The Invention of Tomorrow
Thomas Suddendorf, Jon Redshaw & Adam Bulley Basic (2022)
“The human mental time machine is a complex and powerful device that allows us to imagine virtually whatever, wherever, whenever,” remarks this thoughtful, far-ranging study of foresight by three cognitive scientists. Among their numerous lively examples, from Palaeolithic to modern times, are children whom the group observed responding to a reward being dropped down a tube with two exits. Aged two, they generally put a hand under only one exit, but by four most covered both — having learnt to think ahead.
Striking Back
Lucas Kello Yale Univ. Press (2022)
Reports of Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election revealed a threat to peace. Yet it went unpunished, like many political cyberattacks. This complacency must end, argues international-relations specialist Lucas Kello in his disturbing book, recommended by former directors of US and UK intelligence agencies. Western democracies are “adept at technological innovation” but “behind the times” on its security implications, he says. He suggests a “punctuated deterrence” approach that targets the interests of totalitarian nations.
First Dawn
Roberto Battiston MIT Press (2022)
In 1923, Edwin Hubble’s observations of the Andromeda nebula proved that there were galaxies beyond the Milky Way. Astroparticle physicist Roberto Battiston compares such revelations to humanity’s changing understanding of dawn. Rather than daybreak “running to meet us”, we now know that Earth’s rotation moves us towards it. Battiston’s elegant book on the history of knowledge about the cosmos — oddly unillustrated — examines the Sun’s birth, how planets form, life’s origins, black holes, gravitational waves and more.
The Curious History of Weights and Measures
Claire Cock-Starkey Bodleian Library Publishing (2023)
“Man is the measure of all things,” said Greek philosopher Protagoras 2,500 years ago. Judging from the mind-boggling variety of body‑based units, such as the cubit, that were used until measurements were standardized, “he wasn’t wrong”, says Claire Cock-Starkey in her enjoyable, if Anglocentric, illustrated history. She focuses on weight, length, area, volume and culinary measures, but also discusses the Beaufort wind scale, the Scoville scale of spiciness and the Bristol stool scale for monitoring bowel function.
Homo Sapiens Rediscovered
Paul Pettitt Thames & Hudson (2022)
Modern Homo sapiens owe much to our ice age ancestors, observes archaeologist Paul Pettitt after almost three decades of research. Their innovations include sewing needles, tailored clothing, jewellery, burial of the dead, art, dogs, weapons, tents, lamps, villages, and even, possibly, a form of writing. Genetic advances have transformed understanding of early human evolution, but “we are far more than our DNA”, writes Pettitt. Looking at sites around the world, he rediscovers their ancient inhabitants as people.
