A View From The Foothills: The Diaries of Chris Mullin Chris Mullin Alan Clarke meets Yes Minister in this wry and self-deprecating diary about life in the New Labour Government from 1999 to 2007. Says Mullin, ‘It is said that failed politicians make the best diarists. In which case I am in with a chance.’ MORE
The Checklist Manifesto: How to get things right Atul Gawande Today we find ourselves in possession of stupendous know-how, which we willingly place in the hands of the most highly skilled and hard-working people. Yet avoidable failures are common, and the reason is simple: the volume and complexity of our knowledge has exceeded our ability to consistently deliver it to people – correctly, safely or efficiently. MORE
How to Make a Tornado: The strange and wonderful things that happen when scientists break free New Scientist Science tells us grand things about the universe: how fast light travels, and why stones fall to earth. But scientific endeavour goes far beyond these obvious foundations. There are some fields we don't often hear about because they are so specialised, or turn out to be dead ends. Yet researchers have given hallucinogenic drugs to blind people (seriously), tried to weigh the soul as it departs the body and planned to blast a new Panama Canal with atomic weapons. MORE
Ten Technologies to Fix Energy and Climate Chris Goodall Everyone agrees we need to slash global greenhouse emissions. But how do we actually achieve that? Politicians can set targets and consumers can try to live greener lives. But the world will only avoid runaway global warming with the help of technological breakthroughs. MORE
