Best books… Martin Rees
The Astronomer Royal picks his six favourite books. His latest book, On the Future: Prospects for Humanity, is published by Princeton University Press at £14.99, and is also available as an e-book and an audiobook
The Times Complete History of the World,
1978 (William Collins £75). This was one of my favourite books when it was first published. It graphically portrays the history of exploration and how empires have come and gone. For those with visual memories, it’s an easy way to learn both history and geography.
This Boy by Alan Johnson, 2013 (Corgi £8.99). This is the first of three memoirs by the former Labour home secretary. It describes his impoverished upbringing with his mother, a charlady, who was abandoned by her husband and died when Johnson was 13. He tells his story without complaint. It’s a pity he’s no longer in politics.
Becoming by Michelle Obama, 2018 (Viking £25). Deserving of the razzmatazz it’s generated, Obama’s autobiography chronicles a life that took her from humble origins to the White House. It’s full of insights about US politics and society, and reminds us of an admirable First Family.
The Value of Everything by Mariana Mazzucato, 2018 (Allen Lane £20). An excoriating analysis of what’s gone wrong with Western economies. Wealth is increasingly concentrated in the hands of those who don’t provide socially useful services or worthwhile innovations, but misuse their intelligence to topslice money from the rest of us.
Living with the Gods by Neil Macgregor, 2018 (Allen Lane £30). A superbly illustrated book based on Macgregor’s BBC Radio 4 series. His theme is the embeddedness of religion and art in all civilisations. His coverage extends back to a 40,000-year-old statue of a man with a lion’s head.
Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon, 1937 (SF Masterworks £8.99). I tell students it’s better to read good science fiction than second-rate science: it’s far more interesting and no more likely to be wrong. In this sci-fi classic, Stapledon envisages a creator of universes, some resembling those that cosmologists speculate about today.