Andrew Robinson reviews five of the best science picks

Ancient India

Sushma Jansari and Sureshkumar Muthukumaran British Museum Press (2025)

More than a billion people worldwide adhere to Buddhism, Hinduism or Jainism. The British Museum exhibition Ancient India, in London, explores these faiths’ “living traditions” through objects and works of art from 200 bc to ad 600. The religions reveal their “affinity for the natural world” — for example through the elephant-headed Hindu god Ganesh — note curator Sushma Jansari and historian Sureshkumar Muthukumaran, in their insightful, finely illustrated exhibition book.

Stronger

Michael Joseph Gross Dutton (2025)

Most adults consist of 30–40% muscle. Yet, most of the time, we are unaware of our muscles. There isn’t even a medical specialty just for treating them. Journalist Michael Gross’s engaging book came from this lack of attention. The work draws on the expertise of physicians, historians, athletes and others to emphasize the complexity of muscles. Weight training, he shows, can help to prevent or treat many chronic diseases and disabilities. The “ultimate paradox” of muscles is that they “need attention so that [they] can disappear”.

Between Two Rivers

Moudhy Al-Rashid Hodder Press (2025)

Cuneiform writing in ancient Mesopotamia — the “land between two rivers” — was used from the late fourth millennium bc until at least ad 79, when an astronomer used it to record planetary movements, lunar visibility and a partial solar eclipse. Such engravings provide “thousands of glimpses into the lives of people”, says historian of ancient science Moudhy Al-Rashid. Her enticing book brings this ancient society to life through seven objects, although none of them, nor any cuneiform inscriptions, are illustrated in it.