Video: The book that changed my life

Exclusive video: Find out which books inspired the writers and editors at New Scientist

A great book has the power to move, inspire or even change lives. From adventure tales of the Arctic to the ultimate in quantum weirdness, here are the books that have left a lasting impression on some of the world’s top scientists, including Oliver Sacks, Michio Kaku, Jane Goodall, and more. Exclusive online contributions come from Daniel Everett, Elaine Morgan and Chris Frith.

After reading our selection of recommendations, you may want to make your own. Post an account of your own life-changing book in the comments below. The very best suggestions may appear in the magazine and online.


1. Farthest North – Steve Jones, geneticist

2. The Art of the Soluble – V. S. Ramachandran, neuroscientist

3. Animal Liberation – Jane Goodall, primatologist

4. The Foundation trilogy – Michio Kaku, theoretical physicist

5. Alice in Wonderland – Alison Gopnik, developmental psychologist

6. One, Two, Three… Infinity – Sean Carroll, theoretical physicist

7. The Idea of a Social Science – Harry Collins, sociologist of science

8. Handbook of Mathematical Functions – Peter Atkins, chemist

9. The Mind of a Mnemonist – Oliver Sacks, neurologist

10. A Mathematician’s Apology – Marcus du Sautoy, mathematician

11. The Leopard – Susan Greenfield, neurophysiologist

12. Darwin and the Emergence of Evolutionary Theories of Mind and Behavior – Frans de Waal, psychologist and ethologist

13. Catch-22 / The First Three Minutes – Lawrence Krauss, physicist

14. William James, Writings 1878-1910 – Daniel Everett, linguist

15. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep – Chris Frith, neuroscientist

16. The Naked Ape – Elaine Morgan, author of The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis

17. King Solomon’s Ring – Marian Stamp Dawkins, Zoologist