingly impossible. The Orkney Islands, Laura shows, are playing a long game, making energy futures for another six thousand years.

This book was shortlisted for Scottish national literary award, Saltire Research Book of the Year 2019, and longlisted for the Highland Book Prize 2019.

• "Tells the intriguing tale of how Orcadians have begun to create their own low-carbon future against incredible odds and with only a little help from the mainland". (Observer)
• "Innovation and perseverance are two of the most important qualities that Dr. Laura Watts identifies as the driving forces behind the renewable energy revolution taking place in the Orkney Islands. The Scottish archipelago is on the leading edge of the world's energy future and as Dr. Watts explores in her recent book, Energy At The End Of The World, the projects taking place in Orkney are at the cutting-edge of technology."  (Forbes)

Professor David (Dave) Reay, Palgrave Macmillan (2019)   Available for open access (Access the e-book for free)

This open access book asks just how climate-smart our food really is. It follows an average day's worth of food and drink to see where it comes from, how far it travels, and the carbon price we all pay for it. From our breakfast tea and toast, through breaktime chocolate bar, to take-away supper, Professor Dave Reay explores the weather extremes the world’s farmers are already dealing with, and what new threats climate change will bring.

Readers will encounter heat waves and hurricanes, wildfires and deadly toxins, as well as some truly climate-smart solutions. In every case there are responses that could cut emissions while boosting resilience and livelihoods.

Ultimately we are all in this together, our decisions on what food we buy and how we consume it send life-changing ripples right through the global web that is our food supply. 

As we face a future of 10 billion mouths to feed in a rapidly changing climate, it’s time to get to know our farmers and herders, our vintners and fisherfolk, a whole lot better. 

Professor David (Dave) Reay, Macmillan Children's Books (2011)

Suitable for ages 6 - 8.

Maximus, Saviour of Worlds, Protector of Humankind and Chocolate Fanatic, has been give a mission by the President of the Earth: stop the planet from heating up, and do it fast!  Join Max and his friend Henry as they become Global Warming Warriors, taking on the Big Climate Culprits one by one.

They'll give you some top tips for energy conservation - at home, in the garden, at school... from recycling to compost to turning off that switch!

This book is full of useful information and advice for eco-friendly kids in training.

• "A fast-flowing mix of cartoon strip and text, interspersed with a flowing narrative it's a fast and breezy run through the key facts of climate change as we currently understand them. Five Stars."  (Brian Clegg, Popular Science)
• "Stuffed full of practical advice, this is a terrifically useful introduction to how to do your bit for energy conservation in everyday life." (Julia Eccleshare, children's editor of The Guardian)
• "The mixture of fact and fiction, cartoons and diagrams makes a serious subject funny, appealing and understandable. Can be read as a story or dipped into for its factual content".  (The Scotsman)

Professor Tim Cresswell, Penned in the Margins (2020)

Plastiglomerate finds our world in the midst of environmental disaster: from plastic pollution and wrecked shipping to fires in the Amazon rainforest.

Plastiglomerate completes a trilogy of poetry books that examines mankind’s impact on the earth; its central poem recycles the British folk ballad ‘The Twa Magicians’ to make an ecological protest song fit for the Anthropocene age.