A grand tour of the 'big five' wipe-outs in history, with names such as 'the Carnian Pluvial Event' and 'the Great Dying'. These are tough days at the office of nomenclature.
Despite its title, this is not a self-help book but rather a beautiful exploration of a condition that is at the heart of human life - solitude. The book is a memoir of time spent in social ... read more
SB-C argues that the secrets of humanity's cognitive development - from the invention of agriculture to musical instruments - can be found in the genes for autism.
The author is a medical doctor and a poet: this book is both a meditation on art and life and a collection of snippets about the history of medicine. Written over twenty years, it moves effo... read more
The wires are owned by individuals, corporations and states: an invention once hailed as a democratising force has concentrated power in places it already existed.
The discovery of the elements presented chronologically, with images drawn from a range of sources including alchemical documents, colour charts, advertisements, Theodore Gray's illustration... read more
A literary and psychoanalytical first cousin to the Bombay Laughing Club: a book about laughter and the unconscious, with philosophy, poetry, memoir and the tragi-comedy of clowns thrown in ... read more
Huygens developed the theory of light travelling as a wave, invented the mechanism for the pendulum clock, and discovered the rings of Saturn - via a telescope that he had also invented. His... read more