Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves

George Church and Ed Regis. (Basic Books, 2014)

In this visionary account of humankind's soaring capabilities in bioengineering, geneticist George Church and science writer Ed Regis redraw the frontier of synthetic biology — and, potentially, some ethical boundaries. Starting with 'simple' bioplastic cups made entirely from plants, they go on to discuss genomic alterations that could spawn virus-resistant humans and resurrect Neanderthals. This is the first book to be translated into a DNA sequence (see go.nature.com/gcgfqa).

Genes, Cells and Brains: The Promethean Promises of the New Biology

Hilary Rose and Steven Rose. (Verso Books, 2014)

In this exposé of clashes between society and science, sociologist Hilary Rose and neurobiologist Steven Rose lambast multibillion-dollar biotech research, showing how the Human Genome Project, for instance, has not found disease-triggering genes.

Forecast

  • Mark Buchanan
(Bloomsbury, 2014)

Disassembling the “marvellous machine” of the free market, physicist Mark Buchanan analyses the tempestuous global economy. Principles such as positive feedback loops and fluid dynamics explain the market's natural instability and inform ways to weather future fiscal storms.

A History of Future Cities

  • Daniel Brook
(W. W. Norton, 2014)

As urban innovation soars in skyscraper-studded Dubai, Daniel Brook looks to the original instant cities, where Western architecture invaded Eastern streets. St Petersburg, Shanghai and Mumbai, he argues, traded culture for economic power. (See Mike Davis's review: Nature 494, 427–428; 2013.)

Permanent Present Tense

  • Suzanne Corkin
(Penguin, 2014)

Neuroscientist Suzanne Corkin worked with Henry Molaison, who had irreparable memory loss, for decades. Here she documents discoveries such as the hippocampus's role in classifying memories. (See Douwe Draaisma's review: Nature 497, 313–314; 2013.)

Time Reborn: From the Crisis in Physics to the Future of the Universe

  • Lee Smolin
(Mariner, 2014)

Scientists unscrambling the fundamentals of the Universe dub time an illusion. Theoretical physicist Lee Smolin resurrects the concept as a constant around which other universal laws evolve. (See Pedro Ferreira's review: Nature 496, 430–431; 2013.)

Jane Austen, Game Theorist

  • Michael Chwe
(Princeton Univ. Press, 2014)

Using Jane Austen's novels and craftiest characters, such as George Wickham in Pride and Prejudice, Michael Chwe proves that game theory — mathematics-based strategizing — has been harnessed for social and emotional advancement as well as for military victory.

An Appetite for Wonder: The Making of a Scientist

  • Richard Dawkins
(Black Swan, 2014)

From childhood in Africa to enlightenment in Oxford, Richard Dawkins chronicles his life before The Selfish Gene (1976) and the nature and nurture of his science obsession. (See Eugenie Scott's review: Nature 501, 163; 2013.)

Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal

  • Mary Roach
(W. W. Norton, 2014)

Journalist Mary Roach offers a consummate tour of the digestive system. Investigating dog-food-testing facilities, brain-munching Inuits and optimum mastication techniques, Roach maintains a balanced diet of wit and reliable gastro-wisdom. (See David Katz's review: Nature 495, 446; 2013.)

To Save Everything, Click Here: The Folly of Technological Solutionism

  • Evgeny Morozov
(PublicAffairs, 2014)

Can a toolbox of techno-fixes really solve climate change, disease and crime? Social theorist Evgeny Morozov rebels against a technocratic Utopia and critiques the ideology of computerized cure-alls. (See Nicholas Carr's review: Nature 495, 45; 2013.)

Brilliant Blunders: From Darwin to Einstein

  • Mario Livio
(Simon & Schuster, 2014)

Astrophysicist Mario Livio reveals the epic errors of famous scientists that yielded glorious breakthroughs. When Einstein misconstrued universal equilibrium, his equations led to the discovery of the expanding cosmos. (See Mario Livio's Comment: Nature 497, 309–310; 2013.)

The Bonobo and the Atheist: In Search of Humanism Among the Primates

  • Frans de Waal
(W. W. Norton, 2014)

Primatologist Frans de Waal probes the roots of “human” emotions and morality in the bonobo, whose behaviours include empathy, altruism and even remorse. (See Christopher Boehm's review: Nature 495, 312; 2013.)

The Recursive Mind: The Origins of Human Language, Thought, and Civilization

  • Michael C. Corballis
(Princeton Univ. Press, 2014)

Does language alone make us human? Psychologist Michael Corballis takes a fresh look at the origins of speech, and suggests that our ability to embed thoughts within other thoughts — recursion — gives our species the edge.

The Serpent's Promise: The Bible Retold as Science

  • Steve Jones
(Little, Brown, 2014)

With sensitivity towards religion and sardonic wit, geneticist Steve Jones delivers a masterful scientific take on biblical events such as the Deluge — which he attributes to the end of an ice age. (See Tim Radford's review: Nature 496, 432–433; 2013.)

My Beloved Brontosaurus

  • Brian Switek
(Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014)

The film Jurassic Park aside, velociraptors were turkey-sized, reveals Brian Switek in this paean to palaeontology. He joins the scales-versus-feathers debate, and mourns the 'second extinction' of the brontosaurus, now called apatosaurus. (See Xu Xing's review: Nature 496, 30; 2013.)