Books & Arts in 2012

John Gilbey applauds a call for the digital to join the physical, biological and social in science.

Since July, astronomers have killed off one trope of science fiction and given fresh life to another. Leigh Phillips gets Mars Trilogy author Kim Stanley Robinson's reaction.

Forty years on from UNESCO's world heritage convention, Alison Abbott contemplates the state of Italy's vast legacy.

Jonathan Butterworth enjoys the latest chronicle of the hunt for the 'most wanted' particle.

A look at how life's mechanics are deciphered at the molecular level fascinates Mark Haw.

Stuart Pimm explores today's collision between bears, beavers and US suburbanites.

Jennifer Rampling relishes a masterful take on the age-old allure of alchemy.

Andrew Robinson follows the feet, wheels, ships and space stations that have circled the globe.

Charles Fernyhough enjoys a bold exploration of how the mind extracts meaning from what we read or hear.

Josie Glausiusz contemplates a documentary on the human relationship with animals confined and stuffed.

Sandra Knapp considers how the laws of physics influence the function of leaves in myriad ways.

Meredith Wadman lifts the blanket on the creeping medicalization of sleep in the United States.

Amy Maxmen views a prizewinning film that shines a light into the dark corners of US psychiatric care.

Nathan Wolfe applauds a tome on interspecies disease transmission that mixes research with human stories.

It is people who drive Curiosity and other robot missions on Mars, reminds Jim Bell.