The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World

  • David Deutsch
Allen Lane 496 pp. £25 (2011)

Scientific explanations have an infinite scope and are ever-adaptable, argues quantum computation expert David Deutsch in his latest book, which is sure to provoke many philosophers of science. Since the Enlightenment of the eighteenth century, the scientific method has allowed us to continually describe, assess and reconfigure ideas about the Universe, in a virtuous cycle that Deutsch sees as boundless. Everything is within the reach of reason, he claims, from free will to creativity and the laws of nature. It is our duty to seek the best explanations, he says.

The Sorcerers and Their Apprentices: How the Digital Magicians of the MIT Media Lab Are Creating the Innovative Technologies That Will Transform Our Lives

  • Frank Moss
Crown 272 pp. $27.50 (2011)

Frank Moss, a former director of the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, reflects on five years at the helm of this innovative institution. Through tales of the people who worked on such imaginative projects as the development of child-safe air bags and Lego robots, he highlights the Media Lab's ethos of creative freedom, serendipitous discovery and porous disciplinary boundaries.

Ordinary Geniuses: Max Delbrück, George Gamow, and the Origins of Genomics and Big Bang Cosmology

  • Gino Segrè
Viking 352 pp. $27.95 (2011)

Genetics and cosmology owe their origins to two physicists, Max Delbrück and George Gamow, respectively. In this insightful double biography, theoretical physicist Gino Segrè portrays them as exemplary yet ordinary scientists who overcame personal struggles to work on big questions. He describes how Delbrück's flight from Nazi Germany turned him towards biology; and how Gamow's escape from Stalinist Russia to the United States led to him working on the hydrogen bomb and the formation of elements in the Big Bang.

Future Science: Essays from the Cutting Edge

Edited by:
  • Max Brockman
Vintage 272 pp. $15.95 (2011)

In a sequel to What's Next? (Vintage, 2009), editor Max Brockman's latest collection of essays showcases the cutting-edge research of 19 leading young scientists — only a few of whom have written for a general audience before. Contributions include discussions of the biology of antiviral immunity by virologist William McEwan; the physical impact of social rejection by neuroscientist Naomi Eisenberger; the physics of infinity, discussed by physicist Anthony Aguirre; and the role of huge data sets in society by computer scientist Jon Kleinberg.

The Inquisition of Climate Science

  • James Lawrence Powell
Columbia University Press 272 pp. $27.95 (2011)

Geologist James Powell exposes the tactics of climate-change deniers in his latest book. Arguing that the current attempt to undermine trust in climate research is the most egregious attack on science in history, he examines the movement and its protagonists. He points out the rhetorical tricks, lack of credentials and industry backing of many deniers, their unwillingness to present alternative theories, and historical precedents of resistance to scientific evidence.