Object Lessons by George Loudon review – small but spectacular discoveries...
From papier-mache animal carcasses to a monstrous stuffed toad ... the teaching tools of 19th-century life science are a wonder to beholdGeorge Loudon used to collect contemporary art until he ran out...
View ArticleJohn McPhee: a master of non-fiction
In Coming into the Country, McPhee recorded the dynamism of Alaskan nature just as the first oil passed through the Trans-Alaska pipeline. First published in 1977, it’s a boreal classicA few years ago...
View ArticleAlien invaders with Fred Pearce and Alanna Collen – books podcast
We look at intruders of our inner and outer environment with Fred Pearce and Alanna Collen Continue reading...
View ArticleRalph Steadman's birds on the edge of extinction – in pictures
As the planet hurtles towards environmental disaster, the world’s birds are the canaries in the coal mine, with one in eight species threatened by extinction. But it’s not too late to save them. Ralph...
View ArticleRainbow Dust; The Moth Snowstorm; and In Pursuit of Butterflies review –...
The Greeks gave butterflies and souls the same name: psyche. So what does the ever more parlous state of the creatures say about us?The chronicles of the 14th-century French writer Jean Froissart...
View ArticleDaniel Kahneman: ‘What would I eliminate if I had a magic wand? Overconfidence’
The psychologist and bestselling author of Thinking, Fast and Slow reveals his new research and talks about prejudice, fleeing the Nazis, and how to hold an effective meetingDaniel Kahneman is the very...
View ArticleOn Immunity: An Inoculation by Eula Biss review – an enthralling, deeply...
A mother’s concern for her newborn son led her to investigate the science and mythology of vaccination – with compelling resultsWhen Eula Biss went into labour for the first time, she walked out from...
View ArticleThe Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life – review
This readable study by Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg and Tom Pyszczynski attempts to measure the influence of mortal terror on human affairsErnest Becker’s The Denial of Death (1973) made the...
View ArticleRalph Steadman, Ceri Levy and climate change poems – books podcast
We join Ralph Steadman in his studio as he teams up with Ceri Levy to put birds threatened with extinction in the frame, and hear how poets are responding to climate chaos Continue reading...
View ArticleA Beautiful Question: Finding Nature’s Deep Design by Frank Wilczek – review
A Nobel prizewinner’s account of ‘the grandest achievement of human thought and striving’Leading scientists often talk about science in ways that are patently unscientific. In his new book, the Nobel...
View ArticleHow We'll Live on Mars by Stephen Petranek – digested read
‘If the first 10,000 pioneers to Mars can go without water for 10 years, everything should be hunky-dory’In the year 2027, two sleek spacecraft dubbed Raptor 1 and Raptor 2 will finally land on Mars...
View ArticleTen books that changed the world
From Euclid’s Elements to Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams, and from Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex to Shakespeare First Folio … 10 authors choose books ‘not of an age, but for all...
View ArticleKim Stanley Robinson and Sheldon Solomon on exploration and death – books...
Can humanity escape extinction by reaching for the stars? We confront final questions with the science fiction novelist Kim Stanley Robinson and the psychologist Sheldon Solomon• Science fiction: the...
View ArticleHen Harrier Poems by Colin Simms review – a remarkable tribute to an...
Ahead of the shotguns booming out for the ‘Glorious’ Twelfth, this striking collection underlines the plight of these beautiful hawks and the campaign to save themBetween 1837 and 1840 on the Glengarry...
View ArticleEverything Is Teeth by Evie Wyld and Joe Sumner review – a graphic memoir of...
Sharks cruise menacingly across the pages of this subtle and evocative autobiographyEvie Wyld grew up terrified of sharks. During summer holidays on her grandparents’ farm in coastal New South Wales...
View ArticleIndependent publishers dominate 2015 Guardian first book award longlist
From an eccentric debut novel to a searing portrait of Putin’s Russia, the contenders for this year’s award show the strength and daring of the ‘indies’Guardian first book award 2015 longlist – in...
View ArticleThe Old Straight Track by Alfred Watkins – walking through the past
This eccentric but rigorous study of lost routes across England draws on archaeology and etymology, but is shot through with a compelling poetryMost journeys are planned in advance and start out with a...
View ArticleA Doctor’s Dictionary by Iain Bamforth review – an almost crazily good book
These insightful, erudite and wide-ranging essays illuminate the mysteries of our bodies and our mindsFirst of all, the title is misleading. If you are looking for something that might, say, explain...
View ArticleBrief Candle in the Dark: My Life in Science by Richard Dawkins – review
He may have crushed creationists, but can ‘the Dirty Harry of science’ teach as well as preach in the second instalment of his memoirs?Richard Dawkins has had a wonderful life. He’s been happy in his...
View ArticleThe Meaning of Science by Tim Lewens review – can scientific knowledge be...
From GM crops to antidepressive drugs, there is a lot of public scepticism that science is never value-free …The physicist Richard Feynman once remarked that “philosophy of science is about as useful...
View Article