by george monbiot, colin tudge, pragya agarwal, jonathan drori, emily shuckburgh, cassandra coburn, jojo mehta, jim down, camilla pang, and richard walker
A fantastic science book can wow you, entertain you and change the way you think, all over the course of a few hundred pages. It can also act as a source of inspiration. We have asked 10 brilliant science writers and authors to pick their favourites, many of which were influenced earlier in their careers by their choices. Did your favourite make the list?
You are reading: Author of popular science books
the best popular science books chosen by science writers
Jonathan Drori chooses Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
This is like being asked to choose the best vegetable or your favorite child! however, if pressed, i would nominate rachel carson’s silent spring, published in 1962 but still bright and relevant. With his strong evidence and clear voice, Carson ignited global environmental efforts by detailing the effects of DDT and other pesticides on the environment. In addition to showing that life on earth is made up of complex webs of interdependence, it revealed the dangers posed to humans and wildlife by artificial pesticides and exposed government officials’ welcoming acceptance of industry propaganda.
The fierce opposition to the silent spring mounted by the chemical companies has a strong resonance today. Following lobbying, the UK government recently allowed sugar beet seeds to be treated with thiamethoxam, a neonicotinoid pesticide that is highly toxic to bees. Politicians of all persuasions should carefully read and digest Carson’s groundbreaking, passionate, yet thoroughly scientific book.
jonathan drori’s book, around the world in 80 floors, is now available.
Pragya Agarwal chooses The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee
a book that really stands out to me personally is the emperor of all diseases by siddhartha mukherjee. this was one of the first books I read that showed how scientific writing can be magical and fascinating, emotional and political, and intersect with social science, history, and philosophy. It’s something I’ve tried to capture in my own writing, but no one does it better than Mukherjee in this work, where he makes the most complex biological processes and his own love of science so human and relatable.
The way in which the emperor of all ills introduces the social and cultural context when interpreting the language and communication of a disease that had been shrouded in mystery is sublime. although the book is really about death, it is also very optimistic; normalizes talking about death and grief, and how they are inextricable parts of life. I read it a long time ago and then dipped in and out over the years, and it has completely fascinated and inspired me ever since.
pragya agarwal’s book, (m)otherhood, will be published in June 2021.
Emily Shuckburgh chooses Chaos by James Gleick
I read James Gleick’s Chaos as a teenager, and perhaps more than anything else, it inspired me to pursue mathematical studies. provides such a vivid demonstration of the richness and beauty that can be found within and as a consequence of mathematics. I was especially motivated by the idea that mathematics can be used to better understand and, in fact, predict the behavior of the world around us. he put me on a research career using mathematics to interrogate climate change.
The book begins with a description of mathematician and meteorologist Ed Lorenz watching the morning fog creep across the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He did not know that years later he would look out over the Charles River from the same spot, or that to this day he would still be building on Lorenz’s work. For me, the book was the flap of a butterfly’s wings that spawned an entire career.
emily shuckburgh is director of cambridge zero, cambridge university’s premier climate change initiative, and author of climate change (an expert book on ladybugs).
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Cassandra Coburn chooses Junk Food Monkeys by Robert Sapolsky
My favorite popular science book of all time is Junk Food Monkeys by Stanford University neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky. This book holds a very special place in my heart because it was the first popular science book I ever read. In a series of essays, Sapolsky explores a variety of strange and seemingly unrelated topics (chapter titles range from “Beelzebub’s satellite scores” to “The Night You Ruined Your Pajamas”), using evolutionary biology to dissect and skillfully inform.
I must have been around 11 years old when I first picked up this book, so I couldn’t possibly have understood everything I was reading. But Sapolsky’s technique of providing careful, fact-based examinations, peppered with concise humor, offered me a method of making sense of the world that I had never encountered before. it was my first introduction to scientific technique as a tool, not just science as fact. Twenty-odd years later, I’m still using science to try to understand and improve the world.
Cassandra Coburn’s book, Enough: How Your Food Choices Will Save the Planet, is now available.
Colin Tudge chooses On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin
incomparably the largest – no others in sight – is charles darwin’s on the origin of species, published in 1859. it was, in fact, a “popular” book – written in haste after the exemplary alfred russel wallace threatened to beat him to a tie, it was an immediate bestseller. however, it has transformed the biology and mentality of the entire world.
alas, however, like all great thinkers and prophets, darwin has been terribly misrepresented, especially by his would-be disciples. He is cited as a champion of atheism, although his contemporary clergyman Frederic Farrar saw in him “a deeply reverent spirit”. his emphasis on competition is invoked to justify neoliberalism, which he would surely have despised. he has been presented as a cold fish, the stereotypical scientist, although he was a loving family man and a warm friend. really the registry needs a rebalancing.
colin tudge’s book, the great rethinking, is now available.
Jojo Mehta chooses A Brief History of Everything by Ken Wilber
I am by nature a curious generalist, so I have enjoyed many popular science books over the years, from morris kline’s mathematics in western culture to steven pinker’s language instinct to surely you are joking with mr feynman and the tiger that is not, to name a few. It may be a legacy of my graduate anthropological studies, or possibly the legacy of East and West from my Buddhist guru and Christian priest grandparents, which means that I am as fascinated by the writer’s underlying epistemological point of view as I am by the subject matter. same.
As such, one of my favorites is in the area of consciousness studies and the theory of evolution. Actually, it’s a philosophy book: Ken Wilber is a short history of everything. its elegant reconciliation of scientific, cultural, psychological, and sociological perspectives in a coherent and intellectually rigorous framework is remarkable, and (in its left-brain form) it works, which makes it both useful and beautiful. like, in my world, all the best things are.
jojo mehta is a co-founder of the stop ecocide campaign.
Jim Down chooses Longitude by Dava Sobel
dava sobel’s book recounts the struggle to solve the problem of length. in 1714, with the world’s explorers literally lost at sea, the British parliament offered £20,000 for a “practical and useful” solution. astronomers looked to the stars for inspiration, while others relied on the howls of injured dogs. John Harrison, a self-taught watchmaker from Yorkshire, set out to build a precision timekeeper that could withstand an 18th-century ocean crossing, a task so daunting that Isaac Newton himself considered it unattainable.
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length is the gripping story of one man’s 40-year struggle against the system. is a story of perfectionism, determination, genius, politics, betrayal, and ultimately redemption. Sobel punctuates his book with such gems as the inadvertent discovery of the speed of light, leaving the reader in awe of the beauty of science. Three of the four clocks Harrison built still keep time today.
Jim Down’s book, Life Support: Diary of an ICU Doctor on the Front Lines of the Covid Crisis, is now available.
Camilla Pang chooses Critical Mass by Philip Ball
the only book that changed my life was critical mass by philip ball. it came out when I was a teenager and, being a beefy monkey at 656 pages, it was the biggest book I had ever read in the shortest amount of time! throughout each page, it gave me confidence in my thoughts (previously branded as crazy and noisy) in crystallized sense. linking the sciences is one thing.
critical mass explores how physics can be used in politics and the sciences of human behavior and organization; these were ideas I had at the time I read it, and I learned from the book that others had had them for centuries as well. this was a turning point in my confidence as a scientist and in trusting my judgment.
Learning this historical context and understanding where my own ideas did or did not line up was exciting and has informed my own area of study ever since. How do we understand the people around us? Does it matter that the ideas in my head only make sense to me? how can i make them real? There and then, I began to outsource my links by communicating and updating my scientific principles, so that I could further examine these everyday interactions.
Camilla’s book, An External Guide to Humans: What Science Taught Me About What We Do and Who We Are, is now available.
George Monbiot chooses The Unnatural History of the Sea by Callum Roberts
callum roberts magnificent unnatural tale of the sea tells the story of what the ocean once was and could be again. draws on a vast body of historical and ecological knowledge to show how much we have lost: cod as long as a person, plaice as long as tabletops, mile-long schools of herring being harassed within sight of the English coast by pods of bluefin tuna, giant sharks, fin whales and sperm whales. reading it is like walking through a portal into a magical realm. he explains how we can restore this glory and ensure our seas boil with life once again.
george monbiot’s book, this can’t be happening, will be published in August 2021.
Richard Walker chooses The Nature of Nature by Enric Sala
the historical living room book offers a passionate argument for the preservation of the nature around us, distilling complex ecological challenges into a tale that feels both accessible and practical. each chapter explores a series of questions, some still unanswered, and explains why the environmental crisis is, in fact, the most important problem facing humanity. The book also covers the real-life challenges we face in prioritizing nature in a context of global capitalism, providing lessons that are more relevant than ever as we look toward economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Seamlessly blending research and theory with personal anecdotes from ward’s vast experience, Nature’s Nature is a must-read for anyone interested in protecting our only home, a compelling and heartfelt call to action on the need to save the natural world. .
richard walker’s book, the green grocer, is now available.
These authors will be featured in Hayfest, which will take place online from May 26 to June 6, 2021. hayfestival.org/wales
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