RADARIoriginallywenttoOxfordtostudypolitics,
philosophyandeconomics.I becamea banker,
beforemovingintomedicine,and some of these
booksinfluencedthatdecision.
I’vereadallofGeorgeOrwell’sbooksmanytimes,
butmyfavouriteisDownandOutinParisandLondon,
whichis justreallyfunny.I thoroughlyenjoyed 1984
andAnimalFarm, butI enjoyedhisjournalismmore.
DownandOutinParisandLondonis aninsightinto
takingsomeonefroma privilegedbackgroundand
transposingthemtorougherpartsoftheworld.SinceI
camefroma veryprivilegedbackground,I liketheidea
thatit’sOrwellwhofirstintroducedmetotheideaof
becominga journalist.Heputshimselfattheheartof
thestory,whichis somethingthatI’vedone with my
programmesbyself-experimenting.
AnauthorI cametoquitelatewasJaneAusten.I love
JaneAusten,I thinkshe’sinsightfulandwitty.It’s
difficulttochoosea favourite,butI’dprobablygowith
Emma.Emmais a verysparkyandbrightwoman.I
lovedherasa character,thefactthatshe’salways
certainbutfrequentlywrongwasquitecharming.I
wasinmyteenswhenI readit,tryingtounderstand
women,andI foundJaneAustenhelpful.
NextupwouldbeRichardDawkins’sTheSelfish
Gene.It’sa classicbecausehemakesyouthinkabout
theworldina completelydifferentway.It’sinteresting,
becauseDawkinsdoesn’tusehisownoriginalresearch,
butratherweavestogetherotherpeople’s.That’swhat
I’vetriedtodo,weavingotherpeople’sacademic
researchtogetherintoa morepopularnarrative.
Then,JohnKennethGalbraith’sTheGreatCrash.He’s
theguywhointroducedmetoeconomics.I originally
wanted to study maths, but when I read Galbraith ITHE BOOKS THAT MADE ME: DR MICHAEL MOSLEY
DRMICHAELMOSLEYISA FAMILIARFACEONBBCTELEVISIONASA PRESENTERONTRUSTME,I’MA
DOCTORANDHORIZON. YETHEALSOHASA SLEWOFBOOKSUNDERHISBELT,INCLUDINGTHECLEVERGUTS
DIET,THE FAST DIET AND THE8-WEEK BLOOD SUGAR DIET. HERE ARE THE BOOKS THAT INSPIRED HIMÉ
“Onethingthatunitesallthesewritersisthathumanbehaviourisgovernedbyemotion,ratherthanreason.Andthatreallyshowsyouthepower ofhuman emotion”thought,“Golly,that’s
interesting,”and
changedmymind.I read
a lotofphilosophybut
anotherwriterI likeis
DavidHume. HewroteA
TreatiseofHuman
Nature, andis recognised
asprobablythegreatest
Britishphilosopher,but
fewhaveheardofhim.
HeinspiredAdamSmith,
andpeoplelikeDarwin.
He’sa scepticandan
empiricist,sohe’svery
keenonlookingatthefoundationsofknowledge.He’s
sortofthefounderofcognitivescience.Hejustwrites
reallywell– youhavetoreadit severaltimesbefore
youunderstandit though!He’sbeena hugeinfluence.
Thelastoneis byArthurKoestler,TheSleepwalkers.
It’sabouthowscienceprogressesnotina rational
sense,butinstrongleapsandbounds.Onethingthat
unitesallthesewritersis theideathathuman
behaviouris governedbyemotion,ratherthanreason.
Andthatreallyshowsyouthepowerofhuman
emotion.Galbraithsaidthegreatcrashwas
perpetuatedbystupidityandfear,thingslikethat.
Hume’sbiggestthingwasthathumanbehaviouris
drivenbyemotionandweshouldrecognisethat.And
JaneAusten’sEmmais a verysmartcookiebutmakes
numerousmistakes– shethinksshe’smakingrational
decisionsbutshe’sjustcompletelywrong.Shetriesto
matchmakebasedonwhatshethinksis reasonable,
but it just turns out that she has misunderstood things.1byD RM I C H A E L
MOSLEY
(@robinince)
Michaelis a science
presenterandauthor.
HislatestbookisThe
CleverGutsDiet(£8.99,
Short Books).2 3 4 5 6