What can a lowly lichen reveal about a grisly murder case? Which common clothing item requires 5000 gallons of water to create? Where is the best place for a pilot to crash a malfunctioning airplane? Chockful of interesting trivia and thoughtful scholarship, the books on this year's fall reading list—reviewed by alumni of the AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellowship program—tackle topics ranging from the future of food to the nature of reality. Consider a careful analysis of why we ought to trust science or join a harrowing expedition to the most extreme environments on Earth. Dive into a fascinating quest to identify new elements or crack open an eye-opening history of color science.

From cryptic ciphers and wall-climbing robots to dinosaur digs and visits to the planetarium, this year's finalists for the Science Books and Films (SB&F) Prizes for Excellence in Science Books are packed with fun facts, easy-to-do experiments, and plenty of creepy-crawly creatures. Sponsored by Subaru and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS, the publisher of Science ), the SB&F competition celebrates high-quality science books for young readers. Read on for reviews of the finalists, written by the staff of the Science family of journals, with help from a few friends.

From cryptic ciphers and wall-climbing robots to dinosaur digs and visits to the planetarium, this year's finalists for the Science Books and Films (SB&F) Prizes for Excellence in Science Books are packed with fun facts, easy-to-do experiments, and plenty of creepy-crawly creatures. Sponsored by Subaru and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS, the publisher of Science), the SB&F competition celebrates high-quality science books for young readers. Read on for reviews of the finalists, written by the staff of the Science family of journals, with help from a few friends.

What can a lowly lichen reveal about a grisly murder case? Which common clothing item requires 5000 gallons of water to create? Where is the best place for a pilot to crash a malfunctioning airplane? Chockful of interesting trivia and thoughtful scholarship, the books on this year's fall reading list—reviewed by alumni of the AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellowship program—tackle topics ranging from the future of food to the nature of reality. Consider a careful analysis of why we ought to trust science or join a harrowing expedition to the most extreme environments on Earth. Dive into a fascinating quest to identify new elements or crack open an eye-opening history of color science.