As vice-president and foreign secretary of the Royal Society, Brian Heap
spends much of his time looking for anyone who can make science accessible. In
this vein he’s just finished re-reading When did I begin? by Norman M. Ford
(Cambridge, 1992). Ford is a Catholic priest, and his book looks at how
scientists and philosophers have helped shape our views on human conception.
It’s “an important background to the current debate about reproductive
technologies and stem cells”, says Heap.
Another topical scientific debate—our limitless pursuit of a better
quality of life—gets the full treatment in The Wealth of…
