Books

Here are the 67 books Scientific American staffers couldn’t put down this year, from fantasy epics to gripping nonfiction

Scientific American unveils its first-ever best fiction and nonfiction books of the year, spotlighting stories that blend science, imagination and unforgettable voices.

If you enjoyed Beth Gardiner’s feature about big oil’s bet on plastics, here are more books curated by Scientific American

In a new book, NASA astrobiologist Caleb Scharf says the fate of life on Earth may hinge on leaving our planet behind

The popularization of the term “slop” for AI output follows a centuries-long pattern where new tools flood the zone, audiences adapt and some of tomorrow’s art emerges from today’s excess

Migraine and cluster headaches affect millions—yet research remains surprisingly thin.

Astronaut-turned-author Chris Hadfield discusses his new thriller Final Orbit, which weaves real cold war history, space race geopolitics and firsthand experience into a gripping work of fiction.

Tim Flach captures his fascination with the science of cats in stunning photographs from his new book Feline

Mary Roach unpacks the millennia-long effort to replace failing body parts—and the reasons that modern medicine still struggles to match the original designs.

Annotating the margins of books is an important part of deep reading and has a long legacy of merit in both science and literature

 In his new book, Daniel Yon explains how our brain is constantly constructing reality

A collection of seven book reviews from our archives, each paired with a recently published book we recommend