The Canon: The Beautiful Basics of Science by Natalie Angier

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Why is it, wonders the science writer Natalie Angier, that kids tend to love science when they are young and then bore of it? Why is it that science-minded adolescents get called "geeks, nerds, eggheads, pointy-heads &"? At a certain point of complication, says Angier, science gets dull. So in this book she tries to reverse the situation — and succeeds, with brilliant, down-to-earth explanations of how complicated things like atoms and genes work. Read her description of photons bouncing off a rose petal and you'll never think of colour in the same way again.

Synopsis by Foyles.co.uk

Unless we are brilliant at science in our teenage years, many of us put off childish things - science museums, an interest in palaeontology - in favour of art galleries, museums and concert halls. A cultured person, Natalie Angier argues, should know about the classic ideas of physics and evolutionary biology as well as the classic works of Beethoven and Picasso. Drawing on conversations with hundreds of the world's leading scientists, Angier takes us on a vivid, good-humoured and informative tour of this neglected canon. An entertaining guide to scientific literacy for anyone who wants to understand the great issues of our age - from stem cell research to bird flu and global warming - this is a joyride through the great subjects that explain the machinery of this place we call home.