《经济学人》2015年度好书科技类

 

A scientific analysis of the ancient art of divination¹ which shows that forecasting is a talent; luckily it can be learned. You need a healthy appetite for information, a willingness to revisit predictions in light of new data, and the ability to synthesise material from sources with very different outlooks on the world.

 

 

The descriptions of how autistic children were treated in the 20th century is especially shocking.

 

 

A persuasive³ and demanding attempt, by a thought-provoking British scientist, a biochemist at University College London, to answer some of the most fundamental questions in biology. It posits⁴ a new theory of how life came to be.

 

 

An intriguing⁵, insightful and well-written look at how modern artificial intelligence, powering algorithms and robots, threatens jobs and may increase wealth inequalities, by a Silicon⁶ Valley entrepreneur and AI expert.

 

 

This is an unusual, in-depth but highly accessible popular-maths book by a member of the London Mathematical Society who also has a sideline in stand-up comedy.

 

 

A startling and illustrative distillation⁷ of centuries of science by an Italian theoretical physicist⁸.

 

 

A carefully researched, analytical¹⁰ look at the effects that new species have on different environments into which they are introduced. The book debunks¹¹ poor science and the cherry-picking of statistical¹² examples to feed hysteria about keeping invasive species out and protecting an imaginary perfect past.

 

 

A Scottish doctor takes a delightful¹³ journey closer to home, through the wondrous¹⁴ human body, from top to tail, inside to out.

 

 

A marine¹⁵ biologist-turned-science writer describes coming face-to-shell with a giant clam¹⁶ on the Great Barrier Reef, enjoying a bag of smoked oysters¹⁷ in Gambia and meeting a sea-silk seamstress in Italy. She makes an impassioned and convincing argument that, contrary to expectations, molluscs have much to teach us.

 

 

Some say video games are the great sport of the 21st century, the summit of art and entertainment. Others call them mindless. Meditative¹⁸ essays on the meaning of gaming, by a game designer and professor of interactive¹⁹ computing²⁰.

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