Keep calm and make vaccines… Our critic selects his picks of this year’s best science books

  • Nick Rennison selected the best science books of 2014 
  • Professor Roy Taylor’s Simple Guide to Overcoming Type 2 Diabetes 
  • Viral: The Search For The Origin Of Covid-19 by Alina Chan and Matt Ridley 










VIRAL: THE SEARCH FOR THE ORIGIN OF COVID-19 by Alina Chan and Matt Ridley (Fourth Estate £20, 400 pp)

VIRAL: SEARCHING FOR COVID-19’S ORIGIN by Alina Chan and Matt Ridley (Fourth Estate £20, 400 pp)

VIRAL: THE SEARCH FOR THE ORIGIN OF COVID-19 

by Alina Chan and Matt Ridley (Fourth Estate £20, 400 pp)

The origins of the Covid-19 epidemic are still unknown. Two years later, scientists still have not established the origin of the pandemic. The finger of suspicion was pointed at various animals including bats and pangolins.

Alina Chan, Matt Ridley and Matt Ridley look at the evidence suggesting that the virus may have been transmitted to Wuhan in China’s first reported cases. There is a possibility that the virus may have been able to escape from this laboratory. Perhaps the virus was even engineered in that area. In a closely argued book, the authors find no ‘smoking gun’ but investigate the alarming possibility ‘that scientific research, intended to avert a pandemic, instead started one’.

VAXXERS by Professor Sarah Gilbert and Dr Catherine Green (Hodder £20, 352 pp)

VAXXERS by Professor Sarah Gilbert and Dr Catherine Green (Hodder £20, 352 pp)

VAXXERS

by Professor Sarah Gilbert and Dr Catherine Green (Hodder £20, 352 pp)

Sarah Gilbert, Oxford University Professor of Vaccinology, found a coffee cup on her desk. It was January 2020. On it were the words, ‘Keep calm and make vaccines’.

Her colleague, Cath Green was her coauthor. They did this for many months. It was the AstraZeneca COvid-19 vaccine that resulted in the approval of this vaccine. This is one of the most important medical breakthroughs. Already millions have benefited from the work of these people, and many more will soon.

In Gilbert and Green’s own words, their book is a remarkable story of ‘ordinary people coming together in extraordinary times to attempt an extraordinary thing’.

YOUR SIMPLE GUIDE TO REVERSING TYPE 2 DIABETES by Professor Roy Taylor (Short Books £8.99, 160 pp)

A SIMPLE GUIDE ON REVERSING TTYPE 2 DIABES by Professor Roy Taylor (Short Books £8.99, 160 pp)

YOUR SIMPLE GUIDE TO REVERSING TYPE 2 DIABETES

by Professor Roy Taylor (Short Books £8.99, 160 pp)

You are likely to get bad news if you have type 2 diabetes. There is no ‘cure’. It is necessary to accept the fact that you will be taking more insulin and may need to take additional tablets. Your health will continue to deteriorate.

According to Professor Roy Taylor of Newcastle University, this is false. This book provides a clear guideline on the effects of type 2 diabetes on your body. The best part is that he offers a 3-step weight loss plan which can be used to escape the illness and reverse what was deemed irreversible.

WOMEN, FOOD AND HORMONES by Dr Sara Gottfried (Little Brown £14.99, 336 pp)

FOOD, WOMEN AND HORMONES by Dr Sara Gottfried (Little Brown £14.99, 336 pp)

WOMEN, FOOD AND HORMONES

by Dr Sara Gottfried (Little Brown £14.99, 336 pp)

Amid what Dr Gottfried calls ‘the noise of the diet culture’, it has become increasingly difficult for women to know how best to eat healthily. Problem is compounded because many of the dietary suggestions and much of the research on them are based only on studies on men.

Solutions lie not in ‘counting calories’ or ‘clocking miles on the treadmill’, but in following a diet designed to improve metabolism and hormonal balance.

The book is an invaluable guidebook for women, combining 60 pages with recipes and meal plans as well as clear explanations of her science-based advice.

To buy any book reviewed Here, go to mailshop.co.uk/ Books or phone 020 31762937

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