Reviews

Reviews of popular science books, text books, events, exhibitions, games, film and theatre from across the chemical sciences. Clickng any of the articles below will take you to our main website.

Burn: The Misunderstood Science of Metabolism
2021-06-25T08:30:00+01:00By Nick Norman
Delving into the thermodynamics of the human body
The Story of CO₂: Big Ideas for a Small Molecule
2021-06-18T08:30:00+01:00By Louis Ammon
If you only read one book about climate change this year, make it this one
The Light Ages: A Medieval Journey of Discovery
2021-06-04T08:27:00+01:00By Frances Addison
A delightful peek at our roots as scientists
The Flavor Equation: The Science of Great Cooking Explained + More Than 100 Essential Recipes
2021-05-28T08:27:00+01:00By Yuandi Li
Exciting recipes and beautiful photographs, but at the expense for murky science
Strange Bedfellows: Adventures in the Science, History, and Surprising Secrets of STDs
2021-05-21T08:25:00+01:00By Enna Guadalupe
Not your average encyclopaedia of infectious diseases
Handmade: A Scientist’s Search for Meaning through Making
2021-05-13T13:30:00+01:00By Jennifer Newton
A hands-on approach to materials science
On Task: How Our Brain Gets Things Done
2021-04-30T09:35:00+01:00By Leslie Hamachi
From why brains are like search engine algorithms to tips on boosting your memory
The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred
2021-04-22T13:30:00+01:00By Monserrat Garduño-Castro
A timely, provocative and necessary book
Nose Dive: A Field Guide to the World’s Smells
2021-04-16T09:35:00+01:00By Daniel Sava
A must-read for chemists and anyone passionate about nature, food, drinks and cooking
Sapiens – A Graphic History: The Birth of Humankind
2021-04-09T09:35:00+01:00By Kathryn Gempf
Reimagining Yuval Noah Harari’s bestseller as an approachable graphic novel
TV series: Beyond the Elements
2021-04-01T14:31:00+01:00By Rebecca Trager
Whether you’re a science newbie or seasoned chemist – if you’re alive, this series will likely hold your attention
The Doctor Who Fooled the World: Andrew Wakefield’s War on Vaccines
2021-03-12T09:30:00+00:00By Jennifer Shelley
The story of the man who created the myth that a vaccine causes autism
Black, Brown, Bruised: How Racialised Stem Education Stifles Innovation
2021-02-26T09:30:00+00:00By Nikki Man
These stories and case studies of both conscious and unconscious bias are a must-read for every academic
Doomsday Book: The Science Behind Humanity’s Greatest Threats
2021-02-26T09:30:00+00:00By Frances Addison
A great pick for anyone looking for intriguing solutions to global challenges present and future – as long as you’re okay with a bit of doom and gloom
Ice: Tales from a Disappearing World
2021-02-19T09:30:00+00:00By Laura Fisher
What is it like to do research in a remote part of Greenland
Robots in Space: The Secret Lives of Our Planetary Explorers
2021-02-19T09:30:00+00:00By Rebecca Brodie
The fantastic space adventures of Perseverance and its cousins
The Poison Trials: Wonder Drugs, Experiment, and the Battle for Authority in Renaissance Science
2021-02-11T11:15:00+00:00By Vijay Shankar Balakrishnan
An extremely well-researched monograph containing stories that bear an eerie resemblance to today’s politicised clinical trials
Black Hole Survival Guide
2021-02-05T09:30:00+00:00By Emma Jones
Like a brain-twisting introductory physics lecture, but in the best way
Never Mind the B#ll*cks, Here’s the Science: A Scientist’s Guide to the Biggest Challenges Facing our Species Today
2021-02-04T14:30:00+00:00By Don Carpenetti
Your punk rock guide to science
Film: Forgotten Genius
2021-02-03T15:32:00+00:00By Rebecca Trager
The story of a Black chemist’s incredible scientific accomplishments in the face of almost insurmountable obstacles in early 20th century US
How Bad Are Bananas? The Carbon Footprint of Everything
2021-01-29T09:30:00+00:00By Aisha Bismillah
What’s the climate impact of a Google search, a return trip from London to Hong Kong or having a child?
Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds and Shape Our Futures
2021-01-22T09:30:00+00:00By Simone Eizagirre
Like a walk in the forest accompanied by an expert biologist
Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood
2021-01-13T10:10:00+00:00By Neil Withers
20 years after it was first published, Oliver Sacks’ memoir remains a popular chemistry classic – and for good reason
The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis
2021-01-08T09:30:00+00:00By Nicola Farrer
An invitation to join a movement
The Quantum Matrix: Henry Bar’s Perilous Struggle for Quantum Coherence
2020-12-30T09:30:00+00:00By Danielle Arcon
Quantum mechanics in a creative comic form
Unfit for Purpose: When Human Evolution Collides with the Modern World
2020-12-23T09:30:00+00:00By Emma Jones
A friendly sort of commiseration that looks at all the ways our primitive bodies grapple with living a modern lifestyle
What makes a good children’s science book?
2020-12-17T09:30:00+00:00By Katrina Krämer
Three authors on what it takes to write for young readers
Billion Dollar Burger: Inside Big Tech’s Race for the Future of Food
2020-12-04T09:30:00+00:00By Gege Li
A perceptive account of what might be the the food industry’s next big thing: lab-grown meat
Sticking Together: The Science of Adhesion
2020-11-27T09:30:00+00:00By Brian Clegg
This book will answer everything you ever wanted to know about how things stick to other things – from geckos to PVA adhesive
Toxic: A History of Nerve Agents, From Nazi Germany to Putin’s Russia
2020-11-20T09:30:00+00:00By Alan Dronsfield
A comprehensive and timely book covering events from 1931 to 2018