Andrew Robinson reviews five of the best science picks

The Story of Astrophysics in Five Revolutions

Ersilia Vaudo W. W. Norton (2025)

Apollo 11’s Moon landing in 1969 wowed the whole world. But it is science that is “the greatest of all adventures”, suggests astrophysicist Ersilia Vaudo. In a short history of astrophysics, without resorting to mathematics, she tells the riveting stories of five revolutionary discoveries: Isaac Newton’s revelation that gravity controls the celestial world; Albert Einstein’s special and general theories of relativity; Edwin Hubble’s comprehension of an expanding Universe; and, finally, antiparticles and cosmic evolution.

The Ocean’s Menagerie

Drew Harvell Viking (2025)

Animal biology research often focuses on vertebrates. But invertebrates emerged in the oceans roughly 700 million years ago — some 200 million years before the first vertebrates appeared. “Join me on a deep dive to explore the ancient biological powers of spineless animals,” beckons marine ecologist Drew Harvell. Her tour of wondrous creatures, from extremely strong corals to sponges that release compounds now used as drugs, shows how climate change threatens their existence. We need to look after this “menagerie”.

Hope Dies Last

Alan Weisman Dutton (2025)

“In a wise world, scientists would make decisions best suited to scientists” and politicians and economists “decisions appropriate to their expertise, whatever that might be”. Although this doesn’t tend to happen, environmental journalist Alan Weisman doesn’t give up hope. He discusses with innovative thinkers — from scientists and economists to architects and artists — how to cope with rising heat, hunger, tides and other climate-related perils. His book, ten years in the making, is both vividly written and intellectually provocative.