Atul Gawande: 'If I haven't succeeded in making you itchy, disgusted or cry I...
The bestselling surgeon-author talks about the limits of medicine, our view of death, and battles over taste with the editor of the New YorkerBack in the mid 1980s when he was an undergraduate at...
View ArticleNew books party: Books that arrived recently | @GrrlScientist
This week, I share my first impressions about a scientific biography about John Napier, a Very Small Introduction about Alexander the Great, and a novel by an Australian writer.John Napier: Life,...
View ArticleThe best optical illusions to bend your eyes and blow your mind – in pictures
Clive Gifford’s book Eye Benders: The Science of Seeing and Believing has just been crowned winner of the Royal Society Young People’s book prize 2014, which is judged by young peopleHere Clive shares...
View ArticleRoyal Society Young People’s Book Prize winner announced | @GrrlScientist
Eye Benders, a children’s book by Clive Gifford & Professor Anil Seth, is filled with optical illusions that are used to explain the science behind how they work and to demonstrate the many...
View ArticleP53: The Gene That Cracked the Cancer Code by Sue Armstrong – review
Hopes surround the protein that suppresses tumours – but what about Big Pharma?“A cure for cancer” – the phrase is so often repeated, surely it must finally materialise? To anyone not familiar with the...
View ArticleNew books Party: Books that arrived recently | @GrrlScientist
Today I share my first impressions of books about urban birds, materials science and a children’s dystopian novel that was recently adapted into a film.Welcome to Subirdia: Sharing Our Neighborhoods...
View ArticleLingo: A Language-Spotter’s Guide to Europe by Gaston Dorren review – learned...
English is illogical, French has a mother fixation – and the future is MandarinAre some languages worse than others? The question might sound silly, but in this entertaining exercise in “language...
View ArticleClaxton: Field Notes from a Small Planet by Mark Cocker – review
This nature diary’s wry, delightful observations reveal a bigger picture of troubled timesThe journal recording the natural life encountered in a particular place as the seasons pass is one of nature...
View ArticleNew books party: Books that arrived recently | @GrrlScientist
Today, I share my first impressions of books about how human use of toxic chemicals is affecting evolution, how modern humans came into being after the human-chimp split, and the ethics of everyday...
View ArticleThe best paperbacks of 2014
John Williams goes buffalo hunting in the wild west, Hanne Ørstavik tells a creepy story about motherly love and Dave Goulson takes an endearing look at the humble bumblebee• Writers pick their...
View ArticleNew Books Party: Books that arrived recently | @GrrlScientist
This week, I share brief comments about two ecology books that you will love; one covers the habitats of Britain and Ireland and the other is an especially lucid yet passionate account of global...
View ArticleThe best nature literature of 2014
Taking in shrews, rolling meadowland and newly resurgent birds of prey, Stephen Moss strolls though the year’s best nature writing To mark the anniversary of the outbreak of the first world war. In...
View ArticleThe best science books of 2014
Elizabeth Kolbert laid bare the devastating effect we’re having on our fellow species, while the superb Wildlife Photographer of the Year book showed us just what we risk losingWriters pick the best...
View ArticleLife on the Edge review – the weird world of quantum biology explained
Jim Al-Khalili and Johnjoe McFadden’s insights into fundamental tenets of science are fascinating – but not always easy to fathom for the beginnerThe scent of an orange, a robin on the wing – nothing...
View ArticleThe best psychology books of 2014
From moving accounts of how we deal with dying and suffering to two brilliant takes on FreudWriters pick the best books of 2014More best books of 2014The neuroscientific inflation of recent years may...
View ArticleThe best bird books of 2014 | @GrrlScientist
This is the first time I’ve ever shared a list of what I consider to be the best birds books of the year, but I think you’ll find lots of ideas for all the bird-nerds on your holiday gift-giving...
View ArticleThe best nature books of 2014 | @GrrlScientist
Today, I share a list of what I consider to be the best nature books of the year, hoping that you’ll find lots of interesting and unusual ideas for all the naturalists on your holiday gift-giving...
View ArticleThe best science books of 2014: Biology | @GrrlScientist
Today, I share a list of what I consider to be the best popular biological sciences books of the year, hoping that you’ll find lots of interesting and unusual ideas for all the biology buffs on your...
View ArticleThe best science books of 2014: chemistry, physics, maths | @GrrlScientist
Today, I share a list of what I consider to be the best popular physical sciences books of the year, hoping that you’ll find lots of interesting and unusual ideas for all the...
View ArticleThe problem with Professor Branestawm | Alice Bell
Norman Hunter’s Professor Branestawm has been on and off our bookshelves and the BBC since 1933. Why do we keep coming back to him?I was about half way into a PhD on British children’s science...
View Article