Books by Matthew Cobb
Matthew Cobb is professor of zoology at the University of Manchester, where his research focusses on the sense of smell. He has published books on 17th-century science and the French resistance. His most recent book is Life’s Greatest Secret: The Race to Crack the Genetic Code.
“Crick comes across as the most extraordinary and endearing, even slightly loopy character. We know him as half of Watson-and-Crick, the great discoverers of DNA and the double helix. But he’s established here as the kind of intellectual that could only have come to fruition in the conditions of mid- to late-twentieth century America and Britain. Besides being a stellar scientific researcher, he’s a quintessential figure of the 1960s.” Read more...
The Best Historical Biographies of 2026
Roy Foster, Historian
The Idea of the Brain: The Past and Future of Neuroscience
by Matthew Cobb
***Shortlisted for the 2020 Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction***
Ten years ago, brain science seemed like a scary topic for the specialist, now it's everywhere. What to make of all the information out there, what we know, what we don't know about our brain? The Idea of the Brain, a highly readable book by Matthew Cobb, Professor of Zoology at the University of Manchester, will bring you up to speed.
The Resistance
by Matthew Cobb
The Resistance in France is this iconic, emblematic moment in French history – but at the same time there’s the uncomfortable fact that most French people did not belong to the Resistance.
Interviews with Matthew Cobb
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1
Ways of Knowing: A New History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
by John Pickstone -
2
The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA
by James Watson -
3
The Scientific Revolution
by Steven Shapin -
4
This New Ocean: The Story of the First Space Age
by William E. Burrows -
5
Galen and the World of Knowledge
by Christopher Gill (Editor)
The best books on The History of Science, recommended by Matthew Cobb
The best books on The History of Science, recommended by Matthew Cobb
The best books on the history of science—from the ancient world to the space race, recommended by Matthew Cobb, Professor of Zoology at the University of Manchester and author of a number of history and history of science books. His book on neuroscience, The Idea of the Brain, was shortlisted for the 2020 Baillie Gifford Prize, Britain’s most prestigious nonfiction book award.
Interviews where books by Matthew Cobb were recommended
The best books on The French Resistance, recommended by Jonathan Fenby
The historian and author chooses five books on de Gaulle and the Resistance. He says the British tried to veto de Gaulle’s famous 1940 speech from London calling on the French to stand up to German occupation
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1
Maria Theresa, Empress: The Making of the Austrian Enlightenment
by Richard Bassett -
2
Crick: A Mind in Motion – from DNA to the Brain
by Matthew Cobb -
3
Vermeer: A Life Lost and Found
by Andrew Graham-Dixon -
4
The Mirror of Great Britain: A Life of James VI & I
by Clare Jackson -
5
The Brothers Grimm: A Biography
by Ann Schmiesing
The Best Historical Biographies of 2026, recommended by Roy Foster
The Best Historical Biographies of 2026, recommended by Roy Foster
The best biographies combine original research with accessible writing and a strong narrative drive, explains the historian Roy Foster, chair of the judges for the Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography. Here, he introduces us to the five “extraordinarily accomplished” books on their 2026 shortlist, including a reassessment of Austrian empress Maria Theresa and a portrait of the molecular biologist Francis Crick in the swinging 1960s.
