杏吧原创

[book_info title=鈥漈he Order of Time鈥� author=鈥滳arlo Rovelli 鈥� publisher=鈥滱llen Lane鈥� title_link=鈥漢ttps://www.penguin.co.uk/books/301/301539/the-order-of-time/9780241292525.html鈥漖

CARLO ROVELLI is the man who can spin hard physics into pure gold. The Order of Time is his third book. Like the first (Seven Brief Lessons on Physics), it has been an instant bestseller. In this state-of-the-art survey of what physicists thought and now think about the nature of time, Rovelli is both unsettling (time does not exist) and philosophical (the study of time 鈥渄oes nothing but return us to ourselves鈥�).

BEST FOR: precocious kids; lovers of lit-science; time fanatics

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[book_info title=鈥漈he Beautiful Cure: Harnessing your body鈥檚 natural defences鈥� author=鈥滵aniel M. Davis 鈥� publisher=鈥滲odley Head鈥� title_link=鈥漢ttps://www.penguin.co.uk/books/110/1109946/the-beautiful-cure/9781784702212.html鈥漖

IT MAY not be a classic Christmas whodunnit, but The Beautiful Cure is a page-turner. Author Daniel Davis explains who did what in the immune system story (poor Ralph Steinman鈥檚 co-discovery of dendritic cells won him a Nobel, but he died before he found out). As an immunology professor, Davis has the right cred to claim that we now know enough to start curing diseases such as cancer.

BEST FOR: detective story nuts; medics; hypochondriacs

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[book_info title=鈥漈he Mind is Flat: The illlusion of mental depth and the improvised mind鈥� author=鈥漀ick Chater听鈥� publisher=鈥滱llen Lane鈥� title_link=鈥漢ttps://www.penguin.co.uk/books/285/285465/the-mind-is-flat/9780241208441.html鈥漖

THE feeling that we have an inner life, that our minds have, well, depth is pretty ubiquitous. Brace yourselves then: Nick Chater says this is just plain wrong. There is nothing under the hood, he writes in The Mind Is Flat : 鈥淥ur flow of momentary conscious experience is not the sparkling surface of a vast sea of thought 鈥� it is all there is.鈥� Find out why this isn鈥檛 the end of your world.

BEST FOR: Buddhists; fans of neuroscience or neurophysiology

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[book_info title=鈥滲eyond weird鈥� author=鈥漃hilip Ball 鈥� publisher=鈥滲odley Head鈥� title_link=鈥漢ttps://www.penguin.co.uk/books/111/1113233/beyond-weird/9781847924575.html鈥漖

QUANTUM mechanics is less a theory about particles and waves, uncertainty and fuzziness, than one about what can be known and how. In this, his 23rd book, human whirlwind Philip Ball tracks quantum mechanics from its roots as a rather desperate piece of hand-waving about objects too small to behave to a disturbing, fully worked-out theory about the world.

BEST FOR: quantum mechanics phobics; lovers of history of ideas

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[book_info title=鈥漈he Feather Thief: Beauty, obsession, and the natural history heist of the century鈥� author=鈥滽irk Wallace Johnson 鈥� publisher=鈥漋iking鈥� title_link=鈥漢ttps://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/534655/the-feather-thief-by-kirk-wallace-johnson/鈥漖

IN JUNE 2009, Edwin Rist, an American flautist studying at London鈥檚 Royal Academy of Music, smashed a window at an outpost of the Natural History Museum to steal the skins of 299 tropical birds, including some collected by Alfred Russel Wallace. This tale of greed, deception, sabotage and trade in rare feathers ranks among the most bizarre crimes ever.

BEST FOR: birdwatchers; true-crime fans; fly-fishing enthusiasts

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[book_info title=鈥滾ife on Earth (2nd edition)鈥� author=鈥滵avid Attenborough 鈥� publisher=鈥滺arper Collins鈥� title_link=鈥漢ttps://www.harpercollins.co.uk/9780008294281/life-on-earth/鈥漖

FIRST published in 1978, this natural history masterpiece was written by David Attenborough to accompany his iconic TV series. It has received a timely makeover, with new pictures and updated text, much of it by zoologist Matthew Cobb. Life On Earth offers a spectacular snapshot of a once-wild planet, where new species are still being discovered.

BEST FOR: all kids from 1978; all kids in 2018; Attenborough fans

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[book_info title=鈥漇he Has Her Mother鈥檚 Laugh: The powers, perversions, and potential of heredity鈥� author=鈥滳arl Zimmer 鈥� publisher=鈥漃an Macmilan鈥� title_link=鈥漢ttps://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/carl-zimmer/she-has-her-mother-s-laugh/9781509818532鈥砞

WHO knew that cells from the fetus can also pass to the mother, and even on to subsequent siblings? Carl Zimmer did. He explains all in a deeply researched book about the complex and rarely less than controversial field of heredity that will arm you with more than enough high-quality information to hold your own at dinner parties or pub quizzes.

BEST FOR: gene watchers; students of ethics; most of us

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[book_info title=鈥滺ello World: How to be human in the age of the machine鈥� author=鈥滺annah Fry 鈥� publisher=鈥滵oubleday鈥� title_link=鈥漢ttps://www.penguin.co.uk/books/111/1114076/hello-world/9780857525246.html鈥漖

MACHINES rule, making important decisions in transport, finance, security and healthcare, even deciding who goes to jail. This is the world we live in right now, a place of wonders ravaged by multiple data-driven disasters. Hannah Fry tours the algorithms surrounding us and wonders what happened to the human values supposedly encoded in this runaway maths.

BEST FOR: Luddites; technophiles; everyone in between

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[book_info title=鈥漇uperhuman: Life at the extremes of mental and physical ability鈥� author=鈥漅owan Hooper听鈥� publisher=鈥滾ittle, Brown鈥� title_link=鈥漢ttps://www.littlebrown.co.uk/books/detail.page?isbn=9781408709467鈥砞

NEW SCIENTIST鈥楽 Rowan Hooper sought out some of the world鈥檚 highest achievers in fields as diverse as novel writing, running and opera singing to get an unusually accurate idea of whether genius is born or made. No one likes the idea their genes control destiny. Then again, no one ever did badly by playing to their strengths. 鈥淎ccept the evidence,鈥� says Hooper, 鈥渁nd be empowered.鈥�

BEST FOR: high achievers; the rest of us to see where we went wrong

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[book_info title=鈥滶ye of the Shoal: A fishwatcher鈥檚 guide to life, the ocean and everything鈥� author=鈥滺elen Scales鈥� publisher=鈥滲loomsbury Sigma鈥� title_link=鈥漢ttps://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/eye-of-the-shoal-9781472936844/鈥漖

THE marvellously monikered Helen Scales is out to convince us that the most interesting life is in the sea. Her cast list includes giants that live for centuries and thumb-sized tiddlers that survive weeks. Some shout with colour, others hide in plain sight. Along with citing surprising examples of fish ecology and physiology, Scales asks such complex questions as whether fish feel pain.

BEST FOR: beachcombers; vegans looking for offbeat ammunition

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[book_info title=鈥漈he Strange Order of Things: Life, feeling, and the making of cultures鈥� author=鈥滱ntonio Damasio 鈥� publisher=鈥漃enguin Random House鈥� title_link=鈥漢ttps://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/231780/the-strange-order-of-things-by-antonio-damasio/9780307908759/鈥漖

THE toughest intellectual question is how do our brains not only produce images of the sights, sounds and smells around us, but also accompany them with private feelings and a sense of us 鈥渂eing there鈥�. Pioneering neuroscientist Antonio Damasio has spent years on the so-called 鈥渉ard problem鈥� of consciousness. Find out what he thinks in his brilliantly clear book.

BEST FOR: consciousness freaks; anyone who likes thinking hard

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[book_info title=鈥滿ars: From 4.5 billion years ago to the present 鈥� Owners鈥� workshop manual鈥� author=鈥滵avid M. Harland鈥� publisher=鈥滺aynes Publishing鈥� title_link=鈥漢ttps://haynes.com/en-gb/mars-manual鈥漖

AFTER the news of a massive lake of water beneath Mars鈥檚 south pole and now NASA鈥檚 InSight lander, the planet is definitely in the spotlight this year. Sealing the deal, Haynes Publishing has added Mars to its Earth and moon manuals. The guides are a must-have for all who lust after deep details of how, for example, the Viking lander鈥檚 biology lab actually worked.

BEST FOR: space geeks; Mars Society members; makers

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[book_info title=鈥漈en Argument for Deleting Your Social Media Account Right Now鈥� author=鈥滼aron Lanier听鈥� publisher=鈥滱llen Lane鈥� title_link=鈥漢ttps://www.penguin.co.uk/books/111/1116104/ten-arguments-for-deleting-your-social-media-accounts-right-now/9781847925398.html鈥漖

SOCIAL media鈥檚 fall from grace continues to sell, er, books. The great thing about Jaron Lanier鈥檚 offering is that he has a plan to outfox the companies selling your life back to you. Delete all your accounts, reconnect to others in person, seek out nuance and real context. This is strong self-help from a Silicon Valley insider and VR guru.

BEST FOR: everyone on the planet; Lanier鈥檚 cult following

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[book_info title=鈥漊nthinkable: An extraordinary journey through the world鈥檚 strange brains鈥� author=鈥滺elen Thomson 鈥� publisher=鈥滼ohn Murray鈥� title_link=鈥漢ttps://shop.newscientist.com/collections/books/products/unthinkable?variant=39648993312865鈥砞

THINKING you are a tiger, being perpetually lost in your own house, remembering every day of your life, or literally feeling someone else鈥檚 pain. We knew other people鈥檚 brains were strange, but how strange is the subject of Helen Thomson鈥檚 Unthinkable. She meets the real people whose brains create these odd experiences. Gripping stuff.

BEST FOR: fans of neuroscience; lovers of human oddness

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This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淭he gift of reading鈥�