The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change

  • Al Gore
( Random House, 2013)

Former US vice-president and prominent voice in climate politics Al Gore tackles six areas of rapid change that are transforming our world — from the Internet and environmental crises to globalization and population growth. Gore's analyses of the scientific, political and economic aspects of each are thorough and compelling as he works towards a cautiously optimistic synthesis. (See Barbara Kiser's review: Nature 494, 429; 2013.)

The World Until Yesterday

  • Jared Diamond
( Penguin, 2013)

The cultural gap between traditional societies and the West is a rich seam for anthropologist Jared Diamond. Here, he explores what indigenous cultures can teach the West in areas from childcare to dispute resolution. (See Monique Borgerhoff Mulder's review: Nature 493, 477–478; 2013.)

The Universe Within: The Deep History of the Human Body

  • Neil Shubin
( Vintage, 2013)

Palaeontologist Neil Shubin unpicks the intertwined evolution of Earth and life, finding intriguing links, for example, between continental break-up and mammalian evolution. (See Birger Schmitz's review: Nature 493, 25; 2013.)

The Secrets of Alchemy

  • Lawrence Principe
( University of Chicago Press, 2013)

The practice of alchemy overlapped with the birth of chemistry, reveals Lawrence Principe in this magisterial study. He traces its trajectory from ancient Egypt through its development in the Islamic world, Latin Europe and beyond. (See Jennifer Rampling's review: Nature 491, 38; 2012.)

Round About the Earth: Circumnavigation from Magellan to Orbit

  • Joyce E. Chaplin
( Simon & Schuster, 2013)

The ultimate round trip, circumnavigation has seduced scientists and explorers for five centuries. This riveting history covers sea, land, air, space, and transport from feet to Sputnik. (See Andrew Robinson's review: Nature 491, 39; 2012.)

Mirror Earth: The Search for Our Planet's Twin

  • Michael D. Lemonick
( Bloomsbury, 2013)

Science writer Michael Lemonick explores astronomers' interest in sister worlds. Focusing on NASA's Kepler space telescope, this book is studded with in-depth portraits of exoplaneteers such as David Charbonneau, hunter of super-Earths. (See Sara Seager's review: Nature 490, 479; 2012.)

Inside the Centre: The Life of J. Robert Oppenheimer

  • Ray Monk
( Vintage, 2013)

This testimony to the triumphs and foibles of J. Robert Oppenheimer is illuminating. Ray Monk follows the physicist from adolescence to his role in the construction of the first atomic bomb. (See Istvan Hargittai's review: Nature 491, 670; 2012.)

The War of the Sexes: How Conflict and Cooperation Have Shaped Men and Women from Prehistory to the Present

  • Paul Seabright
( Princeton University Press, 2013)

An economist examines animals' tactics for ensuring reproduction, and ponders how human evolution can explain gender inequities in the West. (See John Whitfield's review: Nature 484, 317; 2012.)

The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines

  • Michael E. Mann
( Columbia University Press, 2013)

Meteorologist Michael Mann recounts the attack on his seminal 1998 global warming paper. The lengths to which deniers have gone to discredit the research continue to astound. (See Simon Lewis' review: Nature 483, 402–403; 2012.)

How to Think Like a Neandertal

Thomas Wynn and Frederick L. Coolidge. (Oxford University Press, 2013)

This study of mental similarities between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals suggests that the powerful early humans had language, attended to their dead — and might have appreciated slapstick. (See Clive Gamble's review: Nature 479, 294–295; 2011.)

The Sounding of the Whale: Science and Cetaceans in the Twentieth Century

  • D. Graham Burnett
( University of Chicago Press, 2013)

Sobering insights abound in a history of cetacean science that powerfully reflects the mixed human response to Earth's largest mammal. (See Philip Hoare's review: Nature 481, 141–142; 2012.)

Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat

  • Bee Wilson
( Basic Books, 2013)

Food historian Bee Wilson looks at how need sparks culinary innovation. She reveals, for instance, that China's lack of firewood led to the ultimate 'fast food' technique, stir-frying. (See Barbara Ketcham Wheaton's review: Nature 489, 500; 2012.)

Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work and Think

Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Kenneth Cukier. (John Murray Publishers, 2013)

Big data is key to numerous fields and social-networking sites. Among many case studies, the authors contend that Google Flu Trends monitors influenza's spread better than traditional systems.

Prize Fight: The Race and the Rivalry to be the First in Science

  • Morton A. Meyers
( Palgrave Macmillan, 2013)

A burning urge for discovery is often allied to a burning ambition for a Nobel. Among the cases here is that of Albert Schatz, who found streptomycin in 1943 but saw the prize go to his supervisor. (See Hidde Ploegh's review: Nature 486, 318–319; 2012.)

Gravity's Engines

  • Caleb Scharf
( Scientific American, 2013)

Astrobiologist Caleb Scharf investigates black holes — regions of space-time that pull in matter and light. He shows how those in galactic centres gobble stars, belch out plasma, and are the most efficient energy generators in the cosmos. (See Mario Livio's review: Nature 488, 278; 2012.)

Ordinary Geniuses: How Two Mavericks Shaped Modern Science

  • Gino Segrè
( Penguin, 2013)

In these intertwined stories of cosmologist George Gamow and biologist Max Delbrück, we see how Gamow explained the creation of hydrogen and helium in the Big Bang, and Delbrück's study of bacterial viruses opened a new approach to genetics.

Memory: Fragments of a Modern History

  • Alison Winter
( University of Chicago Press, 2013)

A subtly nuanced cultural and scientific history of our 'recording mechanism'. Alison Winter reveals how memory has been tested variously in 'labs' like the courtroom, where phenomena such as false-memory syndrome have emerged. (See Barbara Kiser's review: Nature 479, 475; 2011.)

We Are What We Pretend To Be: The First and Last Works

  • Kurt Vonnegut
( Vanguard Press, 2013)

The fiction of trained chemist Kurt Vonnegut touches on themes of societal ignorance and anti-authoritarianism. In this posthumous collection, Vonnegut's first and last pieces of fiction are pervaded by his trademark dark humour.

The Techno-Human Condition

Braden R. Allenby and Daniel Sarewitz. (The MIT Press, 2013)

Technology is progressing so rapidly that we may be unable to fully prepare for it. This insightful take on a tangled issue points to the looming possibility of technological evolution outpacing human intent.