Books for Curious Minds
We know in this time of lockdown many people are missing the opportunity to browse our bookshelves, particularly with Christmas round the corner. So we’re introducing new curated book recommendation lists, to help you find the perfect gifts for friends and loved ones.
This is a list for those who like to learn more, who enjoy discovering new things and reading experts talking with passion. Ideal gifts for those who like to be well informed. Browse and buy through our bookshop store or order through our website.
Books for Curious Minds
The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson
Paperback RRP £9.99
Bill Bryson sets off to explore the human body, how it functions and its remarkable ability to heal itself. Full of extraordinary facts and astonishing stories The Body: A Guide for Occupants is a brilliant, often very funny attempt to understand the miracle of our physical and neurological make up. A wonderful successor to A Short History of Nearly Everything , this new book is an instant classic. It will have you marvelling at the form you occupy, and celebrating the genius of your existence, time and time again.
There Are Places in the World Where Rules Are Less Important Than Kindness by Carlo Rovelli
Hardback RRP £20
One of the most inspiring thinkers of our age, the bestselling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics transforms the way we think about the world with his reflections on science, history and humanity. Written with his usual clarity and wit, these pieces range widely across time and space: from Newton's alchemy to Einstein's mistakes, from Nabokov's butterflies to Dante's cosmology, from travels in Africa to the consciousness of an octopus, from mind-altering psychedelic substances to the meaning of atheism. Charming, pithy and elegant, this book is the perfect gateway to the universe of one of the most influential scientists of our age.
Transcendence: How Humans Evolved through Fire, Language, Beauty, and Time by Gaia Vince
Paperback RRP £9.99
Humans are a planet-altering force. Gaia Vince argues that our unique ability - compared with other species - to determine the course of our own destiny rests on a special relationship between our genes, environment and culture going back into deep time. It is our collective culture, rather than our individual intelligence, that makes humans unique. Vince shows how four evolutionary drivers - Fire, Language, Beauty and Time - are further transforming our species into a transcendent superorganism: a hyper-cooperative mass of humanity that she calls Homo omnis. Drawing on leading-edge advances in population genetics, archaeology, palaeontology and neuroscience, Transcendence compels us to reimagine ourselves, showing us to be on the brink of something grander - and potentially more destructive.
The Reinvention of Humanity: How a Circle of Renegade Anthropologists Remade Race, Sex and Gender by Charles King
Paperback RRP £10.99
The riveting story of the pioneers who redefined conceptions of 'normality' in the early twentieth century. Under the guiding eye of cultural anthropologist Franz Boas, these scientist-explorers - most of them women - made intrepid journeys into far-flung communities all over the world, where they documented radically different social approaches that overturned Western assumptions about human diversity and challenged the era's scientific consensus.
Origins: How the Earth Shaped Human History by Lewis Dartnell
Paperback RRP £9.99
Human evolution in East Africa was driven by geological forces. Ancient Greece developed democracy because of its mountainous terrain. Voting behaviour in the United States today follows the bed of an ancient sea. Professor Lewis Dartnell takes us on an astonishing journey into our planet's past to tell the ultimate origin story. Blending science and history, Origins reveals the Earth's awesome impact on the shape of human civilisations - and helps us to see the challenges and opportunities of the future.
Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World by Jason Hickel
Hardback RRP £14.99
The world has finally awoken to the reality of climate breakdown and ecological collapse. Now we must face up to its primary cause. Capitalism demands perpetual expansion, which is devastating the living world. There is only one solution that will lead to meaningful and immediate change: DEGROWTH. Jason Hickel traces a clear pathway to a post-capitalist economy. An economy that's more just, more caring, and more fun. An economy that enables human flourishing while reversing ecological breakdown. An economy that will not only lift us out of our current crisis, but restore our sense of connection to a world that's brimming with life. By taking less, we can become more.
Mysteries of the Quantum Universe by Thibault Damour and Mathieu Burniat
Paperback RRP £12.99
The bestselling French graphic novel about the mind-bending world of quantum physics. Take an incredible journey through the quantum universe with explorer Bob and his dog Rick, as they travel through a world of wonders, talk to Einstein about atoms, hang out with Heisenberg on Heligoland and eat crepes with Max Planck. Along the way, we find out that a dog - much like a cat - can be both dead and alive, the gaze of a mouse can change the universe, and a comic book can actually make quantum physics fun, easy to understand and downright enchanting.
Beneath the Night: How the stars have shaped the history of humankind by Stuart Clark
Hardback RRP £14.99
From Stone Age to space age, people have looked up at the stars and been inspired by their beauty, their patterns, and their majesty. Beneath the Night is a history of humanity, told through our relationship with the night sky. From prehistoric cave art and Ancient Egyptian zodiacs to the modern era of satellites and space exploration, Stuart Clark explores a fascination shared across the world and throughout millennia. It is one that has shaped our scientific understanding; helped us navigate the terrestrial world; provided inspiration for our poets, artists and philosophers; and it has given us a place to project our hopes and fears. In the stars, we can see our past - and ultimately, our fate. This is the awe-inspiring story of the universe, and our place within it.
Analogia: The Entangled Destinies of Nature, Human Beings and Machines by George Dyson
Hardback RRP £25
How did we end up in a world where humans coexist with technologies we can no longer fully control or understand? George Dyson plots an unexpected course through the past 300 years to reveal the hidden connections that underpin our digital age, ending with a premonition of what lies ahead. From an eighteenth-century Russian voyage across the North Pacific, to the mirror signals that heralded the age of digital telecommunications and the invention of the vacuum tube, Analogia interweaves historical adventure with scientific insight in a deeply personal story that frames the pursuit - and cost - of the digital revolution in a captivating new light.
Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know by Malcolm Gladwell
Paperback RRP £9.99
The routine traffic stop that ends in tragedy. The spy who spends years undetected at the highest levels of the Pentagon. The false conviction of Amanda Knox. Why do we so often get other people wrong? Why is it so hard to detect a lie, read a face or judge a stranger's motives? Using stories of deceit and fatal errors to cast doubt on our strategies for dealing with the unknown, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual adventure into the darker side of human nature, where strangers are never simple and misreading them can have disastrous consequences.
Superior : The Return of Race Science by Angela Saini
Paperback RRP £9.99
In Superior , award-winning author Angela Saini investigates the concept of race, from its origins to the present day. Engaging with geneticists, anthropologists, historians and social scientists from across the globe, Superior is a rigorous, much needed examination of the insidious and destructive nature of the belief that race is real, and that some groups of people are superior to others.
The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal about Aliens - and Ourselves by Arik Kershenbaum
Hardback RRP £18.99
We are unprepared for the greatest discovery of modern science. Scientists are confident that there is alien life across the universe yet we have not moved beyond our perception of 'aliens' as Hollywood stereotypes. The time has come to abandon our fixation on alien monsters and place our expectations on solid scientific footing. Using his own expert understanding of life on Earth and Darwin's theory of evolution - which applies throughout the universe - Cambridge zoologist Dr Arik Kershenbaum explains what alien life must be like: how these creatures will move, socialise and communicate.
The Knowledge Machine: How an Unreasonable Idea Created Modern Science by Michael Strevens
Hardback RRP £25
It is only in the last three centuries that the formidable knowledge-making machine we call modern science has transformed our way of life and our vision of the universe - two thousand years after the invention of law, philosophy, drama and mathematics. Why did we take so long to invent science? And how has it proved to be so powerful? The Knowledge Machine gives a radical answer, exploring how science calls on its practitioners to do something apparently irrational: strip away all previous knowledge - such as theological, metaphysical or political beliefs - and channel unprecedented energy into observation and experiment.
Seven Pillars of Science: The Incredible Lightness of Ice, and Other Scientific Surprises by John Gribbin
Hardback RRP £9.99
John Gribbin, author of Six Impossible Things , shortlisted for the Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize, presents a tour of seven fundamental scientific truths that underpin our very existence. The answers to all of these questions were sensational in their day, and some still are. Throughout history, science has been able to think the unthinkable - and Gribbin brilliantly shows the surprising secrets on which our understanding of life is based.
Livewired: The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain by David Eagleman
Hardback RRP £20
The greatest technology we have ever discovered on this planet is the three-pound organ carried around in the vault of the skull. This book is not simply about what the brain is, but what it does. The magic of the brain is not found in the parts it's made of, but in the way those parts unceasingly re-weave themselves in an electric, living fabric. Surf the leading edge of neuroscience atop the anecdotes and metaphors that have made Eagleman one of the best scientific translators of our generation. Covering decades of research to the present day, Livewired also presents new discoveries from Eagleman's own laboratory, from synaesthesia to dreaming to wearable neurotech devices that revolutionise how we think about the senses.
How Bad Are Bananas?: The carbon footprint of everything by Mike Berners-Lee
Paperback RRP £9.99
How Bad Are Bananas? was a groundbreaking book when first published in 2009, when most of us were hearing the phrase 'carbon footprint' for the first time. Mike Berners-Lee set out to inform us what was important (aviation, heating, swimming pools) and what made very little difference (bananas, naturally packaged, are good!). This new edition updates all the figures and introduces many areas that have become a regular part of modern life - Twitter, the Cloud, Bitcoin, electric bikes and cars, even space tourism. Berners-Lee runs a considered eye over each area and gives us the figures to manage and reduce our own carbon footprint, as well as to lobby our companies, businesses and government. His findings, presented in clear and even entertaining prose, are often surprising. And they are essential if we are to address climate change.
Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez
Paperback RRP £9.99
From government policy and medical research, to technology, workplaces, and the media. Invisible Women reveals how in a world built for and by men we are systematically ignoring half of the population, often with disastrous consequences. Caroline Criado Perez brings together for the first time an impressive range of case studies, stories and new research from across the world that illustrate the hidden ways in which women are forgotten, and the profound impact this has on us all.
The Unfair Advantage: How You Already Have What It Takes to Succeed by Ash Ali and Hasan Kubba
Paperback RRP £9.99 (Published 12th Dec)
This ground-breaking book exposes the myths behind startup success, illuminates the real forces at work and shows how they can be harnessed in your favour. The world isn't a level playing field. Meritocracy is a myth. And if you look at those at the top, you realise that behind every success story is an Unfair Advantage. But that doesn't just mean your parents' wealth or who you know. An Unfair Advantage is any element that gives you an edge over your competition. And we all have one.
Artificial Whiteness: Politics and Ideology in Artificial Intelligence by Yarden Katz
Paperback RRP £22 (Published 1st Dec)
Yarden Katz reveals the ideology embedded in the concept of artificial intelligence, contending that it both serves and mimics the logic of white supremacy. He demonstrates that understandings of AI, as a field and a technology, have shifted dramatically over time based on the needs of its funders and the professional class that formed around it. From its origins in the Cold War military-industrial complex through its present-day Silicon Valley proselytizers and eager policy analysts, AI has never been simply a technical project enabled by larger data and better computing. Drawing on intimate familiarity with the field and its practices, Katz instead asks us to see how AI reinforces models of knowledge that assume white male superiority and an imperialist worldview. Only by seeing the connection between artificial intelligence and whiteness can we prioritize alternatives to the conception of AI as an all-encompassing technological force.
Browse and buy through our bookshop store or order your copy today.
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