Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All

  • Paul A. Offit
Basic Books 288 pp. £18.99 (2011)

Following on from his widely praised book Autism's False Prophets (Columbia Univ. Press, 2008), vaccine researcher Paul Offit vigorously tackles claims that childhood inoculations cause autism, diabetes and cancer. He dismantles the reasoning of the anti-vaccine lobby and warns of the risks of the re-emergence of deadly childhood diseases owing to declining vaccination rates. With a greater focus on the underlying science, his book complements Seth Mnookin's recent work The Panic Virus (Simon & Schuster, 2011; reviewed in Nature 469, 468–469; 2011).

Antibiotic Resistance: Understanding and Responding to an Emerging Crisis

Karl S. Drlica & David S. Perlin. FT Press 288 pp. $49.99 (2011)

The evolving resistance of bacteria to available antibiotics is of growing concern for public health and medicine. In their thorough primer, microbiologists Karl Drlica and David Perlin explain how such resistance arises and the array of difficulties it causes in the treatment of infectious diseases. They describe how drug resistance can be exacerbated by human activities such as the misuse of antibiotics, and set out strategies for minimizing resistance and extending the clinical life of these drugs.

Quirk: Brain Science Makes Sense of Your Peculiar Personality

  • Hannah Holmes
Random House 288 pp. $26 (2011)

Why are people so different? Science writer Hannah Holmes explains the brain science and human psychology behind our myriad personalities. She describes how we have evolved a range of character traits, such as extraversion, neuroticism or agreeableness, which allow us to navigate our social world. She details genetic clues behind mental disorders such as depression, schizophrenia and anxiety. And she explains how personality dictates other behaviours — from the political party you support to the type of car you drive.

The Quantum Story: A History in 40 Moments

  • Jim Baggott
Oxford University Press 320 pp. $29.95 (2011)

The story of twentieth-century physics is essentially a shift from our belief in certainty to our acceptance of uncertainty. The reason is the development of quantum theory, a set of counter-intuitive ideas about the atomic world that are hugely successful but still make physicists feel uncomfortable. Science writer Jim Baggott describes 40 major episodes in the growth of quantum ideas, from physicist Max Planck's musings on the energetics of black-body radiation to the latest aspects of particle physics being unearthed at CERN, Europe's high-energy physics lab near Geneva, Switzerland.

Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier

  • Edward Glaeser
The Penguin Press 352 pp. $29.95 (2011)

Rather than being ridden with crime, filth and poverty, cities are healthy, green and rich, argues economist Edward Glaeser. Travelling to metropolitan areas around the globe, he reports that urbanites from New York to Kolkata have access to better health care and education and use less energy than those who live in the suburbs or in rural communities. We should feel more positively toward our cities, he feels, as they are great places to live and thrive.