The Language Hoax: Why the World Looks the Same in Any Language

  • John H. McWhorter
Oxford University Press (2014)

In this manifesto for a logical linguistics, one of John H. McWhorter's many intriguing examples hinges on the colour blue. To an English speaker, it is one subtly graded hue, from robin's-egg to deep navy. To a Russian, pale and dark blue are different colours. But does this point to crucial differences in how Russian and English speakers perceive? Emphatically not, avers McWhorter. He tackles such linguistic determinism — the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis — head on, arguing that world views are human, not strapped to one culture.

Inheritance: How Our Genes Change Our Lives — and Our Lives Change Our Genes

  • Sharon Moalem
Grand Central Publishing (2014)

Physician Sharon Moalem delivers heavyweight genetics with a light touch in this study of “flexible inheritance” — the perpetual tango between genes and experience. He uses diagnostic readings of his patients (a bluish white of the eye, for instance, can indicate the bone-weakening condition osteogenesis imperfecta) as springboards for broader discussion on the complexities of genetic expression, 'handedness' and more. The idea of the genetic life sentence is shifting, he argues, even with some serious disorders.

The Science of Shakespeare: A New Look at the Playwright's Universe

  • Dan Falk
Thomas Dunne Books (2014)

As the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare's birth looms, many are debating whether the bard's plays reflect the new science of his era — a point that historian Jennifer Rampling has made in these pages (Nature 508, 39–40; 2014). Here, science writer Dan Falk weighs in, combing the dramas for traces of findings such as heliocentricity. Falk speculates entertainingly as he confers with scientists and Shakespeare experts, some sceptical, some gung-ho about the possibilities. But as with so much regarding the enigma from Stratford-upon-Avon, Falk's conclusion is ambiguous.

The Globalization of Clean Energy Technology: Lessons from China

  • Kelly Sims Gallagher
MIT Press (2014)

The need for clean-energy innovation has never been greater, yet pundits argue that trade barriers and intellectual-property issues hinder technology diffusion. Kelly Sims Gallagher's study of China — the world's leading energy consumer, and a hotbed for the production and export of imported technologies — offers nuance. Her take on the country's solar photovoltaic industry, for instance, busts myths about barriers, revealing that channels such as joint research and development have globalized technology transfer. The real issue, she argues, is a lack of viable government-policy incentives.

Are We All Scientific Experts Now?

  • Harry Collins
Polity Press (2014)

Forty years of work with gravitational-wave physicists has given sociologist Harry Collins an unusual perspective on scientific expertise, as chronicled in Gravity's Ghost and Big Dog (University of Chicago Press, 2013; see M. de Laet Nature 501, 164–165; 2013). Here, he distils his findings to clarify why specialized scientific knowledge is essential for all. Partly a polemic for lay readers still aghast at Climategate, this is also a reminder of why the values and aspirations of lab scientists matter.