Futurist and science writer David Bodanis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bodanis) provides an excellent read in Electric Universe. He weaves tales of romance, divine inspiration, and fraud through a lucid account of the invisible force that permeates our universe. In these pages the virtuoso scientists who plumbed the secrets of electricity come vividly to life, including familiar giants like Thomas Edison;

Philip Ball (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Ball and http://www.philipball.co.uk/) encourages us to take our eyes away from the individual and focus on the broader currents of activity in human society. He asks whether there are ‘natural laws’ that govern the ways in which humans behave and organize themselves, just as there are physical laws that govern the motions of atoms and

What if you could predict your future — which political party you will vote for, what kind of person you will marry, which disease will end your life, whether your blue mood will fester into something more troubling, even debilitating. Would you want to know? Taking a uniquely intimate and cheeky approach to the personal

How did life invent itself? Where did DNA come from? How did consciousness develop? Powerful new research methods are providing vivid insights into the makeup of life. Comparing gene sequences, examining atomic structures of  proteins, and looking into the geochemistry of  rocks have helped explain evolution in more detail than ever before. Nick Lane (http://www.nick-lane.net/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Lane) expertly reconstructs the history

As a prolific author, BBC commentator, and magazine editor, Nigel Calder (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigel_Calder) has spent a lifetime spotting and explaining the big discoveries in all branches of science. In Magic Universe, he draws on his vast experience to offer readers a lively, far-reaching look at modern science in all its glory, shedding light on the latest ideas