Two scientists go where many fear to tread in the fight against far-right disinformation on climate and vaccines
A seminal 1940s study remains hauntingly relevant today
How extinction is not a natural inevitability but a political choice — and why ‘species revivalism’ might not be the answer
As net zero goals revive the push for atomic power, could it light the way or lead to disaster? Three timely books explore the possibilities
From Mozart and Dostoyevsky to Jackson Pollock — two books reveal the fundamental and sometimes surprising intertwining of mathematics and creativity
Pilita Clark, Clive Cookson and John Thornhill select their best mid-year reads
Neuroscientist Leor Zmigrod takes a compelling look at the biological and environmental factors that foster dogma and intolerance
Neurologist Masud Husain explores the ways that injury and disease transformed the lives of seven patients
Mathematician Adam Kucharski on the trust policymakers place in logic and why algorithms are not always the answer
How the olfactory sense enriches our lives in an age dominated by sight and sound
Jonathan Watts nimbly dissects the brilliance and flaws of the father of Gaia theory
Pilita Clark, Clive Cookson and John Thornhill select their must-read titles
Give us your recommendations and pick up tips for your own reading list
Black holes, space-time . . . Roger Penrose’s work won him a Nobel — but tore his family apart, as Patchen Barss reveals in a fascinating biography
Treating today’s mental and physical conditions may be a challenge, but their prevalence is actually a good sign
Lessons from cuckoos, caterpillars and tortoises: the influential biologist’s new book ‘reads’ genes as palimpsests of the past
An international study of how human history has reshaped the planet, and vice versa
Amorina Kingdon on the secrets of underwater acoustics and the damaging effects of noise pollution on marine wildlife
The rivalry between Buffon and Linnaeus has lessons about disrupters and exploitation
Medical historian Beth Linker provides a timely account of 20th-century America’s obsession with good posture
Clive Cookson selects his best mid-year reads
Shannon Vallor argues that the more power we cede to ‘giant mirrors of code’, the less we use our own practical wisdom
Lisa Kaltenegger is an enthusiastic guide to the search for life beyond our planet — and the new technologies that could help it succeed
In ‘The Language Puzzle’, archaeologist Steven Mithen explores how linguistic and evolutionary development go hand in hand, from our grunt-filled past to our garrulous present
In ‘Why We Remember’, neuroscientist Charan Ranganath takes us on a fascinating exploration of how we process today’s world based on our recall of the past
