Category Archives: science

Food for Life – the new science of eating well by Tim Spector

Posted on February 9, 2023 by bookbii

I was part way through reading another book when this one became available at the library. I’d reserved it some time late last year, when I reserved it I was something like number 32 in the list so I figured … Continue reading →

Posted in food, gut health, microbiome, non-fiction, nutrition, science | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

The Ideal Reader Book 14: The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard

Posted on January 1, 2019 by bookbii

The horror of the nineteen days it took us to travel from Cape Evans to Cape Crozier would have to be re-experienced to be appreciated: and any one would be a fool who went again: it is not possible to … Continue reading →

Posted in exploration, memoir, science, The Ideal Reader | 7 Comments

The Tree by John Fowles

Posted on April 10, 2017 by bookbii

“There is something in the nature of nature, in its presentness, its seeming transience, its creative ferment and hidden potential, that corresponds very closely with the wild, or green man, in our psyches; and it is a something that disappears … Continue reading →

Posted in memoir, nature, philosophy, science | 13 Comments

Farthest North by Dr. Fridjof Nansen

Posted on February 19, 2017 by bookbii

Fridtjof Nansen is a name which should trip off the tongue as easily as that of Scott and Shackleton, though perhaps more so because his polar exploration activity was more successful if less dramatic. Nansen was a scientist, a biologist … Continue reading →

Posted in Arctic, exploration, non-fiction, polar, science, travel | 5 Comments

Absence of Mind by Marilynne Robinson

Posted on November 5, 2016 by bookbii

I’ve probably mentioned now and again how much I admire Marilynne Robinson. She’s not a prolific writer, but she’s a brilliant one. Famous for her books centred around the fictional town of Gilead: Home, Gilead and Lila, as well as … Continue reading →

Posted in essays, neurology, non-fiction, psychology, religion, science | 5 Comments

Chernobyl Prayer by Svetlana Alexievich (translated by Anna Gunin and Arch Tait)

Posted on August 17, 2016 by bookbii

“What do savages understand about lightning?” Svetlana Alexievich won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2015, a win which was greeted with a mass ‘eh’ from the West, as Alexievich was not a well-known writer in the Western literary world. … Continue reading →

Posted in health, non-fiction, Penguin Books, politics, science, translation | 9 Comments

It’s All in Your Head by Suzanne O’Sullivan

Posted on June 4, 2016 by bookbii

After reading Cure I found myself with a real appetite for reading books about medical science. I think the non-fiction books I love have distinct categories and themes: nature (of course), travel, psychology and medicine. I find the human experience … Continue reading →

Posted in health, medicine, non-fiction, science | 6 Comments

Cure – a journey into the science of mind over body by Jo Marchant

Posted on May 28, 2016 by bookbii

I find books about health, the nature of the mind and body really fascinating, so this book by Jo Marchant was always going to be right up my street. In Cure, Marchant explores the concept of the mind influencing the … Continue reading →

Posted in Canongate, health, medicine, non-fiction, psychology, science | 2 Comments