Books by Carl Zimmer
In his books, essays, articles and blog posts, Carl Zimmer reports from the frontiers of biology, where scientists are expanding our understanding of life. In addition to writing books, Zimmer contributes articles to The New York Times as well as magazines including National Geographic, Time, Scientific American, Science and Popular Science. He also writes an award-winning blog, The Loom.
Life's Edge: The Search for What It Means to Be Alive
by Carl Zimmer
Just as many of us are still struggling with the question of the meaning of life, the brilliant popular science writer Carl Zimmer—whose books have been frequently recommended on Five Books—takes the question a step further back and asks what life actually is. This promises to be a fun read on a really important question, not least because the virus wreaking havoc across the planet at the moment is very lively and yet...not alive.
“Carl Zimmer’s one of a handful of extremely good science writers, one of those people who are capable of presenting a very complex argument with a lot of different material in a way that’s both incredibly clear and uncompromising in its detail and its depth.” Read more...
The Best Nonfiction Books of 2018
Fiammetta Rocco, Artists & Art Critic
Evolution
by Carl Zimmer
Zimmer’s book is to be recommended for the broad scope that it gives to the influence of evolutionary ideas in modern biology
Soul Made Flesh
by Carl Zimmer
How does the brain produce the mind? The question gave rise to the beginnings of neuroscience in the 17th century. Thomas Willis, one of the founder members of the Royal Society, was a doctor who studied the brain in exquisite detail for the first time. Carl Zimmer gives the historical background to brain science at its crude beginnings and makes very thoughtful connections to modern brain science. I liked particularly his sensitive treatment of the relatively recent finding that the brain has a hard-wired network that underlies our human ability to attribute mental states to other people (‘Theory of mind’). It is precisely this ability that seems to be faulty in autism.
Interviews with Carl Zimmer
The best books on The Strangeness of Life, recommended by Carl Zimmer
The science writer and award-winning blogger Carl Zimmer discusses the strangeness of life, from viruses to manipulative flatworms
Interviews where books by Carl Zimmer were recommended
The best books on Autism, recommended by Uta Frith
The author of Autism and Talent and Autism in History puts her subject into historical context and tells us why studying the development of the mind continues to fascinate her
Kenneth Miller recommends the best Arguments against Creationism
Biology professor—and Catholic—Kenneth Miller tells us what we should read to understand the battle being fought between scientists and creationists.
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Hello World: How to Be Human in the Age of the Machine
by Hannah Fry -
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The Spy and the Traitor
by Ben Macintyre -
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Amateur: A True Story About What Makes a Man
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Imperial Twilight: The Opium War and the End of China's Last Golden Age
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Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy
by Serhii Plokhy -
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She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity
by Carl Zimmer
The Best Nonfiction Books of 2018, recommended by Fiammetta Rocco
The Best Nonfiction Books of 2018, recommended by Fiammetta Rocco
It’s a difficult task: to identify the very best nonfiction books of the year. But the Baillie Gifford Prize aims to do just that. The chair of the prize’s 2018 judging panel Fiammetta Rocco talks to us about the six fascinating titles that made the shortlist.
