$36.99 AUD

‘As Kate Marvel observes in this exquisitely wrought work about what it means to be a climate scientist, “pretending we feel nothing about our changing world doesn’t make us objective. It makes us liars.” … Honouring this, Marvel puts emotions back into the equations that underlie climate science. The result is a work on the subject unlike anything you will have read before. Rigorous yet lyrical, steely eyed yet deeply felt, it is a hymn to our precious, precarious world.’

Fiona Capp, The Sydney Morning Herald

Human Nature:

nine ways to feel about our changing planet

$36.99 AUD

Human Nature:

nine ways to feel about our changing planet

Overview

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.

Details

Format
Paperback
Size
234mm x 153mm
Extent
304 pages
ISBN
9781922585493
RRP
AUD$36.99
Pub date
29 July 2025
Rights held
UK & Commonwealth (ex. Can)
Other rights
Dunow, Carlson & Lerner

Praise

‘This book shook me to my core ... The way that Kate connects our current climate catastrophes with our history of literature and history of archaeology and just the whole world — it was really beautiful ... It was a really, really special read.’
Bri Kane, Scientific American

‘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
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About the Author

Kate Marvel is a climate scientist and one of the premier science communicators working today. A former cosmologist, Kate received a PhD in theoretical physics from Cambridge University, where she was a Gates Scholar. She served on the chapter leadership team of the US Fifth National Climate Assessment, gave a TED talk, appeared on Meet the Press and The Ezra Klein Show, and testified before the US Congress. She has written for Scientific American, Nautilus magazine, and the On Being project.

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