• The Best Science Books of 2023: The Royal Society Book Prize - An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong
  • The Best Science Books of 2023: The Royal Society Book Prize - Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus by David Quammen
  • The Best Science Books of 2023: The Royal Society Book Prize - Jellyfish Age Backwards: Nature's Secrets to Longevity by Nicklas Brendborg
  • The Best Science Books of 2023: The Royal Society Book Prize - Nuts and Bolts: Seven Small Inventions That Changed the World in a Big Way by Roma Agrawal
  • The Best Science Books of 2023: The Royal Society Book Prize - Taking Flight: The Evolutionary Story of Life on the Wing by Lev Parikian
  • The Best Science Books of 2023: The Royal Society Book Prize - The Exceptions: Nancy Hopkins, MIT, and the Fight for Women in Science by Kate Zernike

The Best Science Books of 2023: The Royal Society Book Prize, recommended by Rebecca Henry

The Royal Society, set up in the 1660s, is a fellowship of some of the world’s most eminent scientists. It also has an annual book prize, celebrating the best popular science writing. Neuroscientist Rebecca Henry, one of this year’s judges, talks us through the fabulous books that made the 2023 shortlist—and explains how good science writing can change the way you see the world around you.

  • The Best Literary Science Writing: The 2023 PEN/E.O. Wilson Book Award - Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey by Florence Williams
  • The Best Literary Science Writing: The 2023 PEN/E.O. Wilson Book Award - Vagina Obscura: An Anatomical Voyage by Rachel E. Gross
  • The Best Literary Science Writing: The 2023 PEN/E.O. Wilson Book Award - Sounds Wild and Broken by David George Haskell
  • The Best Literary Science Writing: The 2023 PEN/E.O. Wilson Book Award - An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong
  • The Best Literary Science Writing: The 2023 PEN/E.O. Wilson Book Award - The Big Bang of Numbers: How to Build the Universe Using Only Math by Manil Suri

The Best Literary Science Writing: The 2023 PEN/E.O. Wilson Book Award, recommended by David Hu

Every year, the judges of the PEN/E.O. Wilson Award highlight the best new literary science writing. The 2023 shortlist consists of five fascinating books on subjects including the science of heartbreak, the sensory worlds of animals, and the development of mathematics. David Hu, a professor of mechanical engineering and a member of this year’s judging panel, talks us through their choices.

  • The Best Popular Science Books of 2022: The Royal Society Book Prize - The Greywacke: How a Priest, a Soldier and a School Teacher Uncovered 300 Million Years of History by Nick Davidson
  • The Best Popular Science Books of 2022: The Royal Society Book Prize - Different: What Apes Can Teach Us About Gender by Frans de Waal
  • The Best Popular Science Books of 2022: The Royal Society Book Prize - Spike: The Virus vs. The People - the Inside Story by Jeremy Farrar & with Anjana Ahuja
  • The Best Popular Science Books of 2022: The Royal Society Book Prize - A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth: 4.6 Billion Years in 12 Chapters by Henry Gee
  • The Best Popular Science Books of 2022: The Royal Society Book Prize - Age Proof: The New Science of Living a Longer and Healthier Life by Rose Anne Kenny
  • The Best Popular Science Books of 2022: The Royal Society Book Prize - Hot Air: The Inside Story of the Battle Against Climate Change Denial by Peter Stott

The Best Popular Science Books of 2022: The Royal Society Book Prize, recommended by Maria Fitzgerald

The renowned UCL neuroscientist Professor Maria Fitzgerald, chair of the 2022 Royal Society Book Prize, talks us through the judges’ selection of the best popular science books of the year—including a whistle-stop tour of the history of the Earth, a self-help book offering evidence-based advice on how to live a longer life, and a primatologist’s study of gender among apes.

  • Best Books on the Neuroscience of Consciousness - Consciousness Explained by Daniel Dennett
  • Best Books on the Neuroscience of Consciousness - The Mechanization of the Mind by Jean Pierre Dupuy
  • Best Books on the Neuroscience of Consciousness - Consciousness: How Matter Becomes Imagination by Gerald Edelman & Giulio Tononi
  • Best Books on the Neuroscience of Consciousness - Being No One: The Self-Model Theory of Subjectivity by Thomas Metzinger
  • Best Books on the Neuroscience of Consciousness - Klara and the Sun: A Novel by Kazuo Ishiguro

Best Books on the Neuroscience of Consciousness, recommended by Anil Seth

Nearly every human has a sense of self, a feeling that we are located in a body that’s looking out at the world and experiencing it over the course of a lifetime. Some people even think of it as a soul or other nonphysical reality that is yet somehow connected to the blood and bones that make up our bodies. How things seem, however, is quite often an unreliable guide to how things are, says neuroscientist Anil Seth. Here he recommends five key books that led him to his own understanding of consciousness, and explores why it is that what is likely an illusion can be so utterly convincing.

  • The Best Science Books of 2020: The Royal Society Book Prize - The Double X Economy: The Epic Potential of Empowering Women by Linda Scott
  • The Best Science Books of 2020: The Royal Society Book Prize - The Great Pretender by Susannah Cahalan
  • The Best Science Books of 2020: The Royal Society Book Prize - Transcendence: How Humans Evolved Through Fire, Language, Beauty, and Time by Gaia Vince
  • The Best Science Books of 2020: The Royal Society Book Prize - The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson
  • The Best Science Books of 2020: The Royal Society Book Prize - The World According to Physics by Jim Al-Khalili
  • The Best Science Books of 2020: The Royal Society Book Prize - Explaining Humans: What Science Can Teach Us about Life, Love and Relationships by Camilla Pang

The Best Science Books of 2020: The Royal Society Book Prize, recommended by Anne Osbourn

The Royal Society is the world’s oldest independent scientific academy, dedicated to promoting excellence in science—and that includes an annual prize for the best popular science book. Here Professor Anne Osbourn, Fellow of the Royal Society and chair of this year’s judging panel, talks us through the six books that made the 2020 shortlist—and what makes them intriguing, accessible and exciting.

  • The best books on The Scientific Revolution - Wonders and the Order of Nature 1150-1750 by Lorraine Daston and Katharine Park
  • The best books on The Scientific Revolution - Science and the Secrets of Nature: Books of Secrets in Medieval and Early Modern Culture by William Eamon
  • The best books on The Scientific Revolution - Leviathan and the Air-Pump by Simon Schaffer & Steven Shapin
  • The best books on The Scientific Revolution - Probability and Certainty in 17th Century England. A Study of the Relationships between Natural Science, Religion, History, Law and Literature by Barbara Shapiro
  • The best books on The Scientific Revolution - The Business of Alchemy: Science and Culture in the Holy Roman Empire by Pamela Smith

The best books on The Scientific Revolution, recommended by Vera Keller

The scientific revolution is often seen as having transformed the way we think and ushered in the modern world, but in highlighting the work of a few key individuals, it has distorted the reality of how science advances in society and how it interacts with truth. Here, Vera Keller, Professor of History at the University of Oregon, challenges popularly held assumptions about the scientific revolution and explains how its meaning, significance and importance have been disputed and misunderstood.

  • The Best Popular Science Books of 2021: The Royal Society Book Prize - The Last Stargazers: The Enduring Story of Astronomy's Vanishing Explorers by Emily Levesque
  • The Best Popular Science Books of 2021: The Royal Society Book Prize - Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor
  • The Best Popular Science Books of 2021: The Royal Society Book Prize - The End of Bias, A Beginning: The Science and Practice of Overcoming Unconscious Bias by Jessica Nordell
  • The Best Popular Science Books of 2021: The Royal Society Book Prize - The Sleeping Beauties: And Other Stories of Mystery Illness by Suzanne O'Sullivan
  • The Best Popular Science Books of 2021: The Royal Society Book Prize - Science Fictions: How Fraud, Bias, Negligence, and Hype Undermine the Search for Truth by Stuart Ritchie
  • The Best Popular Science Books of 2021: The Royal Society Book Prize - Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake

The Best Popular Science Books of 2021: The Royal Society Book Prize, recommended by Luke O'Neill

Every year the Royal Society, the world’s oldest independent scientific academy, awards a prize for the best new popular science book. Here, Luke O’Neill—Professor of Biochemistry at Trinity College, Dublin, and chair of the 2021 judging panel—discusses the latest shortlist: six new popular science books that are topical, accessible and infinitely interesting.

  • The Royal Society Science Book Prize: the 2019 shortlist - Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez
  • The Royal Society Science Book Prize: the 2019 shortlist - Six Impossible Things: The ‘Quanta of Solace’ and the Mysteries of the Subatomic World by John Gribbin
  • The Royal Society Science Book Prize: the 2019 shortlist - The Remarkable Life of the Skin by Monty Lyman
  • The Royal Society Science Book Prize: the 2019 shortlist - Clearing the Air: The Beginning and End of Air Pollution by Tim Smedley
  • The Royal Society Science Book Prize: the 2019 shortlist - The Second Kind of Impossible: The Extraordinary Quest for a New Form of Matter by Paul J. Steinhardt
  • The Royal Society Science Book Prize: the 2019 shortlist - Infinite Powers: The Story of Calculus by Steven Strogatz

The Royal Society Science Book Prize: the 2019 shortlist, recommended by Nigel Shadbolt

“Science is a profoundly human endeavour. The stories of triumph and success in science, alongside the failures and despair, are compelling.” From a data-driven account of air pollution to a book that makes calculus fun, 2019 has been a great year for science books. Nigel Shadbolt, chair of judges, discusses the six books shortlisted for the 2019 Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize.

  • The best books on Isaac Newton - Never at Rest: A Biography of Isaac Newton by Richard S. Westfall
  • The best books on Isaac Newton - A Portrait of Isaac Newton by Frank E. Manuel
  • The best books on Isaac Newton - Newton and the Origins of Civilization by Jed Z. Buchwald & Mordechai Feingold
  • The best books on Isaac Newton - Priest of Nature: The Religious Worlds of Isaac Newton by Rob Iliffe
  • The best books on Isaac Newton - Isaac Newton and Natural Philosophy by Niccolò Guicciardini

The best books on Isaac Newton, recommended by William Newman

John Maynard Keynes famously cast Isaac Newton not as the first scientist of the age of reason, but the last of the magicians. How should we interpret the million words he wrote, in secret, on alchemy? What should we make of Newton’s heretical religious views? William Newman talks us through the best books for a better understanding of the complex man who was one of the greatest physicists of all time.

  • Space Travel and Science Fiction Books - The Martian by Andy Weir
  • Space Travel and Science Fiction Books - Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
  • Space Travel and Science Fiction Books - Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov
  • Space Travel and Science Fiction Books - The Metaphysics of Morals by Immanuel Kant
  • Space Travel and Science Fiction Books - The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A Heinlein

Space Travel and Science Fiction Books, recommended by Christopher Mason

Space travel may be the stuff of science fiction but some of it is getting closer and closer to becoming reality. What’s more, we have a duty to pursue it, says Christopher Mason, Professor of Genomics, Physiology, and Biophysics at Weill Cornell Medicine and author of The Next 500 Years, a blueprint of how to set about leaving our solar system. Here, he recommends his favourite science fiction about space travel, and an essential philosophy book.

  • The best books on Educational Testing - Handbook of Item Response Theory (3-volume series) by Wim van der Linden (editor)
  • The best books on Educational Testing - Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling by Rex Kline
  • The best books on Educational Testing - Handbook of Test Development by Mark Raymond and Thomas Haladyna (Editors) & Suzanne Lane
  • The best books on Educational Testing - The Skilled Facilitator: A Comprehensive Resource for Consultants, Facilitators, Coaches, and Trainers by Roger Schwarz
  • The best books on Educational Testing - Hamilton: The Revolution by Jeremy McCarter & Lin-Manuel Miranda

The best books on Educational Testing, recommended by André Rupp

Nearly everyone has had to sit a standardised test at some point in their lives and felt the grip it might hold over their future—and not always in a good way. André Rupp, research director at ETS, the nonprofit company that runs some of the most well-known tests, talks us through what’s going on at the forefront of research and the new kinds of tests that are being developed.

  • Jim Baggott on Writing about Physics - Asimov's New Guide to Science by Isaac Asimov
  • Jim Baggott on Writing about Physics - Subtle is the Lord by Abraham Pais
  • Jim Baggott on Writing about Physics - Quantum Physics by Alastair Rae
  • Jim Baggott on Writing about Physics - The Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics by Max Jammer
  • Jim Baggott on Writing about Physics - Heisenberg's War: The Secret History Of The German Bomb by Thomas Powers

Jim Baggott on Writing about Physics

Contemporary physics is so complex that no single physicist can be said to have a decent grasp of the full picture. This makes communicating physics a formidable challenge.  Acclaimed popular science writer, Jim Baggott, talks us through this challenge by discussing his favourite physics books.

  • Books on the Wonders of The Universe - Bang! by Brian May, Patrick Moore, and Chris Lintott
  • Books on the Wonders of The Universe - How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming by Mike Brown
  • Books on the Wonders of The Universe - A Man on the Moon by Andrew Chaikin
  • Books on the Wonders of The Universe - Why Does E=mc2? by Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw
  • Books on the Wonders of The Universe - The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan

Books on the Wonders of The Universe, recommended by Philip Plait

Philip Plait urges us to remember that “science isn’t an encyclopedia of facts to memorise. It’s alive.” The astronomer and author of the acclaimed Bad Astronomy blog discusses books that can’t help but light the fire of interest in all things astronomical. He looks at how we can date the age of the universe, the danger of solar flares, and why Pluto is no longer classed as a planet.