Books

Big Think Home
For Business
A close up of a woman reading a book.
The word "BOOKS" is shown in large white letters, with the two O's replaced by an open-book graphic on a light gray background.
Where books open worlds.
Follow on Substack

Books are more than stories on a page — they are mirrors, maps, challenges, and companions in understanding ourselves and the world we inhabit.

Big Think Books is a space devoted to the writers and ideas that shape culture, knowledge, and the way we think. Through thoughtful recommendations, deep dives, and engaging commentary, this column guides readers toward books that expand curiosity, provoke insight, and deepen understanding across fields like science, history, psychology, literature, and more. Whether you’re exploring the latest releases or rediscovering timeless classics, here you’ll find ideas worth your time and thought.

with

Kevin Dickinson is a staff writer and columnist at Big Think, focusing on the intersection of education, psychology, business, and science. He holds a master’s in English and writing, and his work has appeared in Agenda, RealClearScience, and The Washington Post.

Full Profile
A man with short gray hair and wearing a plaid shirt is seated at a wooden table in a dimly lit restaurant, smiling at the camera.
Mapping the brain won’t unlock all its secrets. That’s a good thing.
In an excerpt from her new book, Circuit Breakers, Anna Chambers explains how brain-mapping research leads to more questions than answers.

by Anna Chambers

Book cover for “Circuit Breakers: How Neuroscientists Get Inside Your Head” by Anna Chambers, PhD, featuring a colorful watercolor illustration mapping the brain.
Everything Articles
Book cover for “Sniff: A History of Smells” by William Tullett, featuring an illustration of two fish on a platter.
Books
The world hasn’t become less smelly — we’ve just lost our nasal knowledge
The modern world is still rich with scents, but we've become less adept at navigating life with our noses.
Will Tullett
Book cover for the safer book “Safer: A Playbook” by Raj Panjabi, MD, with a foreword by Vivek H. Murthy, MD.
Books
You can’t eliminate uncertainty — but you can prevent it from paralyzing you
Drawing on his experience leading the White House's pandemic preparedness effort, Raj Panjabi explains how COVID taught him to prepare for the unexpected.
Raj Panjabi
Four identical decorative faces with leafy headpieces are shown in a row; the third face is circled in purple with lines and stars drawn around the group.
Books
4 hilarious ancient Greek comedies — that still hold up today
Two thousand years before the sitcom, ancient Greek playwrights were mining sex, politics, and family drama for laughs.
Scotty Hendricks
Book cover for “Envy” by Stacy S. Kim, PhD, with bold pink text, green snakes symbolizing envy, purple flowers, and the subtitle: “Why wanting what they have is the key to getting what you want.”.
Books
The surprising upside of envy, the emotion we’re taught to hide
Envy gets a bad rap, but it can be a powerful source of self-knowledge.
Stacy S. Kim
Book cover of “Bogland” by Merritt R. Turetsky, featuring illustrations of bogland plants, mosses, and a dragonfly against a light brown background.
Books
The ancient environmental archive hidden beneath a northern bog
Peatlands preserve thousands of years of ecological history beneath our feet. Now, a warming climate is transforming that record with startling speed.
Merritt R. Turetsky
Book cover of “The Spaceflight Narrative” by Alexander MacDonald, featuring a circular abstract design against a black background, with text in white.
Books
Before Jules Verne, Edgar Allan Poe imagined the Space Age
Poe's story about a fantastical voyage to the Moon was the first to give the concept of spaceflight a basis in science.
Alexander MacDonald
Book cover for “A Brief History of Cities in 32 Inventions” by Jonn Elledge, featuring ancient city walls, roads, vehicles, and buildings on a lavender background.
Books
City walls conquered the ancient world and then disappeared. Why?
The story of how one of civilization’s most enduring technologies became a picturesque relic.
Jonn Elledge
Black and white drawing of a globe labeled “Ancient Continent,” with chaotic red scribbles covering the lower half.
Books
The Onion co-founder recommends 5 satires that roasted the world (for the better)
From banned books to modern classics, these satirical masterpieces show how humor and irony can help expose society’s deepest flaws.
Kevin Dickinson
The word “why?” in a black serif font, circled by a loose, hand-drawn red scribble, reflecting why we ask why.
Books
We’re wired to ask why — here’s what we’re really searching for
In her new book, Why We Ask Why, cognitive scientist Tania Lombrozo turns the question "why" back on itself.
Jasna Hodžić
Book cover of “The Shortest History of Reality” by Geraint F. Lewis, featuring blue tones, white text, and an atom illustration on a red background.
Books
The enduring mystery of how a brain becomes a mind
Complexity may explain how billions of simple neurons give rise to thought, creativity, and consciousness.
Geraint F. Lewis
Portrait of a man in a powdered wig and red coat, reminiscent of the new dark ages, looking intently at an open book.
Books
Reading habits for the new literary ‘dark ages’
As screens consume greater amounts of our time, we risk losing the habits of mind that helped us build the modern world.
Tim Brinkhof
A classical portrait of a woman with gray hair and pearls, her mouth obscured by white scribbles.
Books
You know history’s famous quotes — but do you understand them?
Eli Burnstein’s new book reveals language’s strange power through some of history’s best-remembered quotes.
Ross Pomeroy
Book cover for “A Fabulous Debt” by Robin Wigglesworth, featuring a historical painting of a man holding a piece of paper, with gold and white text on a black background.
Books
The 12th-century military disaster that forever changed global finance
After a plague-ridden crusade left Venice drowning in debt, the republic created the world's first bond market, changing the relationship between the government and its citizens.
Robin Wigglesworth
A grid displays 45 colorful classic novel book covers, including titles like “Catch-22,” “Lolita,” “On the Road,” and “Infinite Jest.”.
Books
Scratching the surface: A field guide to 100 essential novels
In our age of screens and shrinking attention spans, let this analog challenge be your progress bar toward literary beauty and joy.
Frank Jacobs
A person lies in bed covered by a blanket, resting their head on a pillow and holding a closed book on their chest.
Books
The secret to reading more classics? Don’t treat them like homework.
Classics editor Henry Eliot shares his strategies for getting started, staying motivated, and finding joy in literature’s great books.
Kevin Dickinson
A colorful map titled “A Literary Map of America,” showing U.S. states with notable authors’ names and works, displayed in front of shelves filled with books.
Books
America is too big for the Great American Novel
A map is a text in its own right, and like a Pynchon novel, this one can be read in a multitude of ways.
Frank Jacobs
Book cover of “The Opposite of Happiness” by George Loewenstein, featuring a large bubble and a pin about to pop it above the title.
Books
Misery is an emotional feature, not a glitch in the system
Why do anger, regret, and shame linger? Because evolution optimized our emotions to keep us alive, not to make us happy.
George Loewenstein
A person wearing old-fashioned clothing and a red hat is holding and reading an open book, appearing focused and slightly puzzled.
Books
Beyond the Odyssey: A beginner’s guide to Greek mythology
Classicist Natalie Haynes joins us to discuss the trials and joys of learning about ancient Greece and its myths.
Tim Brinkhof
Book cover of “Nary a Horse Left Standing” by Lee Alan Dugatkin, featuring an old illustration of men by a horse-drawn streetcar, with bold white and yellow text overlaid.
Books
The 19th-century veterinarian who nearly cracked one of medicine’s oldest mysteries
The Great Epizootic of 1872 gave James Law the evidence he needed to challenge centuries of thinking surrounding the origins of disease.
Lee Alan Dugatkin
Book cover with the title “Kobuk the Destroyer” by Alex Davies, featuring a bear firing a cannon and a flying rabbit reminiscent of Jimmy Doolittle’s daring spirit, all set against a striking red background.
Books
The test pilot who made airplanes safer (by teaching us how to break them better)
Jimmy Doolittle pushed aircraft to their limits and, in the process, helped turn flight testing from daredevilry into a discipline.
Alex Davies