Gathering moss - Robin Wall Kimmerer

In this collection of stories, the author expertly combines scientific knowledge with personal tales and with Indigenous ways of knowing, moving between macro and micro perspectives to show us the workings of ecosystems at the limits of ordinary perception and how they relate to bigger systems, such as old growth forests. The book oozes sensitivity and compassion in its description of the everyday life of a scientist, who is also a mother, a farmer and an Indigenous woman. 

Natural history and evolution

If I could do it all over again, I would study biology. Some scientists who have influenced me include Stephen Jay Gould, Richard Dawkins, Oliver Sacks and Jane Goodall. Of course, it goes without saying that Charles Darwin is one of my heroes. 

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Anyway I have included a link to a most fascinating book that I read recently, A New History of Life by Peter D. Ward and Joe Kirschvink. You will never look at the world the same way!

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

This is another book that will not allow you to look at the world the same way again once you finish. Sometimes it will make you angry and sometimes it will make you despair, but it's hard to argue against its logic. 

The social neuroscience of education - Louis Cozolino

Educational neuroscience is an emerging multi-disciplinary scientific field.  

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There is now a well-established body of human research linking exposure to complex trauma to physical changes that include modifications in the  brain’s architecture. Trauma related disorders have devastating consequences but they are not irreversible, they can be treated effectively with a variety of therapeutic interventions. Using the classroom as a therapeutic milieu is what this book is all about!