Memoirs of an Addicted Brain by Marc Lewis
An addict turned neuroscientist is both fascinating and irritating"Probably a crab would be filled with a sense of personal outrage if it could hear us class it without ado or apology as a crustacean and thus dispose of it. 'I am no such thing,' it wou...
Cities of the Classical World by Colin McEvedy
A study of great cities of the past has morals for todayWhat makes a city? A simple mass of people, a great temple, a hub of learning, trade or transport? Colin McEvedy's idiosyncratic book, a survey of 120 "centres of ancient civilisation", doesn't as...
Jefferson’s revolutionary Bible reissued
Former US president took a razor to parts of the Gospels he did not agree with to compile his own versionHe was one of the men who laid the foundations for God's own country, but Thomas Jefferson had his own revolutionary ideas about the Bible.The thir...
Radioactivity by Marjorie C Malley – review
The mystery of science is overshadowed in this historical surveyThere's little forgiveness in science: mistaken hypotheses are discarded without sentiment and forgotten. The reasons seem obvious. Science is a tool for understanding and manipulating the...
The Tenth Parallel by Eliza Griswold
An examination of the nature of religious conflict in AfricaImagine the world divided into neat parcels of culture and civilisation and you will also imagine faultlines: sharp delineations between Islam and Christianity, east and west, developed a...
Steven Pinker’s book, The Better Angels of Our Nature – the final verdict | David Shariatmadari