We live in exciting—and slightly alarming—times. In just the past year, new discoveries about the origins of our species have been published, geneticists continue to unlock the workings of our constituent DNA , dramatic finds upended our understanding of life in the deep past , and spacecraft have flown to many unexplored corners of the solar system . It can be dizzying to try to keep track of it all, especially as scientists continue to warn of impending climate calamity and rogue actors skirt regulation to perform genetic edits on humans . Fortunately, 2018 was also a year full of great science books, the perfect way to take a step back and consider the implications of new discoveries and experiments. Whether you want to look inward at the science of human heredity, or outward to Pluto and beyond, the best science books of the year will teach you something that humanity itself is only just starting to learn.

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