The Atlas of the Real World: Mapping the Way We Live by Daniel Dorling, Mark Newman and Anna Barford. Revised and expanded from the 2008 edition. Thames & Hudson, 2010. Cocktail-party conversation fodder abounds in this book, which maps everything from carbon dioxide emissions to atheism.
Origins: Human Evolution Revealed by Douglas Palmer. Mitchell/Beazley, 2010. Hobbits, Neandertals and australopithecines are just a few of the extended family members you will meet in this book featuring reconstructions by paleoartist John Gurche.
The World of Trees by Hugh Johnson. University of California Press, 2010. Trees around the globe— from silver firs to southern beeches, mulberries to maples—get their due in this spectacular guide.
Come See the Earth Turn: The Story of Léon Foucault, by Lori Mortensen. Tricycle Press, 2010. Aimed at children aged seven to nine, this book—elegantly illustrated by Raúl Allén—recounts Foucault’s pendulum experiment, which proved that the earth turns on its axis.
