The best-written science book of the century

Read the opening pages of our pick below

COMING SOON:

—November is the busiest month for literary prizes, so we’ll be featuring the best-written books from their shortlists, and also from the century’s previous winners of these prizes. To avoid sending you too many posts, we’ll leave the recent releases until December.

—Eleanor Anstruther and Samuél Lopez-Barrantes will be joining me on the 16th of November for a live video discussion of what we mean by the term ‘literary’. All of you are welcome to join us, and you can find more information here.

IN TODAY’S ISSUE

—‘Why atoms take this trouble is a bit of a puzzle. Being you is not a gratifying experience at the atomic level’: the best-written winner this century of the Royal Society Science Books Prize. This is part of our project to identify the best-written books of the century.

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