BOOK REVIEW
17 May 2024

Recycled sewage, public health and the memory of the world: Books in brief

Andrew Robinson reviews five of the best science picks.

By Andrew Robinson

Purified
Peter Annin Island (2024)

The cover of this revolutionary book shows a recycling symbol, with arrows of clear blue water. Yet the subject is sewage. Environmental and water journalist Peter Annin is satisfied that recycled sewage can be drunk, after studying water recycling for two decades. “In the climate change era, water cannot be taken for granted anymore — and that includes sewage,” he says. Recycling technology could, he argues, relieve the US water crisis, especially in the west, where water diversions have desolated the Colorado River Delta.



Audubon as Artist
Roberta J. M. Olson Reaktion (2024)

As a museum curator in New York City, art historian Roberta Olson looked after 474 watercolours painted by John James Audubon for his classic book The Birds of America (1827–38). Gazing at his birds, she writes, “one wonders whether they might momentarily fly off the page”. Glorious reproductions fill this intriguing book. She regards Audubon as an “American Leonardo da Vinci”, fusing art and science, but focuses more on his art than his naturalism. A gripping self-portrait painted before he found success hints at Audubon’s difficult life.

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[ Also reviewed: The Struggle for Public Health, Fred C. Pampel; The Heart and the Chip, Daniela Rus & Gregory Mone; Deep Water, James Bradle ]