Recommended reading for those going on to

study science-related degrees at University

Before we get to the books, ​edX​ and ​OpenLearn​ offer a variety of online courses covering
many areas of science. Most of them are free. The BBC’s ​In Our Time​ is a fantastic resource
and includes many ​science-themed​ podcast episodes.

What follows below is some recommended reading for those going on to study
science-related degrees at university.

General
Origin Story: A Big History of Everything​ by David Christian
How did we get from the Big Bang to today's staggering complexity, in which seven billion
humans are connected into networks powerful enough to transform the planet? And why,
in comparison, are our closest primate relatives reduced to near-extinction?

Origins: The Scientific Story of Creation​ by Jim Baggott

Drawing together the physical and biological sciences, Baggott recounts what we currently
know of our history, highlighting the questions science has yet to answer. Chapter by
chapter, it sets out the current state of scientific knowledge: the origins of space and time;
energy, mass, and light; galaxies, stars, and our sun; the habitable earth, and complex life
itself.

Science: A Four Thousand Year History​ by Patricia Fara

Instead of focussing on difficult experiments and abstract theories, Patricia Fara shows how
science has always belonged to the practical world of war, politics, and business. Rather
than glorifying scientists as idealized heroes, she tells true stories about real people - men
(and some women) who needed to earn their living, who made mistakes, and who trampled
down their rivals in their quest for success.

Science: A History​ by John Gribbin

From Galileo, tried by the Inquisition for his ideas, to Newton, who wrote his rivals out of
the history books; from Marie Curie, forced to work apart from male students for fear she
might excite them, to Louis Agassiz, who marched his colleagues up a mountain to prove
that the ice ages had occurred. Filled with pioneers, visionaries, eccentrics and madmen,
this is the history of science as it has never been told before.
The Age of Wonder : How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of
Science​ by Richard Holmes
Richard Holmes, prize-winning biographer of Coleridge and Shelley, explores the scientific
ferment that swept across Britain at the end of 18th century. From telescopic sight to
miner's lamp, and from the first balloon flight to African exploration, it tells the stories of
great innovations, and the inspired individuals behind them.

What is This Thing Called Science?​ By Alan Chalmers

What is the characteristic that serves to distinguish scientific knowledge from other kinds of
knowledge? What is the role of experiment in science? What is the role of theory in science?
In clear, jargon-free language, the third edition of this highly successful introduction to the
philosophy of science surveys the answers of the past hundred years to these central
questions.

Biological Sciences
A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived: The Stories in Our Genes​ ​by Adam Rutherford
In this captivating journey through the expanding landscape of genetics, Adam Rutherford
reveals what our genes now tell us about human history, and what history can now tell us
about our genes.

A Crack in Creation : The New Power to Control Evolution b ​ y Jennifer Doudna and Samuel
Sternberg
Jennifer Doudna, the world-famous scientist behind CRISPR, 'one of the most monumental
discoveries in biology' (New York Times), explains its discovery, describes its power to
reshape the future of all life and warns of its use.

Anatomies: The Human Body, Its Parts and The Stories They Tell
by Hugh Aldersey-Williams
Providing a treasure trove of surprising facts, remarkable stories and startling information
drawn from across history, science, art and literature - from finger-prints to angel
physiology, from Isaac Newton's death-mask to the afterlife of Einstein's brain - he explores
our relationship with our bodies and investigates our changing attitudes to the
extraordinary physical shell we inhabit.

Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst​ ​by Robert Sapolsky
How have our brains evolved alongside our cultures? This is the exhilarating story of human
morality and the science underpinning the biggest question of all: what makes us human?
Chemistry for the Biosciences: The Essential Concepts​ by Jonathan Crowe and Tony
Bradshaw
Chemistry for the Biosciences introduces students to all the chemistry they need to
understand the biological world.

Darwin and the Barnacle​ by Rebecca Scott

Darwin and the Barnacle is the fascinating story of how genius sometimes proceeds through
indirection - and how one small item of curiosity contributed to history's most spectacular
scientific breakthrough.

Eating the Sun : How Plants Power the Planet​ by Oliver Morton
From the intricacies of its molecular processes to the beauty of the nature that it supports,
`Eating the Sun' is a wondering tribute to the extraordinary process that has allowed plants
to power the earth for billions of years. Photosynthesis is the most mundane of miracles.

Elephants on Acid: From zombie kittens to tickling machines: the most outrageous
experiments from the history of science​ by Alex Bose
Have you ever wondered if a severed head retains consciousness long enough to see what
happened to it? Or whether your dog would run to fetch help if you fell down a disused
mineshaft? And what would happen if you were to give an elephant the largest ever single
dose of LSD?

Gut: the Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ​ by Giulia Enders
From our miraculous gut bacteria - which can play a part in obesity, allergies, depression
and even Alzheimer's - to the best position to poo, this entertaining and informative health
handbook shows that we can all benefit from getting to know the wondrous world of our
inner workings.

Here Comes the Sun: How it feeds us, kills us, heals us and makes us what we are​ b ​ y Steve
Jones
Our sun drives the weather, forms the landscape, feeds and fuels - but sometimes destroys -
the creatures that live upon it, controls their patterns of activity, makes chemicals in the
skin that cheer up those who bask in its rays, and for the ancients was the seat of divine
authority. In Here Comes the Sun, Steve Jones shows how life on Earth is ruled by our
nearest star.

I Think You Will Find It’s a Bit More Complicated Than That ​by Ben Goldacre
The very best journalism from one of Britain's most admired and outspoken science writers,
author of the bestselling Bad Science and Bad Pharma.
Life Ascending : The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution​ by Nick Lane
Nick Lane uses the full extent of this new knowledge to describe the ten greatest inventions
of life, based on their historical impact, role in living organisms today and relevance to
current controversies. DNA, sex, sight and consciousnesses are just four examples. Lane also
explains how these findings have come about, and the extent to which they can be relied
upon.

Life's Greatest Secret : The Race to Crack the Genetic Code​ by Matthew Cobb
The discovery and cracking of the genetic code has had far-reaching consequences for how
we understand ourselves and our place in the natural world. The code forms the most
striking proof of Darwin's hypothesis that all organisms are related, holds tremendous
promise for improving human well-being, and has transformed the way we think about life.

Lifespan: Why We Age and Why We Don’t Have To​ ​by David A Sinclair
Dr. David Sinclair reveals that everything we think we know about ageing is wrong, and
shares the surprising, scientifically-proven methods that can help readers live younger,
longer.

The Accidental Species : Misunderstandings of Human Evolution​ by Henry Gee

Touring the many features of human beings that have recurrently been used to distinguish
us from the rest of the animal world, Gee shows that our evolutionary outcome is one
possibility among many, one that owes more to chance than to an organized progression to
supremacy.

The Beautiful Cure: The New Science of Human Health​ ​by Daniel M Davis
Our immune system is one of the great marvels of nature - and it holds the key to human
health. Here, Professor Daniel Davis charts the groundbreaking scientific quest to
understand how it fights disease and enables the body to heal itself.

The Epigenetics Revolution: How Modern Biology is Rewriting Our Understanding of

Genetics, Disease and Inheritance ​by Nessa Carey
Biologist Nessa Carey deftly explains such diverse phenomena as how queen bees and ants
control their colonies, why tortoiseshell cats are always female, why some plants need a
period of cold before they can flower, why we age, develop disease and become addicted to
drugs, and much more.

The Gene: An Intimate History​ by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Majestic in its scope and ambition, The Gene provides us with a definitive account of the
epic history of the quest to decipher the master-code that makes and defines humans - and
paints a fascinating vision of both humanity's past and future.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks​ by Rebecca Skloot
Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. Born a poor black tobacco
farmer, her cancer cells - taken without her knowledge - became a multimillion-dollar
industry and one of the most important tools in medicine.

The Long Summer: How Climate Changed Civilization​ ​by Brian Fagan
Brian Fagan brings us the first detailed record of climate change during the last 15,000 years
of warming and shows how this climate change gave rise to civilization.

The Remarkable Life of the Skin: An intimate journey across our surface​ by Monty Lyman
Our skin plays a central role in our lives. And yet how much do we really know about it?
Through the lenses of science, sociology and history, Dr Monty Lyman leads us on a journey
across our most underrated and unexplored organ.

Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams​ b ​ y Matthew Walker
In this book, the first of its kind written by a scientific expert, Professor Matthew Walker
explores twenty years of cutting-edge research to solve the mystery of why sleep matters.

Your Inner Fish: The amazing discovery of our 375-million-year-old ancestor​ ​by Neil Shubin
​Neil Shubin's Your Inner Fish is the unexpected story of how one creature's journey out of
the water made the human body what it is today - and one man's voyage of discovery in
search of our origins.

Engineering
Built : The Hidden Stories Behind our Structures​ by Roma Agrawal
Structural engineer Roma Agrawal takes a unique look at how construction has evolved
from the mud huts of our ancestors to skyscrapers of steel that reach hundreds of metres
into the sky. She unearths how engineers have tunnelled through kilometres of solid
mountains; how they've bridged across the widest and deepest of rivers, and tamed
Nature's precious - and elusive - water resources.

Exactly : How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World​ by Simon Winchester
A magnificent history of the pioneering engineers who developed precision machinery to
allow us to see as far as the moon and as close as the Higgs boson. Precision is the key to
everything. It is an integral, unchallenged and essential component of our modern social,
mercantile, scientific, mechanical and intellectual landscapes.
Medicine, Nursing and Midwifery
The below are in addition to some of the books already mentioned in biological sciences.

Bad Pharma: How Medicine is Broken, and How We Can Fix it​ ​by Ben Goldacre
Doctors and patients need good scientific evidence to make informed decisions. But instead,
companies run bad trials on their own drugs, which distort and exaggerate the benefits by
design. When these trials produce unflattering results, the data is simply buried. All of this is
perfectly legal. In fact, even government regulators withhold vitally important data from the
people who need it most. Doctors and patient groups have stood by too, and failed to
protect us. Instead, they take money and favours, in a world so fractured that medics and
nurses are now educated by the drugs industry. The result: patients are harmed in huge
numbers.

Being Mortal: Illness, Medicine and What Matters in the End​ by Atul Gawande
The systems that we have put in place to manage our mortality are manifestly failing; but, as
Gawande reveals, it doesn't have to be this way. The ultimate goal, after all, is not a good
death, but a good life - all the way to the very end.

Breaking & Mending : A junior doctor's stories of compassion & burnout​ by Joanna Cannon
In this powerful memoir, Joanna Cannon tells her story as a junior doctor in visceral,
heart-rending snapshots. We walk with her through the wards, facing extraordinary and
daunting moments: from attending her first post-mortem, sitting with a patient through
their final moments, to learning the power of a well- or badly chosen word. These moments,
and the small sustaining acts of kindness and connection that punctuate hospital life, teach
her that emotional care and mental health can be just as critical as restoring a heartbeat.

Complications : A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science​ by Atul Gawande

This is a well-written account of the life of a surgeon: what it is like to cut into people's
bodies and the terrifying - literally life and death - decisions that have to be made.There are
accounts of operations that go wrong; of doctors who go to the bad; why autopsies are
necessary; what it feels like to insert your knife into someone.

Cure : A Journey Into the Science of Mind over Body​ by Jo Marchant

Can meditation fend off dementia? - Can the smell of lavender affect the immune system? -
Can your thoughts ease physical pain? In Cure, award-winning science writer Jo Marchant
travels the world to meet the physicians, patients and researchers on the cutting edge of
mind-body medicine, asking how the brain can heal the body and how we can all make
changes to keep ourselves healthier.
Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery​ ​by Henry Marsh
With astonishing candour and compassion, Henry Marsh reveals the exhilarating drama of
surgery, the chaos and confusion of a busy modern hospital, and above all the need for
hope when faced with life's most agonising decisions.

The Checklist Manifesto : How To Get Things​ Right by Atul Gawande

Whether you're following a recipe, investing millions of dollars in a company or building a
skyscraper, the checklist is an essential tool in virtually every area of our lives, and Gawande
explains how breaking down complex, high pressure tasks into small steps can radically
improve everything from airline safety to heart surgery survival rates.

The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer​ by Siddhartha Mukherjee

In The Emperor of All Maladies, Siddhartha Mukherjee, doctor, researcher and
award-winning science writer, examines cancer with a cellular biologist's precision, a
historian's perspective, and a biographer's passion. The result is an astonishingly lucid and
eloquent chronicle of a disease humans have lived with - and perished from - for more than
five thousand years.

The Greatest Benefit to Mankind : A Medical History of Humanity​ by Roy Porter

A definitive study of the history of medicine, from the earliest humans to the present day.

Hard Pushed : A Midwife's Story​ by Leah Hazard

No sleep for twenty hours. No food for ten. And a ward full of soon-to-be mothers...
Midwives are there for us at some of the most challenging, empowering and defining
moments of our lives. From heart-wrenching grief to the pure joy of a new-born baby,
midwife Leah Hazard has seen it all. But life on the NHS front line, working within a system
at breaking point, is more extreme than you could ever imagine. Moving and
compassionate, funny and unexpected, Leah shares her experiences in this extraordinary
love letter to new mothers and fellow midwives everywhere

The Health Gap : The Challenge of an Unequal World ​by Michael Marmot
There are dramatic differences in health between countries and within countries. But this is
not a simple matter of rich and poor. A poor man in Glasgow is rich compared to the
average Indian, but the Glaswegian's life expectancy is 8 years shorter. In all countries,
people at relative social disadvantage suffer health disadvantage, dramatically so. Within
countries, the higher the social status of individuals the better is their health. What makes
these health inequalities unjust is that evidence from round the world shows we know what
to do to make them smaller. This new evidence is compelling. It has the potential to change
radically the way we think about health, and indeed society.
The Language of Kindness: A Nurse’s Story​ by Christie Watson
Taking us from birth to death and from A&E to the mortuary, The Language of Kindness is an
astounding account of a profession defined by acts of care, compassion and kindness.

This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor ​by Adam Kay
Welcome to the life of a junior doctor: 97-hour weeks, life and death decisions, a constant
tsunami of bodily fluids, and the hospital parking meter earns more than you. Scribbled in
secret after endless days, sleepless nights and missed weekends, Adam Kay's This is Going to
Hurt provides a no-holds-barred account of his time on the NHS front line.

Under the Knife : A History of Surgery in 28 Remarkable Operations ​by Arnold van de Laar
From the dark centuries of bloodletting and of amputations without anaesthetic to today's
sterile, high-tech operating theatres, Under the Knife is both a rich cultural history, and a
modern anatomy class for us all.

When Breath Becomes Air​ by Paul Kalanithi

At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade's training as a neurosurgeon,
Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating
the dying, the next he was a patient struggling to live.

Physical Sciences
15 Million Degrees : A Journey to the Centre of the Sun​ by Lucie Green
In this astonishing and enlightening adventure, you'll travel millions of miles from inside the
Sun to its surface and to Earth, where the light at the end of its journey is allowing you to
read right now. You'll discover how the Sun works (including what it sounds like), the latest
research in solar physics and how a solar storm could threaten everything we know. And
you'll meet the groundbreaking scientists, including the author, who pieced this
extraordinary story together.

E=mc2​ :​ A Biography of the World’s Most Famous Equation​ by David Bodanis

In 1905, Albert Einstein produced five historic papers that shattered many cherished
scientific beliefs. One of those papers introduced the theory of special relativity and his
legendary equation, E=mc​2​. Generations have grown up knowing that equation changed the
shape of our world, but without understanding what it really means and why it is so
significant. In this fascinating biography David Bodanis tells the story of one of the greatest
scientific discoveries in history.
Gravitational Waves : How Einstein's spacetime ripples reveal the secrets of the universe
by Brian Clegg
On 14 September 2015, after 50 years of searching, gravitational waves were detected for
the first time and astronomy changed forever. Until then, investigation of the universe had
depended on electromagnetic radiation: visible light, radio, X-rays and the rest. Brian Clegg
presents a compelling story of human technical endeavour and a new, powerful path to
understand the workings of the universe.

Mass: The quest to understand matter from Greek atoms to quantum fields​ by Jim Baggott
Everything around us is made of 'stuff', from planets, to books, to our own bodies.
Whatever it is, we call it matter or material substance. It is solid; it has mass. But what is
matter, exactly? science has discovered that the foundations of our Universe are not as solid
or as certain and dependable as we might have once imagined. They are instead built from
ghosts and phantoms, of a peculiar quantum kind. And, at some point on this exciting
journey of scientific discovery, we lost our grip on the reassuringly familiar concept of mass.

Neutrino​ by Frank Close

What are neutrinos? Why does nature need them? What use are they?Neutrinos are
perhaps the most enigmatic particles in the universe. Here, Frank Close gives an account of
the discovery of neutrinos and our growing understanding of their significance, also
touching on some speculative ideas concerning the possible uses of neutrinos and their role
in the early universe.

Quantum: Einstein, Bohr and the Great Debate About the Nature of Reality​ by Manjit
Kumar
Quantum theory looks at the very building blocks of our world, the particles and processes
without which it could not exist. Yet for 60 years most physicists believed that quantum
theory denied the very existence of reality itself. In this tour de force of science history,
Manjit Kumar shows how the golden age of physics ignited the greatest intellectual debate
of the twentieth century.

Strange Glow : The Story of Radiation​ by Timothy J. Jorgensen

An accessible blend of narrative history and science, Strange Glow describes mankind's
extraordinary, thorny relationship with radiation, including the hard-won lessons of how
radiation helps and harms our health.
The 4-Percent Universe : Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Race to Discover the Rest of
Reality​ by Richard Panek
It is one of the most disturbing aspects of our universe: only four per cent of it consists of
the matter that makes up every star, planet, and every book. The rest is completely
unknown. Acclaimed science writer Richard Panek tells the story of the handful of scientists
who have spent the past few decades on a quest to unlock the secrets of "dark matter" and
the even stranger substance called "dark energy".

The Hunt for Vulcan : How Albert Einstein Destroyed a Planet and Deciphered the Universe
by Thomas Levenson
In 1859, the brilliant scientist Urbain LeVerrier discovered that the planet Mercury has a
wobble, that its orbit shifts over time. His explanation was that there had to be an unseen
planet circling even closer to the sun. He called the planet Vulcan. Supported by the theories
of Sir Isaac Newton, the finest astronomers of their generation began to seek out Vulcan
and at least a dozen reports of discovery were filed. There was only one problem. Vulcan
does not exist - and was never there.

Psychology and Neuroscience

A Day in the Life of the Brain: The Neuroscience of Consciousness from Dawn Till Dusk
by Susan Greenfield
What happens in our brains when we wake up, savour a meal or a glass of wine, walk the
dog, stare at a screen, daydream or sleep?

A Mind of Its Own : How Your Brain Distorts and Deceives​ by Cordelia Fine
Dotted with popular explanations of social psychology research and fascinating real-life
examples, A Mind of Its Own tours the less salubrious side of human psychology.
Psychologist Cordelia Fine shows that the human brain is in fact stubborn, emotional and
deceitful, and teaches you everything you always wanted to know about the brain - and
plenty you probably didn't.

Cognitive Neuroscience: A Very Short Introduction​ by Richard Passingham

Up to the 1960s, psychology was deeply under the influence of behaviourism, which focused
on stimuli and responses, and regarded consideration of what may happen in the mind as
unapproachable scientifically. This began to change with the devising of methods to try to
tap into what was going on in the 'black box' of the mind, and the development of 'cognitive
psychology'. With the study of patients who had suffered brain damage or injury to limited
parts of the brain,outlines of brain components and processes began to take shape, and by
the end of the 1970s, a new science, cognitive neuroscience, was born.
Delusions of Gender : The Real Science Behind Sex Differences​ by Cordelia Fine
Gender inequalities are increasingly defended by citing hard-wired differences between the
male and female brain. That's why, we're told, there are so few women in science, so few
men in the laundry room - different brains are just suited to different things. With sparkling
wit and humour, Cordelia Fine attacks this 'neurosexism', revealing the mind's remarkable
plasticity, the substantial influence of culture on identity,and the malleability of what we
consider to be ‘hardwired' difference.

Intelligence: A Very Short Introduction ​by Ian J. Deary

Some people are cleverer than others. This everyday observation is the subject of an
academic field that is often portrayed as confused and controversial, when in fact, the field
of intelligence holds some of psychology's best-replicated findings. This Very Short
Introduction describes what psychologists have discovered about how and why people
differ in their thinking powers.

Pieces of Light: The New Science of Memory​ b

​ y Charles Fernyhough
Remembering is an act of narrative as much as it is the product of a neurological process.
Drawing on case studies, personal experience and the latest research, Charles Fernyhough
delves into the memories of the very young and very old, and explores how amnesia and
trauma can affect how we view the past.

Psychology: A Very Short Introduction​ by by Gillian Butler and Freda McManus

This Very Short Introduction explores some of psychology's leading ideas and their practical
relevance.

The Brain: The Story of You​ by David Eagleman

'This is the story of how your life shapes your brain, and how your brain shapes your life.'
Join renowned neuroscientist David Eagleman on a whistle-stop tour of the inner cosmos.
It's a journey that will take you into the world of extreme sports, criminal justice, genocide,
brain surgery, robotics and the search for immortality.

The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat​ by Oliver Sacks
In his most extraordinary book, Oliver Sacks recounts the stories of patients lost in the
bizarre, apparently inescapable world of neurological disorders.

The Marshmallow Test : Understanding Self-control and How To Master It​ by Walter
Mischel
A child is presented with a marshmallow and given a choice: Eat this one now, or wait and
enjoy two later. What will she do? And what are the implications for her behaviour later in
life?Walter Mischel's now iconic 'marshmallow test,' one of the most famous experiments in
the history of psychology, proved that the ability to delay gratification is critical to living a
successful and fulfilling life: self-control not only predicts higher marks in school, better
social and cognitive functioning, and a greater sense of self-worth; it also helps us manage
stress, pursue goals more effectively, and cope with painful emotions.

Thinking, Fast and Slow​ by Daniel Kahneman

Why is there more chance we'll believe something if it's in a bold type face? Why are judges
more likely to deny parole before lunch? Why do we assume a good-looking person will be
more competent? The answer lies in the two ways we make choices: fast, intuitive thinking,
and slow, rational thinking. This book reveals how our minds are tripped up by error and
prejudice (even when we think we are being logical), and gives you practical techniques for
slower, smarter thinking.

Unthinkable : An Extraordinary Journey Through the World's Strangest Brains b ​ y Helen

Thomson
In Unthinkable, Helen Thomson tells the stories of nine extraordinary people. From the man
who thinks he's a tiger to the doctor who feels the pain of others just by looking at them,
their experiences illustrate how the brain can shape our lives in unexpected and, in some
cases, brilliant and alarming ways.

Whistling Vivaldi : How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do​ by Claude Steele
Claude M. Steele, who has been called "one of the few great social psychologists," offers a
vivid first-person account of the research that supports his groundbreaking conclusions on
stereotypes and identity. He sheds new light on American social phenomena from racial and
gender gaps in test scores to the belief in the superior athletic prowess of black men, and
lays out a plan for mitigating these "stereotype threats" and reshaping American identities.