Popular Science

Shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book PrizeBias affects us all, every day of our lives. It shapes how we see each other, and how we are seen in turn....

Moons come, quite literally, in all shapes and sizes. Our Moon is just one of more than 200 moons in the Solar System that we've identified so far. Scientists have...

People have been inspired by the colourful shifting lights of the Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis for thousands of years, with modern-day adventurers travelling to 'aurora hotspots' in the hope...

From a planet with a hexagonal storm to the home of the Solar System's largest volcano, our neighbouring bodies are unique and fascinating places. Where else would you find somewhere...

Ever wondered how it all began? How it will all end? And while we're waiting, what's been going on in the meantime? From the Big Bang to the Big Crunch,...

Space is far bigger than humanity can conceive. Although our ancestors visually examined the skies to make sense of the Universe, space exploration in its truest sense is just a...

An enthralling exploration of the star on our doorstep, charting the journey from ancient superstition to the deep scientific mysteries yet to be resolved. The Sun examines how we've come...

Black holes. What even are they? In brief, a black hole is a region of spacetime so curved by gravity that even light cannot escape it. They're peculiar objects -...

To some, science is simply a means to an end; to others it is an almost spiritual meditation on theoriesand formulae.The Curious World of Science embraces both views and much...

What We See in the Stars Kelsey Oseid is a richly illustrated guide to the myths, histories, and science of the celestial bodies of our solar system, with stories and...

'Powerful... a clarion call for change', New Statesman'Poetic and philosophical at times, intimate and expansive at others', Daily TelegraphHow much light is too much light? The Darkness Manifesto urges us...

Quadratic equations, Pythagoras' theorem, imaginary numbers, and pi - you may remember studying these at school, but did anyone ever explain why? Never fear - bestselling science writer, and your...

A bold, provocative exploration of the tension between our evolutionary history and our modern woes - and what we can do about itWe are living through the most prosperous age...

'If you feel you are in a black hole, don't give up. There's a way out'What is inside a black hole?Is time travel possible?Throughout his extraordinary career, Stephen Hawking expanded...

'Brilliant. You won't find a clearer, more engaging guide to what we know (or would like to know) about the universe and how it is put together' Bill BrysonCelebrated physicist...

BBC R4 Book of the Week 'Brilliant' Guardian 'Fascinating and often delightful' The Times What if intelligent life on Earth evolved not once, but twice? The octopus is the closest...

'Hugely readable and entertaining' JIM AL-KHALILI 'An accessible and crystal-clear portrait of this discipline's breadth, largely told through its history' PHIL BALL, PHYSICS WORLD Einstein's Fridge tells the story of...

*A New York Times bestseller*'Using her expertise as a neuroscientist and her gifts as a storyteller, Lisa Genova explains the nuances of human memory' - Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of...

Bringing his cosmic perspective to civilization on Earth, Neil deGrasse Tyson, bestselling author of Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, shines new light on the crucial fault lines of our...

The tenth anniversary edition of the dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest: the search for the solution of how to calculate longitude and the unlikely triumph of an...

Time travel is a familiar theme of science fiction, but is it really possible?Surprisingly, time travel is not forbidden by the laws of physics - and John Gribbin argues that...

'A beautifully written meditation on mathematics: whimsical, thought-provoking and deep' ALEX BELLOS, author of Alex's Adventures in NumberlandOur universe has multiple origin stories, from religious creation myths to the Big...

Uncover the language of our universe - numbers - in this wide-ranging whistle-stop tour of the history and majesty of mathematics.Our world simply wouldn't function if we didn't have numbers....

Uncover the mind-blowing complexities of the brain and how it affects our personalities, behaviours and more.Written by Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at UCL, Sophie Scott, and composed of ten mind-blowing...

In Growing Up Human, Brenna Hassett explores how our evolutionary history has shaped a phenomenon every reader will have experienced - childhood.Tracking deep into our evolutionary history, anthropological science has...

The astonishing story of twentieth-century physics, told through the twelve experiments that changed our world'A splendid idea, vividly carried out: I enjoyed this book enormously' PHILIP PULLMAN'The perfect bedside book...

'Charming and addictively accessible' STEVEN PINKER'Original, authoritative and beautiful' BRIAN COX'The most wonderful adventure' ROBIN INCEA brilliantly illustrated journey through the wonders and mysteries of the human brain - from...

Richard Dawkins on how nature and humans have learned to overcome the pull of gravity and take to the skies. 'A masterly investigation of all aspects of flight, human and...

The astonishing story of twentieth-century physics, told through the twelve experiments that changed our world'A splendid idea, vividly carried out: I enjoyed this book enormously' PHILIP PULLMAN'The perfect bedside book...

Comedian Robin Ince quickly abandoned science at school, bored by a fog of dull lessons and intimidated by the barrage of equations. But, twenty years later, he fell in love...

A BOOK OF THE YEARGUARDIAN, THE ECONOMIST, NEW STATESMAN, FINANCIAL TIMES, BLOOMBERGAnil Seth's radical new theory of consciousness challenges our understanding of perception and reality, doing for brain science what...

The deep sea is the last, vast wilderness on the planet. For centuries, myth-makers and storytellers have concocted imaginary monsters of the deep, and now scientists are looking there to...

As a neurosurgeon, I lived in a world filled with fear and suffering, death and cancer. But rarely, if ever, did I think about what it would be like if...

'David Christian's approach to understanding history can help all of us learn to prepare for the future' - Bill GatesA user's guide to the future: from the algorithms in DNA...

The instant Sunday Times bestseller -- a beautiful story of rebellion and science'Popular science has rarely been so good' Prospect'A triumph. . . We are left in a world that...

Have you ever sat and watched a plant? The very idea itself might seem strange. We like to watch things that move, that do something. But in fact, plants are...

From the discovery of entirely new kinds of galaxies to a window into cosmic 'prehistory', Bothwell shows us the Universe as we've never seen it before - literally.Since the dawn...

'Stewart is Britain's most brilliant and prolific populariser of maths' Alex Bellos'The instructive equivalent of a Michelin-starred tasting menu' Tim RadfordMany people think mathematics is useless. They're wrong. In the...

'Du Sautoy's discussion of computer creativity is fascinating' Observer CAN MACHINES BE CREATIVE? In The Creativity Code, Marcus du Sautoy examines the nature of creativity, asking how much of our...

How do you remember more and forget less? How can you earn more and become more creative just by moving house? And how do you pack a car boot most...

The ultimate non-technical guide to the fast-developing world of quantum computing Computer technology has improved exponentially over the last 50 years. But the headroom for bigger and better electronic solutions...

No other life form on the planet has generated a brain like ours. How did a bundle of cells weighing just 1.2 kg give rise to conscious, self-aware beings capable...

You've got questions: about space, time, gravity, and the odds of meeting your older self inside a wormhole. All the answers you need are right here.As a species, we may...

The forgotten garden that inspired Charles Darwin becomes the modern-day setting for an exploration of memory, family, and the legacy of genius.Darwin's childhood garden at The Mount in Shrewsbury was...

Stephen Hawking was diagnosed with motor neurone disease at the age of 21 and was expected to live for only another two years. He went on to write books and...

'Nobody bewitched by these mysteries can afford to ignore the solution proposed by Mark Solms' - Oliver Burkeman, Guardian'A remarkable book. It changes everything' - Brian EnoHow does the mind...