Vanessa Woods is a cognitive psychologist who has worked substantially on the evolution of prosocial behaviours in species as diverse as dogs and bonobos. Writing together with Brian Hare, Survival of the Friendliest is infused with humour and personal insights.

Kindred: Neanderthal life, love, death and art is an exhaustive overview of how our past relatives have been misunderstood as brutish sub-humans, and reviews extensive evidence of the complexity of their cognitive and social landscapes. Rebecca Wragg Sykes is a respected scholar in this field, and ties together the history of the discipline with cogent explanations of cutting edge data.

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Ed Yong is a fantastic science writer, and in ‘An Immense World’ his tremendous overview of sensory systems in a wide variety of animals illuminates the wild diversity of how different minds perceive their environments. From moths trapped in the alluring pull of streetlights to dolphins able to detect pregnancies using sonar.

Sally Adee is a journalist who made a splash with her first hand experience of electrically enhanced sniper training. In “We are electric” she revisits the topic of electricity in the body with one eye on the history of bioelectricity (Galvani was done dirty by Volta), and the other on the future (including possible applications in wound healing, cancer treatment and recovery from spinal cord damage). Her cautionary tales about snake-oil sellers are prescient reminders that hype-merchants aren’t always the most diligent nor the most ethical scientists!

The books are linked by the fact that sensation relies on bioelectric signals, but the overlaps are even more interesting when you get into the weeds.

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In Empire of AI, Karen Hao, a long-time tech journalist gives an incredible review of the internal machinations of Open AI and its impacts on the planet, from some of the weird connections to Harry Potter fan fiction (🖇️), through its era as a non-profit, to the trauma caused by the human-industry required to provide labelled data for the supposedly intelligent engines to develop something moderately relevant. She also reviews powerful people-drived movements from across the globe pushing back on the environmental impact of current scaling models. A fascinating insight into corporate power, key individuals and the tools they are trying to dream into existence.

Emily Bender (professor of Computational Linguistics) and Alex Hanna (researcher for Distributed AI Research) co-host a weekly Twitch stream where they tackle AI-related spin with great humour and highly informed perspectives. In The AI Con they break down the dangers of taking corporate messaging at face value, and share their insights into the nature of machine learning, its real-life limits, and real-world harms. Lightly written and compelling to read, this book can arm you against an onslaught of unnecessary acquiescence.

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Richard Wiseman is the OG ghost busting prof. He has been working for years on what it means to have a paranormal experience and how we can test what is going on under the hood of a spooky feeling. He’s the Prof who conduced studies of ghostly encounters in a haunted palace. He’s also a stage magician, and a great storyteller. Paranormality is a great book with lots of fun stories and a powerful evidence base.

Chris French is an experimental psychologist who built his own experimental haunted house! The Science of Weird Shit Another great collection of evidence and perspectives on why people experience the supernatural and the spooky.

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