2018-12-01_Discover

12 DISCOVERMAGAZINE.COM

NINE PINTS

A Journey Through the Money,

Medicine, and Mysteries of Blood

By Rose George

Don’t be squeamish about picking up

this lively investigation of everything

from medicinal leeches to blood-borne

pathogens to profiting off plasma.

George’s sanguine writing is flush with

fascinating details.

HOW TO LOVE

THE UNIVERSE

A Scientist’s Odes

to the Hidden Beauty

Behind the Visible World

By Stefan Klein

Physicist Klein weaves together

scientific discovery and whimsy

on topics ranging from

entanglement to forecasting

the weather in this delightful

collection of ruminations on life,

the universe and everything else.

TURNED ON

Science, Sex and Robots

By Kate Devlin

A chance conversation in

a pub while attending a

conference led Devlin down

what might sound like a dark

alley: the world of sex robots.

But the AI researcher’s quest

is full of humor and candor

as she searches for answers

to all the questions you’re

probably asking right now.

Yes, even that one.

EINSTEIN’S MONSTERS

The Life and Times of Black Holes

By Chris Impey

Astronomer Impey’s accessible approach

breaks down complex scientific

concepts with ease and flair, name-

checking everyone from Edgar Allen

Poe to Pink Floyd as he lays out what

we think we know about black holes —

and what remains mysterious.

WIT’S END

What Wit Is, How It Works,

and Why We Need It

By James Geary

“Puns are not wit’s lowest

form, but its highest

expression,” argues Geary

at the start of his playful,

occasionally chaotic road trip

through comedy’s links to

innovation and creativity.

Got someone on your

holiday list who needs a

book? Trick question. Of

course you do, everyone

needs books! Here are a

few new science reads

worth giving — or keeping

for yourself.  GEMMA TARLACH

THE CRUX

BOOKS

BACKGROUND: NATALI ZAKHAROVA/SHUTTERSTOCK. RIBBONS: FOTOHUNTER/SHUTTERSTOCK