“Almost no rock, leaf or cubic foot of air on Earth has escaped our clumsy signature” writes Nathaniel Rich in his celebrated new essay collection, Second Nature, in which he explores humanity’s relationship with nature, and the sometimes extraordinary passion and purpose people bring to the battle to preserve what remains. The American novelist and essayist is also the author of Losing Earth: A Recent History, as well as the novels King Zeno, Odds Against Tomorrow, and The Mayor’s Tongue. The son of writers Frank Rich and Alex Witchel, Rich cites Martin Amis, J. G. Ballard, and Margaret Atwood among his favorite writers, but for this list he chose to stick to books that illuminate the complexity of our relationship to the natural world. In a summer season that has seen unparalleled temperatures in Canada and parts of the western United States, the message of these ten books could hardly feel more urgent.