BOOK REVIEWS

Chemical Control

Michael Crowley
Palgrave Macmillan,
£48.00

Life’s Greatest Secret: The race to crack the genetic code

Matthew Cobb
Profile Books, £25.00

This book is a thrilling read. After the elucidation of the structure of DNA, the unravelling of the genetic code – which allows DNA to direct protein synthesis – was one of the great achievements of 20th century biological science.

Cobb sets the topic in context by discussing the history of genetics and

Planet of the Bugs: Evolution and the Rise of Insects

Scott Richard Shaw
The University of Chicago Press,
£12.00

The Cell: A Visual Tour of the Building Block of Life

Jack Challoner and Dr Phil Dash (ed)

Ivy Press, £19.99

It's All In Your Head (Winner, General Book Prize)

Suzanne O'Sullivan

Chatto & Windus, £16.99

Written by a consultant neurologist, this book explores the phenomenon of psychosomatic illness. Dr O'Sullivan describes a series of real but anonymised patients who present with genuine clinical features – convulsions, paralysis, pain, loss of vision – for which no physical causes can be

Quantitative Viral Ecology (Winner, Graduate Textbook Prize)

Joshua S Weitz
Princeton University Press, £51.95

In the preface, the author declares that the "study of the viruses of microbes is in its infancy" and that "this book is an opening salvo". As openings go, Quantitative Viral Ecology is an outstanding one, representing an impressive scholarly endeavour and overview of the field. The book has three

Haematology, second edition (Winner, Undergraduate Textbook Prize)

Gary Moore, Gavin Knight and Andrew Blann
Oxford University Press, £39.99

The second edition of Haematology is an excellent example of a modern textbook for undergraduates. The clear writing and excellent illustrations make it easy to read and understand. Although it is a standalone text, it is supported by a comprehensive online resource centre that features a lot of

Spirals in Time: The Secret Life and Curious Afterlife of Seashells

Helen Scales
Bloomsbury Sigma, £16.99

They have been sources of food, medicine, jewellery and even ancient body armour, and this lovely book charts the spiralling story of the molluscs – some of the most ancient and successful creatures on the planet.

Spirals in Time is as much cultural as scientific in its telling of fascinating stories