Science Books

Bats are remarkably like us in many ways — social animals with complex lives, who put a lot of energy into rearing their young. They also make up around one-fifth of the world's mammal species. Phil Richardson, co-founder of the UK's Bat Conservation Trust, recommends five books to learn more about bats around the world.

Many of the 1,200 known species of dinosaur were far more complex than we once thought. Some were brightly feathered and many were at least partly warm-blooded, explains palaeontologist and dinosaur specialist Paul Barrett. He talks us through five of the best dinosaur books, from 1980s trailblazers to the latest technical tomes.

Palaeontologist Richard Fortey says it took tiny organisms two billion years of work to oxygenate the planet sufficiently for our kind of life, including trilobites, dinosaurs and ourselves, to evolve

Internationally known ecologist says plants are grievously overlooked, because no life on earth would exist without them - essential reading on plants

The Professor of Astro-Physics at Oxford University selects five seminal books on the workings of the universe. Explains that to appreciate the true beauty of science is to understand its simplicity and universality

Geoscience professor and NASA adviser James Kasting talks us through the scientific possibilities for life beyond earth. He recommends books by both 'optimists. and 'pessimists.'

The respected author and veteran journalist gives illuminating interview on volcanic eruptions. Discusses wonderful literary works from authors including Jules Vernes, Edward Lytton and Paddy Leigh Fermor

Just as no one can study political science without a basic understanding of human history, or study a modern animal without a basic understanding of evolution, so no one can understand climate change without understanding the Earth's history, argues the Princeton geology professor.

Author and social psychologist discusses the nature of drug addiction and the problems associated with it. Discusses books by Coelho, Welsh and Kerouac

Islamic scientific discoveries underpinned much of the European Renaissance and the Islamic world inspired Europe as much as Greece and Rome did, says Cambridge professor Amira Bennison. She recommends the best books to get a better understanding of the Islamic contribution to modern science.