Cal Flyn, Deputy Editor

Every year, the judges of the Royal Society Science Book Prize put together a shortlist of the smartest, sharpest, funniest science books of the previous twelve months. We asked the chair of the 2024 panel—the leading evolutionary biomechanics researcher Professor John Hutchinson—to talk us through their picks of the best new popular science books.

Biographers create character studies of fascinating people, through which we might insight into the historical context and the systems these individuals functioned within. Here, journalist and attorney William Cooper recommends five U.S. political biographies and memoirs that allow readers special access to the rooms where American decision-making takes place.

The American Civil War (1861–1865) was a watershed moment in the history of the United States—and, as a result, has made an enormous impact on American literature, explains Craig A. Warren, author of Scars to Prove It: The Civil War Soldier and American Fiction. Here, he recommends five key texts: classic novels of the American Civil War that, together, offer a panoramic view of a country in crisis.

Simon Baron-Cohen, the longstanding director of the University of Cambridge’s multidisciplinary Autism Research Centre, offers some recommended reading (plus a film to watch) to help you improve your understanding of the experience of those on the autism spectrum, or of developmental psychology more generally.

The Western evolved out of colonial adventure narratives that dramatised a battle between so-called ‘savagery’ and ‘civilisation’; dime novels then turned the cowboy into an iconic symbol of masculinity—explains Susan Kollin, professor of American studies at Montana State University. But this antique genre has plenty of literary potential and moral uncertainty to offer to the modern reader. Here, she selects five landmark Western novels that explore frontier mythology.

Mountaineering is a thrilling, mind-altering pastime that brings the climber into direct contact with some of the world’s most beautiful landscapes. But it is also one that carries significant risk, explains Anna Fleming, author of the rock-climbing memoir Time on Rock. Here, she recommends five fascinating mountaineering books that combine history, nature, and sheer adventure.

Historical novels hold a mirror up to contemporary society, says Kate Kruimink—the novelist and joint winner of the inaugural Weatherglass Novella Prize. Here, she recommends five fascinating works of historical fiction from her home country, Australia.

Noir is as much an aesthetic as it is a genre of book or movie, explains the film director Simon Hawkins; and though it might be set anywhere, Los Angeles is its spiritual home. Here, he recommends five of the best noir novels—each defined by their strong settings, seedy atmospheres and suspenseful plotting.

Intensive agriculture, pesticides, and overuse of artificial fertilisers have badly impacted fertility in farming regions. But—says the award-winning environmental writer Louise Gray—new, soil-friendly methods are increasingly embraced by farmers on both sides of the Atlantic. Here, she recommends five of the best books on ‘regenerative agriculture.’

Life on board a warship entails physical danger, close-knit community, and an unusual combination of cutting-edge technology and generations-old tradition. We asked Jim Carter, the author of Hearts of Steel, to recommend five of the best books on warships—from military history to naval biography.