Best Nature & environment books

The 12 highest-rated Nature & environment books, scored from 1.6K reader ratings.

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By year of first publication, 1949–2021. The busiest stretch is 2010–2019, with 4. Select a bar to narrow the list.

1
8.78.7 / 10
Braiding SweetgrassRobin Wall Kimmerer369 ratings“Braiding Sweetgrass” joins scientific knowledge, Indigenous teaching and personal anecdote into one way of looking at the living world.Our view
2
8.48.4 / 10
Entangled LifeMerlin Sheldrake235 ratings“Entangled Life” shows how much of the living world depends on fungi, with a biologist’s knowledge and evident wonder.Our view
3
8.28.2 / 10
The Invention of NatureAndrea Wulf97 ratings“The Invention of Nature” is a lively, clearly written portrait of Alexander von Humboldt and his idea of nature as one connected whole.Our view

Why Braiding Sweetgrass is #1

Braiding Sweetgrass (Robin Wall Kimmerer) scores 8.7/10 from 369 ratings — 0.3 points ahead of Entangled Life in second place.

The score is a weighted average across 3 independent rating sources. A title with few ratings is pulled toward the category average, so a handful of enthusiastic reviews cannot outrank a book that thousands of readers have judged. To keep the list varied, the top 20 holds at most two books from one series and three by one author; the rest follow further down. Method →