On Being: A Scientist's Exploration of the Great Questions of Existence

  • Peter Atkins
Oxford University Press 152 pp. $19.95 (2011)

Why are we here? Chemist and author Peter Atkins answers this big question succinctly and elegantly in this slim volume. Following in the footsteps of rationalists such as Richard Dawkins, he argues that we should find as much awe in the workings of science as we might in any god. Although he acknowledges the role of spiritual beliefs in society and the comfort they can bring to some, he finds greater solace in the scientific underpinnings of origins and endings, birth and death.

Naked Genes: Reinventing the Human in the Molecular Age

Helga Nowotny and Giuseppe Testa. MIT Press 192 pp. $18.95 (2011)

Advances in the life sciences have revealed many previously hidden aspects of biology, from the genes and proteins within cells to the developmental stages of the fetus. European Research Council president Helga Nowotny and stem-cell scientist Giuseppe Testa argue that these building blocks are not valueless, but are 'naked' blank canvasses that take on multiple meanings in different social contexts, from court rooms to parliaments. They assess how these varied perspectives influence attitudes to biotechnology in topics such as assisted reproduction and personalized medicine.

Pox: An American History (Penguin History of American Life)

  • Michael Willrich
Penguin Press 400 pp. $27.95 (2011)

Attitudes to public-health interventions have not changed much in the past 100 years, explains historian Michael Willrich. He describes how measures at the turn of the last century to stem the spread of a smallpox epidemic in the United States — using quarantines, pesthouses and 'virus squads' — were met with suspicion and popular resistance despite their success. A well-organized anti-vaccination movement sprang up to champion personal choice over powerful government, resulting in the disputed political landscape around inoculation that is familiar today.

Beyond the Finite: The Sublime in Art and Science

Edited by:
  • Roald Hoffmann &
  • Iain Boyd Whyte
Oxford University Press 208 pp. $24.95 (2011)

How should we depict protein folding or negative mass? Scientists must create new imagery to describe such natural concepts every day, and in that sense they have a lot in common with artists who attempt to display the sublime. Nine scholars of science and art convey their perspectives in this volume. From the beauty of images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope to quantum romanticism, the contributors touch on natural aesthetics in physics, neuroscience, chemistry, painting and music.

Bird Watch: A Survey of Planet Earth's Changing Ecosystems

  • Martin Walters
University of Chicago Press 256 pp. $45 (2011)

Bird populations worldwide are threatened by climate change and environmental destruction. This illustrated survey, produced in cooperation with the global conservation partnership BirdLife International, documents all 1,227 endangered bird species on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Region by region, the book describes the birds' habitats and the environmental pressures on them, as well as charting conservation efforts and top birding sites around the globe.