BOOK REVIEW

23 October 2026

Andrew Robinson reviews five of the best science picks.

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Andrew Robinson Andrew Robinson is a writer based in London and author of Earthshock (1993), The Story of Measurement (2007) and Einstein in Oxford (2024).

Wonders of the Quantum World

Danni Holmes Melbourne Univ. Press (2026)

“If a fully-fledged quantum computer arrived on our doorstep today, it would be like giving a caveman a smartphone,” writes physicist Danni Holmes. Her first book is a sparkling analysis of the quantum world. It takes the non-physicist reader through the laws of classical physics discovered by Isaac Newton and James Clerk Maxwell to more-recent fascinating facets of the field, such as the reason why black holes don’t last forever and whether human consciousness could have a quantum origin.

The Age of Cures

Barry Werth Simon & Schuster (2026)

Any study of the US pharmaceutical industry involves finance as well as science, as journalist Barry Werth unpacked in his first book, The…