It’s a Gas by Mark Miodownik
Review by Annabel Ever since his first two books, Stuff Matters (2012) and Liquid (2018), I’ve been waiting for Miodownik to complete his states of matter trilogy with a book…
The Future of Energy by Richard Black
Review by Annabel Back in March, Shiny took part in the blogtour for Melville House’s initial books in its ‘Futures’ series. The first books in the series of small format…
Not Just for the Boys: Why We Need More Women in Science by Athene Donald
Review by Liz Dexter This book is written for anyone who is wondering why, in spite of decades of effort to promote change, the numbers of women pursuing careers in…
Darkness Manifesto: How light pollution threatens the ancient rhythms of life, by Johan Eklöf
Translated by Elizabeth DeNoma Review by Peter Reason I leave my front door late one evening and walk along the driveway we share with our neighbours towards the narrow unlit…
Beyond Measure: The Hidden History of Measurement by James Vincent
Review by Liz Dexter James Vincent, a journalist for The Verge magazine, among other writing, got interested in metrology when he was sent to cover the changeover in Paris from…
The Man from the Future: The Visionary Life of John von Neumann by Ananyo Bhattacharya
Review by Terence Jagger This is a lively and compelling biography of one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century, who has somehow escaped the notice of the general…
The Red Planet: A Natural History of Mars, by Simon Morden
Review by Annabel Who hasn’t been enthralled by the idea of there being ‘Life on Mars’ even if said life ends up as the first humans to visit the red…
The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) by Katie Mack
Reviewed by Terence Jagger Katie Mack is an American astrophysicist, but her writing is very informal and almost journalistic or chatty – which is great for a subject like this,…
Numbers Don’t Lie: 71 Things You Need to Know About the World, by Vaclac Smil
Reviewed by Annabel If you, or a potential recipient of this book for Christmas, are a fan of Tim Harford on BBC Radio 4’s More Or Less – a programme…
It’s the End of the World by Adam Roberts
Reviewed by Annabel I learned a new word this year. ‘Eschatology’ is defined as ‘the part of theology concerned with death, judgement, and the final destiny of the soul and…
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Universe: And Our place within it by Andrew Newsam
Reviewed by Annabel I’ve always loved books about space and I still have my beloved Hamlyn guides on Astronomy and Exploring the Planets by Iain Nicholson from 1970 that got…
Home Computers: 100 Icons that Defined a Digital Generation by Alex Wiltshire and John Short
Reviewed by Liz Dexter Being born in the early 70s, I reached the age where we develop interests just as the first cheaper home computers were coming in – the…
Ecology & Environment, Natural World
Mind and Body, Medicine, Psychology
Non Fiction
Science & Technology
Wayfinding by Michael Bond
Review by Terence Jagger I found this book absolutely fascinating. I have always been fairly confident in my abilities as a navigator (though with occasional disasters) but I have always…
Timefulness: How Thinking Like a Geologist Can Help Save the World by Marcia Bjornerud
Review by Peter Reason I have on my desk three pieces of rock, collected during my ecological pilgrimage on in the west coast of Scotland, that I wrote about in…
The Dinosaurs Rediscovered: How a Scientific Revolution is Rewriting History by Michael J Benton
Reviewed by Liz Dexter Michael J. Benton is Professor of Vertebrate Palaeontology and head of the Palaeontology Research Group at the University of Bristol, so you can be sure he…
Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez
Review by Liz Dexter I felt a little overwhelmed facing up to reviewing this book, as there have been many reviews published since it came out in March this year….
Liquid by Mark Miodownik
Reviewed by Annabel In his 2013 book Stuff Matters which I reviewed for Shiny here, materials science professor Miodownik took us on a tour around some of the most important…
Dawn of the New Everything: A Journey Through Virtual Reality by Jaron Lanier
Review by Liz Dexter Jaron Lanier has been called the “Father of Virtual Reality” and he’s been involved with many of the main companies in this area of technology for…
Irresistible: Why we Can’t Stop Checking, Scrolling, Clicking and Watching by Adam Alter
Reviewed by Liz Dexter Before: Phone on bedside table, checked for the time whenever I woke up and checked for emails / Facebook updates if I woke sufficiently; a “quick”…
The Ladybird Expert Books, Vols 1-3, by various authors
Review by Annabel Ladybird, now owned by Penguin Random House, have been going from strength to strength recently with their series of satires on modern life for adults, tackling subjects…
Ada’s Algorithm by James Essinger
Review by Peter Hobson One of the most accomplished women of the nineteenth century and little known until recently outside mathematical and computer science circles, Ada Lovelace is the subject…
Stranger than we can Imagine by John Higgs
Review by Peter Hobson Subtitled “Making Sense of the Twentieth Century”, Higgs’ book takes fifteen of what he (and I think many people) consider to be seminal concepts, paradigm shifts…
Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs by Lisa Randall
Reviewed by Peter Hobson This new book by world famous theoretical physicist Lisa Randall, subtitled “The astounding interconnectedness of the Universe”, gives the reader an excellent insight into how physicists…
The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage by Sydney Padua
Reviewed by Peter Hobson Punchycards! [1] If that word brings a smile of recognition to your lips then almost certainly you will not need to read my review any further…
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