Reductionism in Art and Brain Science: Bridging the Two Cultures

  • Eric R. Kandel
Columbia University Press (2016) 9780231179621 | ISBN: 978-0-2311-7962-1

The sea-slug studies of Nobel-prizewinning neuroscientist Eric Kandel — which reveal the link between memory and synaptic connection — are models of reductionist science. In this intriguing treatise, Kandel finds methodological similarities in abstract art. By reducing image to colour, form or line, artists such as Piet Mondrian stimulated the brain's “top-down processing” in the viewer, encouraging 'active seeing'. Kandel deconstructs this intricate dance between perceiver and perceived by way of recent neuroscience findings and deft analyses of seminal artworks.

Weapons of Math Destruction

  • Cathy O'Neil
Crown (2016) 9780553418811 | ISBN: 978-0-5534-1881-1

While working as a Wall Street analyst during the 2008 crash, data scientist Cathy O'Neil realized how maths can fuel social problems. Her propulsive study reveals many models that are currently “micromanaging” the US economy as opaque and riddled with bias. These algorithmic overlords can taint policing and court sentences with racial profiling, and exacerbate unemployment rates in poor communities. In an era when many people uncritically applaud the power of big data, O'Neil argues for the dark side of the deluge to be tackled through algorithm audits, transparency and legal reform.

Citizen Scientist: Searching for Heroes and Hope in an Age of Extinction

  • Mary Ellen Hannibal
The Experiment (2016) 9781615192434 | ISBN: 978-1-6151-9243-4

In this inside story on citizen science and biodiversity loss, Mary Ellen Hannibal meshes interviews with front-line scientists such as James Estes (Nature 533, 318–319; 2016) with her own stints monitoring California wildlife. Inspired by the likes of marine biologist Ed Ricketts (Nature 516, 326–328; 2014), she records starfish die-offs, meets the geeks who track deforestation, and plans a web-based supercommunity of citizen scientists to counter what many are calling the sixth great extinction. A cogent call to action.

A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived: The Stories in Our Genes

  • Adam Rutherford
Weidenfeld & Nicolson (2016) 9780297609377 | ISBN: 978-0-2976-0937-7

Fifteen years ago, the first sequence and analysis of the human genome was published (E. S. Lander et al. Nature 409, 860–921; 2001). A monumental surge in genetics followed. Science writer and broadcaster Adam Rutherford rides that tide and traces its effects, first focusing on how genetics has enriched and in some cases upset our understanding of human evolution, then examining the revelations of recent findings, such as deep flaws in the concept of race. Although digressive in the chapters on deep history, Rutherford unpeels the science with elegance.

Trillion Dollar Baby

  • Paul Cleary
Biteback (2016) 9781785901003 | ISBN: 978-1-7859-0100-3

Norway's government pension fund could hit US$1 trillion in just four years. In this crisp economic history stretching back more than four decades, journalist Paul Cleary charts how this middle-income Scandinavian country ensured that 90% of the cash flow from vast oil discoveries accrued to its government. But despite its record of pragmatic fair-mindedness, Norway's eagerness to excavate environmentally sensitive reaches of the Arctic shows how its forward planning fails when it comes to climate change.