It is undeniable that history remains the most rewarding way into science for many. Walter Gratzer’s tales are delightful from the opening pages on the great stench that swept over Cambridge as chemists explored stereochemistry on college roofs to why Feynman was banned from a lab because of a lawn sprinkler. Eurekas and Euphorias (Oxford University Press, £8.99) is a great collection.
Simon Winchester’s Krakotoa (Penguin, £7.99) takes a single event and explores its repercussions around the world from the London artist recording the rich colours of dusty sunsets in more than 500 watercolours to the telegraph carrying the news as fast as the dust spread…
