RADARIoriginally went to Oxford to study politics,
philosophy and economics. I became a banker,
before moving into medicine, and some of these
books influenced that decision.
I’ve read all ofGeorgeOrwell’sbooks many times,
but my favourite isDownand Out in Paris and London,
which is just really funny. I thoroughly enjoyed 1984
andAnimal Farm, but I enjoyed his journalism more.
Down and Out in Paris and Londonis an insight into
taking someone from a privileged background and
transposing them to rougher parts of the world. Since I
came from a very privileged background, I like the idea
that it’s Orwell who first introduced me to the idea of
becoming a journalist. He puts himself at the heart of
the story, which is something that I’ve done with my
programmes by self-experimenting.
An author I came to quite late wasJane Austen. I love
Jane Austen, I think she’s insightful and witty. It’s
difficult to choose a favourite, but I’d probably go with
Emma. Emma is a very sparky and bright woman. I
loved her as a character, the fact that she’s always
certain but frequently wrong was quite charming. I
was in my teens when I read it, trying to understand
women, and I found Jane Austen helpful.
Next up would beRichardDawkins’sTheSelfish
Gene.It’s a classic because he makes you think about
the world in a completely different way. It’s interesting,
because Dawkins doesn’t use his own original research,
but rather weaves together other people’s. That’s what
I’ve tried to do, weaving other people’s academic
research together into a more popular narrative.
Then,JohnKenneth Galbraith’sTheGreat Crash. He’s
the guy who introduced me to economics. I originally
wanted to study maths, but when I read Galbraith ITHE BOOKS THAT MADE ME: DR MICHAEL MOSLEY
DRMICHAEL MOSLEYIS A FAMILIAR FACE ON BBC TELEVISION AS A PRESENTER ONTRUST ME, I’M A
DOCTORANDHORIZON. YET HE ALSO HAS A SLEW OF BOOKS UNDER HIS BELT, INCLUDINGTHE CLEVER GUTS
DIET,THE FAST DIET AND THE8-WEEK BLOOD SUGAR DIET. HERE ARE THE BOOKS THAT INSPIRED HIMÉ
“Onething that unites allthese writers is that humanbehaviour is governedby emotion, rather thanreason. And that reallyshows you the power ofhuman emotion”thought, “Golly, that’s
interesting,” and
changed my mind. I read
a lot of philosophy but
another writer I like is
David Hume. He wroteA
Treatise of Human
Nature, and is recognised
as probably the greatest
British philosopher, but
few have heard of him.
He inspired Adam Smith,
and people like Darwin.
He’s a sceptic and an
empiricist, so he’s very
keen on looking at the foundations of knowledge. He’s
sort of the founder of cognitive science. He just writes
really well – you have to read it several times before
you understand it though! He’s been a huge influence.
The last one is byArthur Koestler,The Sleepwalkers.
It’s about how science progresses not in a rational
sense, but in strong leaps and bounds. One thing that
unites all these writers is the idea that human
behaviour is governed by emotion, rather than reason.
And that really shows you the power of human
emotion. Galbraith said the great crash was
perpetuated by stupidity and fear, things like that.
Hume’s biggest thing was that human behaviour is
driven by emotion and we should recognise that. And
Jane Austen’sEmmais a very smart cookie but makes
numerous mistakes – she thinks she’s making rational
decisions but she’s just completely wrong. She tries to
matchmake based on what she thinks is reasonable,
but it just turns out that she has misunderstood things.1byD R M I C H A E L
MOSLEY
(@robinince)
Michaelis a science
presenter and author.
His latest book isThe
Clever Guts Diet(£8.99,
Short Books).2 3 4 5 6