Neanderthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes

  • Svante Pääbo
(Basic, 2015)

Pioneer of ancient-DNA studies Svante Pääbo was inspired in his youth by ancient Egyptian history. Feeling that this field moved too slowly, he decided to study medicine instead, and went on to sequence the first full Neanderthal genome in 2010. Here he details the technicalities of his life's work and the incremental discoveries, such as genetic intimations that modern humans and Neanderthals had mixed, which generated our theories of human evolution. (See Henry Gee's review: Nature 506, 30–31; 2014.)

The Homing Instinct: Meaning and Mystery in Animal Migration

  • Bernd Heinrich
(Mariner, 2015)

Erudite naturalist Bernd Heinrich attributes the instinct for migration to an affinity for 'home', from beavers' skilful dam-building to the joyful dance of Alaskan cranes returned to their nesting pond. (See Joel Greenberg's review: Nature 508, 317; 2014.)

The Accidental Species: Misunderstandings of Human Evolution

  • Henry Gee
(Univ. Chicago University Press, 2015)

Nature's palaeontology editor, Henry Gee, condemns the idea that our species is the pinnacle of evolution, arguing that traits prized as uniquely human, such as creativity, are not. (See Tim Radford's review: Nature 503, 34–35; 2013.)

This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs the Climate

  • Naomi Klein
(Allen Lane, 2015)

Unafraid to name and shame fossil-fuel junkies hooked on a billion-dollar industry, Naomi Klein investigates capitalism and climate change. She sees the global crisis as a potential spur to positive action, as happened with the women's rights movement. (See Nico Stehr's review: Nature 513, 312; 2014.)

The Boom: How Fracking Ignited the American Energy Revolution and Changed the World

  • Russell Gold
(Simon and Schuster, 2015)

Journalist Russell Gold traces the rise of fracking, a tale of innovation and investment — such as ex-oilman Aubrey McClendon's 260,000 land acquisitions in Texas's Barnett Shale. (See Chris Nelder's review: Nature 508, 185; 2014.)

The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Our World After an Apocalypse

  • Lewis Dartnell
(Vintage, 2015)

In a post-apocalyptic world, could we rebuild civilization? Lewis Dartnell condenses millennia of achievement into a handbook on mastering Earth's resources to produce food, energy and medicines using our “greatest invention”: science.

Islands Beyond the Horizon: The Life of Twenty of the World's Most Remote Places

  • Roger Lovegrove
(Oxford Univ. Press, 2015)

In his profile of inaccessible islands, Roger Lovegrove's admiration for wildlife shines. But from Russia's ice-locked Wrangel Island, where polar bears banquet on walruses, to the Pacific Tuamotus, few such idylls remain pristine.

Water 4.0

  • David Sedlak
(Yale Univ. Press, 2015)

From Roman aqueducts to desalinization plants, David Sedlak's study overflows with facts about water management. Chlorine by-products could be carcinogens, so he argues that water treatment needs another upgrade. (See Margaret Catley-Carlson's review: Nature 505, 288–289; 2014.)

The Tale of the Duelling Neurosurgeons

  • Sam Kean
(Black Swan, 2015)

Crammed with curious anecdotes from neuroscience's gory past, Sam Kean's book ranges from the crude methods of early brain studies (including the beheading of criminals to use as test subjects) to the prion disease kuru, which spreads through cannibalism.

Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age

  • W. Bernard Carlson
(Princeton Univ. Press, 2015)

Over-hyped eccentric or electricity wizard? Bernard Carlson's account of Nikola Tesla's life at the turn of the twentieth century recalls the inventor's great creations, such as the alternating-current motor, as well as the unfulfilled promise of wireless power. (See Patrick McCray's review: Nature 497, 562–563; 2013.)

Infinitesimal: How a Dangerous Mathematical Theory Shaped the Modern World

  • Amir Alexander
(Oneworld, 2015)

Through religious and revolutionary figures of the seventeenth century, Amir Alexander tells the history of the struggle for mathematics' place in society. The 'heretical' concept of infinitesimals, the indivisible points of a line, takes centre stage.

A Rough Ride to the Future

  • James Lovelock
(Penguin, 2015)

Independent scientist James Lovelock gazes at Earth's past, present and future as the self-regulating system Gaia. Focusing on climate, he foresees humanity in 100 million years merged with artificial intelligence to survive a hotter Earth. (See Tim Lenton's review: Nature 508, 41; 2014.)

Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion-Dollar Trash Trade

  • Adam Minter
(Bloomsbury, 2015)

One man's trash is another's treasure in Adam Minter's exploration of the US$500-billion global recycling trade. US waste tops the charts, and China's electronics-manufacturing industry sifts gold from mountains of e-waste.