“She may look at it because it has pictures.” That was Florence Nightingale’s withering comment, as she sent a report about public health reform to Queen Victoria.Nightingale was not much impressed with the Queen (“The least self-reliant person I have ever known”)....
The self-help genre gets a bad press, and not without reason, but there are a few self-help books that I’ve read, enjoyed, and felt wiser as a result. The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff. I found this wise, witty little book served as a touchstone throughout my...
I don't think it's too early to provide a list of some of the best books about the pandemic - several of these books, in fact, were written before Sars-Cov-2 ever made the leap to humans. Covid-19 by Debora Mackenzie came out very early in the crisis and some of it...
Ananyo Bhattacharya, The Man From the Future - A biography not only of the genius's genius, John von Neumann, but also of von Neumann's ideas and influence, which are nearly impossible to exaggerate. Serious and brilliantly-written. David Bodanis, The Art of Fairness...
Well, I don't know. But The Week kindly asked me to send a list of my 'best books' and I wasn't sure how to interpret the question. So here goes! Getting Things Done by Edwin Bliss. I stumbled upon this book a boy and it opened my mind to the then-radical idea that...
When Alexi Pappas and I realised we were releasing books at around the same time, she suggested that we do a book swap and send each other our books. What a good idea, especially since I probably read too much social science - and I'm a firm believer in a little...
Chapter nine of "The Data Detective" / "How To Make The World Add Up" is all about data visualisation - its power, and its pitfalls. The overarching story is about how one woman launched a public health revolution, armed with a fancy pie chart. I'm fond of the chapter...
Do you want to be able to think more clearly about the world? Do you want to be able to evaluate the claims that swirl around you in the media and on social media? Do you wish you knew what questions to ask to sift out the truth from the misinformation? Are you a...
I’m delighted to be sharing a publication day, 2 February, with Adam Grant and his new book, Think Again. Well, mostly delighted: that’s one fewer slot on the bestseller lists for me to aim for. Think Again is a stone cold classic and destined to do extremely well....