Special thanks to Natalie Collard and the team at The Laborastory who put together this list of great books about scientists. Make sure you check out this great initiative in science engagement.  I know I’ll be there!

The Laborastory comes to tell the stories of science – the heroes, the egos, the breakthroughs and the mistakes of genius. From forgotten history and lonely laboratories, science and scientists quite literally take centre stage. On the first Monday of each month, The Laborastory brings together five scientists from diverse backgrounds to tell the remarkable stories of the heroes of their field. Each story is just ten short minutes. They tell the tales of the tragedies and triumphs of the men and women that made science their passion, and left legacies of groundbreaking discoveries that inspire the scientists of today. – From The Laborastory’s Homepage: http://thelaborastory.com

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1.The Man Who Loved Only Numbers: The Story of Paul Erdos and the Search for Mathematical Truth by Paul Hoffman – suggested by Dr Norman Do

 
2. Floating Gold: A Natural (and Unnatural) History of Ambergris by Christopher Kemp – suggested by Dr Clare Hampson

 
3. Revolution in Mind: The Creation of Psychoanalysis by George Makari – suggested by Dr Sam Lieblich

 
4. Rosalind Franklin: The dark lady of DNA by Brenda Maddox – suggested by Upulie Divisekera

 
5. The Double Helix: a personal account of the discovery of the structure of DNA by James Watson – suggested by Upulie Divisekera
6. The Rudiments of Wisdom by Tim Hunkin – suggested by Dr Timothy Jones
7. The power of myth by Joseph Campbell – suggested by Dr Carleton Coffin
8.  A Fragment on Government (1776) by Jeremy Bentham – suggested by Joe Dreyfus
9. Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges – suggested by Prof Graham Farr

 
10. Descartes: The Life of René Descartes and Its Place in His Times by AC Grayling – suggested by Prof Graham Farr

 
(BONUS) 11. Men of mathematics by ET Bell – suggested by Prof Graham Farr