Outsider Animals
Marlene Zuk Princeton Univ. Press (2026)
Evolutionary biologist Marlene Zuk’s charming book begins with a night-time encounter with young raccoons (Procyon lotor) on the deck outside her bedroom in California. They were playing noisily with a hose — and when she tried to shoo them away, one stood up and raised its forelegs, as if inviting her to join in. Zuk calls them outsider animals: “creatures that can intrude upon our lives” but “that don’t need us to survive”. Also included are gulls, cockroaches and coyotes (Canis latrans) — each with its own chapter.
Prophecy
Carissa Véliz Swift (2026)
Prophecy began with divination in ancient Mesopotamia in the third millennium bc. Today, it is integral to predictions made by artificial-intelligence tools, writes philosopher Carissa Véliz in her fascinating, and often worrying, analysis of AI. The close connections between tech bosses and political leaders remind her of the mystic Rasputin’s relationship with Russian tsar Nicholas II. Reliance on AI’s predictions, she argues, takes away our freedom: “Democracy needs uncertainty to thrive.” But philosophy can be an “antidote to prophecy”.
The Powerful Primate
Roland Ennos Scribner (2026)
As an academic, Roland Ennos researched comparative biomechanics: the design and function of animals and plants. Now retired, he has written a formidable history charting how humans learnt to generate increasing power and energy. He argues that industrialization “shaped modern history” by leading to urbanization, transformation of the countryside and globalization. Although Ennos admires this miracle, he accepts it is also devastating, because humans have become “bullies of the natural world”.
Einstein
Brian Foster Oxford Univ. Press (2026)
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