In this month’s episode we’ll talk about Science in Black and White: How Biology and Environment Shape Our Racial Divide by medical anthropologist Alondra Oubré. She delves into the science behind the nature versus nurture debate to expose racially biased research and debunk claims of inborn racial disparities and the gendered brain. The result is a deeply researched, comprehensive and nuanced title. ‘Just as many leading experts contest the notion of genes as destiny, gene–environmental interactions do not predict fated life outcomes,’ Oubré writes in her epilogue. ‘By the same token, environmental conditions do not guarantee either good or bad predetermined life outcomes, although they can have major consequences for an individual and, in some cases, his family.’

Chemistry World Book Club

Book club – Science in Black and White by Alondra Oubré

Get your garlic and crucifix ready as we tackle Kathryn Harkup’s latest book Vampirology: The Science of Horror’s Most Famous Fiend. Harkup is a chemist and science communicator, and an expert at casting a scientific eye on cultural phenomena, literature and film. Her debut, A is for Arsenic – about the poisons in Agatha Christie’s works – featured in our very first book club podcast episode way back in 2015. In her latest title, Harkup delves into the world of Dracula and Nosferatu. She finds tales of folklore and fiction, searches for scientific explanations to historic accounts of vampirism and asks the question whether, technically, vampires could exist. We talk to Harkup about watching Buffy reruns and Hong Kong’s hopping vampires, and find out what it’s like to investigate a myth with science.

Book club – Vampirology by Kathryn Harkup

How do you make a chemical-resistant beaker out of a material as fragile as glass? And how do you tell the temperature of a piece of steel without a thermometer? These are questions Anna Ploszajski tackles in her book Handmade: A Scientist’s Search for Meaning through Making. A materials scientist, engineer, science communicator and occasional stand-up comedian, Ploszajski explores the domain of makers and craftspeople. With knowledge accumulated over generations of trial and error, these experimenters understand popular materials like glass, steel and wood far better than any scientist. We talk to Ploszajski about finding fresh perspectives by stepping outside the scientific realm, and find out whether every materials scientist should take up blacksmithing.

Book club - Handmade

We might like to think that science is purely objective, driven only by scientific principles and free of social disturbances — but this couldn’t be further from the truth. In this episode, we read Chanda Prescod-Weinstein’s debut The Disordered Cosmos, a book exposing how racism and sexism persist across all scientific disciplines. Part introduction to particle physics, part biography, part cultural and social analysis, The Disordered Cosmos examines the colonialist thread running through science’s history and presents a vision of the cosmos as vibrant, inclusive and non-traditional. We talk to Prescod-Weinstein —  theoretical physicist, feminist theorist and one of the few Black US American women to ever earn a physics PhD — about her message to the next generation of scientists, and find out who should read this timely, provocative and necessary title.

Book club - The Disordered Cosmos

In this episode, we’re looking for answers to the important questions in life like ‘Why do you believe in diets?’ or ‘Why are you working in a bullshit job?’  Biochemist and immunologist Luke O’Neill certainly doesn’t mince words in his new book Never Mind the B#ll*cks, Here’s the Science: A Scientist’s Guide to the Biggest Challenges Facing our Species Today. Despite its provocative title, the book covers some serious topics that range from vaccination and mental health, to racism and climate change. It makes complex science accessible with wit and pop culture references, finding answers to some of the most controversial topics human beings grapple with. We talk to O’Neill about tackling life’s big questions and punk rock references, and discuss whether the book hits the sweet spot of balancing lightness with its sometimes heavy subject matter.

Book club – Never Mind the B#ll*cks, Here’s the Science by Luke O’Neill

This month we find out drug testing has come a long way, as we read The Poison Trials: Wonder Drugs, Experiment and the Battle for Authority in Renaissance Science, the latest book from historian of science and medicine Alisha Rankin. The book tells little-known stories of medicine in 16th century Europe, such as Pope Clement VII’s personal physician testing a new antidote by feeding poison-laced cake to two condemned criminals. Only one received the cure. Such grisly episodes occurred at a time when fears of deadly poisons were running high among those in power and physicians were scrabbling for cures. As such, Rankin suggests they might be considered an early form of clinical trials. We talk to Rankin about researching and writing the book, and discuss what these stories mean for us today, as scientists search for cures to a public health emergency.

Book club – The Poison Trials by Alisha Rankin

This month we’re celebrating 20 years of a popular science classic: Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood by Oliver Sacks. In his memoir, Sacks – who later became a famous neurologist – recounts how he discovered his love for science growing up in the 1930 and 40s. We’ll try to find out whether this book is worth reading (or re-reading), chat to the chemist whose own childhood was influenced by Sacks’ work and talk to Laura Snyder, the historian of science writing Sacks’ biography.

Book Club - Uncle Tungsten

Whether you’re looking for a sciencey Christmas present for the young readers in your life or just want to delve into the science of children’s science writing, this kid’s books roundup is for you. We brought together three families and their four children aged three to nine to review Once Upon an Atom by James Carter; I Ate Sunshine for Breakfast by Michael Holland; Fantastically Great Women Who Saved the Planet by Kate Pankhurst; and Awesome Matter and Materials by Jon Richards and Rob Colson.

Book club - Science books for children

This time, we’re reading Written In Bone: Hidden Stories in what We Leave Behind by forensic anthropologist Sue Black and author of the 2018 Sunday Times bestseller All That Remains. Black discusses criminal and historical cases from her own career, showing how everything we do – from what we eat to where we go – leaves behind traces in our skeleton. Find out what we thought about the book, whether you should read it, and hear from Black herself as she talks about her favourite bone and why mortuaries are the funniest place in the world.

Written in Bone

It’s the end times in this episode as we’re reading The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking). In five scenarios, cosmologist Katie Mack explores how the universe might meet its ultimate demise and what this might look like if anyone were still around to see it. The book promises to be a wildly fun ride to the farthest reaches of scientific knowledge.

The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking)

In this episode we’re reading United We Are Unstoppable: 60 Inspiring Young People Saving Our World, a book of short stories, told by the people who are fighting for their homes and their futures in the face of climate change. Find out what we thought about the book, whether you should read it, and hear from editor Akshat Rathi about what it was like to work with and learn from young climate activists.

United We Are Unstoppable

This month we’re reading Half Lives: The Unlikely History of Radium by historian Lucy Jane Santos. The book traces the story of a radioactive element, from its ascendance as a cure-all ingredient in the late 19th century to the gradual downfall and eventual discredit of the entire radium industry.  Find out what we thought about the book, and hear from Santos herself as she talks about digging into forgotten history and taking a bath at a modern radioactive spa.

Half Lives

In this episode we’re tackling the coronavirus information overload by comparing three books on pandemics past and present: Outbreaks and Epidemics by Meera Senthilingam, Adam Kucharski’s The Rules of Contagion, and The Pandemic Century by Mark Honigsbaum (the only one written well before the current pandemic hit). Find out what we thought about each of these titles, what readers might get out of them, and hear from Outbreaks and Epidemics author Meera Senthilingham about what it was like to write about pandemics while being in the middle of one.

Three books on pandemics

From photographic film to scientific glassware, Ainissa Ramirez’s new book The Alchemy of Us offers a unique insight into our relationship with technology. Find out what we thought about the book, and hear from Ramirez herself as she talks about digging into archives around the world to uncover forgotten characters and intriguing stories.

The Alchemy of Us

This month, we take a peek behind the curtain with Gemma Milne’s Smoke & Mirrors. In her first book, the technology journalist looks at headline-grabbing science present and past – from cancer treatments to fusion energy and quantum computers. Will the book deliver on its promise to be a guide on how to recognise hype and how to cut through it?  Find out what we thought about the book, and hear from Milne herself as she talks about the human experience of hype – and how it can be used as a tool for good as well as bad.

Smoke & Mirrors

Meet the authors of the latest popular science books, and join Chemistry World for a review and discussion of the topics the book raises. Join in on twitter by using #bookclubCW

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Chemistry World Book Club

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