Science Books

From mathematical card tricks to an arrangement of interlocking pentagons previously thought impossible, the maths writer explains why solutions to maths problems can be as beautiful as paintings or sculpture

Can’t tell your nebula from your black hole? The New Scientist writer introduces us to some of the wonders of the universe and tells the stories of astronomers who discovered them

Best-selling science writer, Dava Sobel, recommends books about the men whose painstaking work changed our understanding of Earth’s place in the universe.

The bestselling author of Cod and Salt tells us about five science books he loves—from whales and snails to evolution and string theory—all of which make difficult subjects accessible

Paleoanthropologist Tim White tells us about his work investigating the origins of homo sapiens and explains what a 4.4 million-year-old skeleton he found in Africa tells us about our common past.

Every statistic is the result of someone’s work, and we’d do well to ask ourselves why it was created. That way, says the statistician, we have a better chance of working out when dangers are being overstated and data misused

Psychology professor Richard Wiseman explains why mediums, spoon bending and near-death and out-of-body experiences are all baloney.

Space historian Andrew Chaikin tells us about five books that capture the thrill and achievement of our venturing into the great beyond. He picks the best books on space exploration.

The novelist and nature lover T C Boyle tells us about delicious dodos, angry tigers, snakes on planes and why Viagra saves rhinos.

Science is the only way to make sense of the world around us and the scientific method the only way to establish truth, says Peter Atkins, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at the University of Oxford. Author of several chemistry textbooks as well as many popular science books, he recommends books that track the evolution of our understanding about the world around us, starting with an anthology of sacred texts and ending with Shakespeare.