Brain mysteries and Bronze Age diplomacy: Books in brief

Nature News · Feb 27, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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BOOK REVIEW 27 February 2026 Andrew Robinson reviews five of the best science picks. By Andrew Robinson0 Andrew Robinson Andrew Robinson is a writer based in London and author of Earthshock (1993), The Story of Measurement (2007) and Einstein in Oxford (2024). Decoding the HandAlison Bashford Univ. Chicago Press (2025)In the mid-twentieth century, geneticist Lionel Penrose observed correlations between genetic abnormalities and the creases of the hand, publishing his final paper ‘Fingerprints and palmistry’ in The Lancet in 1973. The hand has long intrigued physicians, embryologists, endocrinologists, psychiatrists and physical anthropologists, notes historian Alison Bashford. This fascinating, well-illustrated history explores the “mysterious, curious, and often complex codes by which signs of the hand have been interpreted”.The Long HeatWim Carton & Andreas Malm Verso (2025)In 2023, the United States “pumped more oil and gas than any country had ever done in history”, note human geographer Wim Carton and human ecologist Andreas Malm. Their long, powerful and pessimistic book is a rallying cry to get global warming under control. Now that mitigation measures have fallen behind targets, Carton and Malm analyse three remaining options: adapting to rising temperatures; removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere; and geoengineering to block incoming sunlight.Love, War, and DiplomacyEric H. Cline Princeton Univ. Press (2025)In 1887, revealing documents were discovered in Amarna, in the ruins of ancient Egypt’s capital Akhetaten. The Amarna letters are clay tablets written in Mesopotamian cuneiform — not Egyptian hieroglyphs — recording royal correspondence from the fourteenth century bc between pharaohs such as Akhenaten (the probable father of pharaoh Tutankhamun) and the Hittites, Babylonians and Assyrians. Archaeologist Eric Cline discusses the tablets’ discovery and dispersal around the world, as well as their intriguing contents.Go/No-GoMarianne Apostolides Book*hug (2025) doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-00621-w Competing Interests The author declares no competing interests. Subjects Latest on: Arts Culture The future perfect continuous passive and other transitive disorders of the mind Futures 25 FEB 26 Mid-cycle update Futures 18 FEB 26 18,000,000 minutes Futures 11 FEB 26 The future perfect continuous passive and other transitive disorders of the mind Futures 25 FEB 26 Mid-cycle update Futures 18 FEB 26 18,000,000 minutes Futures 11 FEB 26