Here are our top picks from a list of about 20 science and math books published in 2022 so far. By chance, three of the four are also the top three among Goodreads readers. Along the way we’ll review a couple of older books on the same subjects – the greatest of the great.
There are several new books about the Covid pandemic. The Invisible Siege is the best – an edge-of-the-seat read:
The best book of any age on viruses has to be Dorothy Crawford's Viruses, from the Very Short Introduction series. I rarely read biology books more than four years old, because the science is moving so quickly, but Crawford’s book is so peerless that it’s still the best book on the topic after 10 years.
There are two new books we might call microhistories or natural histories, that style of focused history that has been popular for the last 15 years. Oceans of Grain is about American grain and its impact on the global balance of power starting 150 years ago. (And yes, since you asked, an ocean of grain is organized into amber waves.)
Beyond Measure is a history of measurement from ancient times to now. (Published in June in the UK, but available for preorder in the US.)
My favorite microhistory of all time is The Box, the definitive history of container shipping. Its greatness is its fascinating subject. It’s hard to name a narrow topic that has had more impact on the world than container shipping.
Finally, April brought us a new entry in Ben Orlin’s series of “Bad Drawings” books.
According to Orlin’s review of his own book (is that allowed?), his 2-year-old daughter says she wrote this book!