| Chaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick (Penguin)
"It's incredible. It tells the story of this 1970s scientific revolution in chaos theory. It's cool because the people who work on fluid dynamics are really eclectic weirdos who come from all different parts of science, and a lot of times it tanks their career because it's kind of like a weird silo within the scientific world." – Joseph Howlett, staff writer
Orbital by Samantha Harvey (Grove Atlantic)
"It takes place on the International Space Station and follows the internal monologues and reflections of six astronauts who are living up there. And what I like about it is that it alternates between the mundanity of their existence living in a can, trying to keep themselves exercised and fed and doing their scientific experiments, and the profundity of their reflections on being in space, looking back at Earth and having all these realizations about our place in the universe." – Hannah Waters, senior biology editor
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind (Vintage)
"It's a novel that places scent in the foreground. It follows this guy in 18th-century France who has no odor as a person but has an incredible sense of smell. He becomes obsessed with this idea of finding the perfect scent and goes down a violent path. Because of the way it portrays scent, it has stuck in my head for all these years." – Yasemin Saplakoglu, staff writer
Why Quark Rhymes With Pork by N. David Mermin (Cambridge University Press)
"It's this collection of really delightful columns he wrote for Physics Today in the '90s and 2000s. In one, he coins the phrase 'Shut up and calculate,' which is now a famous way of describing a philosophy of quantum mechanics. And it's just way funnier than any physics book has a right to be." – Charlie Wood, staff writer
Science Comics (series) by various authors (Macmillan)
"For anyone looking for something to read or share with a young science fan, I recommend this series, created through collaborations between scientists and artists. My top 10 might be the comics on trees, spiders, the solar system, the digestive system, the brain, coral reefs, cats, bats, dogs and plagues." – Kathryn Jepsen, physics editor
John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs by Ian Leslie (Macmillan)
"This song-by-song portrait of John Lennon and Paul McCartney's partnership may not sound like your typical Quanta recommendation. But science and math are full of collaborations in which people push one another – and their ideas – to new heights, and this book brilliantly uncovers and explores the complex chemistry behind one of history's most successful creative pairings." – Simon Frantz, managing editor
Ulysses by James Joyce (Vintage)
"At risk of sounding really pretentious, I'll say that one of the highlights of my year was rereading this giant modernist novel. It has an intimidating reputation, but it's also much funnier than you might expect. Some Quanta colleagues joined me for a book club, and we had a lot of delightful conversations!" – Ben Brubaker, staff writer
On the Calculation of Volume series by Solvej Balle (New Directions)
"It's a clever twist on Groundhog Day that's also a beautiful, haunting meditation on loneliness and relationships. I don't want to give too much away. It's just a beautiful book, and I highly recommend it." – Jordana Cepelewicz, math editor
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann (Vintage)
"A deeply researched account of how a group of British sailors survived a shipwreck off the coast of Patagonia in the 1740s. Grann peppers the story with scientific and historical observations that convey just what these poor souls were up against: the nightmare of scurvy, the delicacy of positioning naval cannons, and planetary physics that turns the tip of South America into the most dangerous sailing on Earth." – Matt Carlstrom, senior editor, audience engagement
The Story of a Heart: Two Families, One Heart, and the Medical Miracle that Saved a Child's Life by Dr. Rachel Clarke (Scribner)
"This book taught me a great deal about the science, history and ethics of organ transplantation. It also made me cry with its tragic yet hopeful story of two children and the single heart that connects them." – Paulina Rowinska, science writing fellow
What We Can Know by Ian McEwan (Knopf)
"Historians of the 22nd century obsess over an incident from the present – a time of profligacy before the world becomes flooded and impoverished. This epic new novel is brimming with themes, one of which is how lucky (and stupid) we are, we who live now." – Natalie Wolchover, special projects editor
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Orbit)
"An eon-spanning epic that explores humanity's strengths and flaws across space and time, and an evolutionary tale that puts our complicated history into perspective. Peak sci-fi!" – Michael Kanyongolo, news assistant
A Primate's Memoir: A Neuroscientist's Unconventional Life Among the Baboons by Robert M. Sapolsky (Scribner)
"A rollicking adventure in the Serengeti, where we learn about primatology, evolutionary biology and the local culture. Think Jane Goodall meets David Sedaris." – Emily Buder, senior video producer
The Universe in Verse: 15 Portals to Wonder Through Science and Poetry by Maria Popova (Storey)
"It's a beautiful fusion of science and poetry. Each 'portal' pairs a scientific idea with a poem that makes the concept feel personal and sparks awe. Popova has this gift for making you feel a concept as much as you understand it, and the illustrations deepen the sense of wonder. The entire book feels like an invitation to view the universe with renewed curiosity." – Arleen Santana, web producer
National Geographic Infographics edited by Julius Wiedemann (Taschen)
"Growing up, I devoured every new issue of National Geographic, especially the two-page infographics that sparked my curiosity and made me feel like I was exploring the world. Finding this book (a collection of the magazine's best infographics) felt like rediscovering that childlike wonder through the artists who made science so compelling." – Mark Belan, graphics editor
The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa (Vintage)
"It tricked me: At first it felt like just a fairy tale. But the spare allegorical style quickly sinks into a disturbingly intimate register. A beautiful, subtle, haunting novel ... I think about it often!" – Simone Barr, audience producer
The Gods of New York: Egotists, Idealists, Opportunists, and the Birth of the Modern City: 1986–1990 by Jonathan Mahler (Random House)
"As a longtime resident, I'm a sucker for books on New York City history, from The Power Broker to Low Life. This book is a deep, urgent take on the period that most shaped the city I arrived in after college. They're not the most pleasant company, but the figures at the center of the story — Koch, Sharpton, Giuliani, AIDS activist Larry Kramer, a certain real estate developer — were outsize, combative and, despite themselves, totally fascinating." – Samir Patel, editor in chief |
