There is not just one story of silk. In silk is science, history and mythology. In silk is the future.

Aarathi Prasad’s Silk is a gorgeous new history weaving together the story of a unique material that has fascinated the world for millennia. 

 Through the scientists who have studied silk, and the biology of the animals from which it has been drawn, Prasad explores the global history, natural history, and future of a unique material that has fascinated the world for millennia.

For silk, prized for its lightness, luminosity, and beauty is also one of the strongest biological materials ever known. More than a century ago, it was used to make the first bulletproof vest, and yet science has barely even begun to tap its potential. As the technologies it has inspired – from sutures to pharmaceuticals, replacement body parts to holograms – continue to be developed in laboratories around the world, they are now also beginning to offer a desperately needed, sustainable alternative to the plastics choking our planet.

Prasad's Silk is a cultural and biological history from the origins and ancient routes of silk to the biologists who learned the secrets of silk-producing animals, manipulating the habitats and physiologies of moths, spiders and molluscs. Because there is more than one silk, there is more than one story of silk. More than one road, more than one people who discovered it, and wove its threads.

From the moths of China, Indonesia and India to the spiders of South America and Madagascar, to the silk-producing molluscs of the Mediterranean, Silk is a book rich in the passionate connections made by women and men of science to the diversity of the animal world. It is an intoxicating mix of biography, intellectual history and science writing that brings to life the human obsession with silk.

Silk: A History in Three Metamorphoses, By Aarathi Prasad, Read by Aarathi Prasad and Lucinda Roberts

Popular Science - Biology, Medical

‘A very enjoyable book that brilliantly blends science, insight and passion’ TRISTAN GOOLEY 

 The secret world of fungi is another kingdom. They do things differently there. Diverse beyond our wildest imaginations, fungi don’t obey rules. They pop up unbidden and often dressed in curious reds and greens.

They do not seem of this world, yet fungi underpin all the life around us: the ‘wood wide web’ links the trees by a subterranean telegraph

Close Encounters of the Fungal Kind: In Pursuit of Remarkable Mushrooms, By Richard Fortey, Read by Richard Attlee

For the first episode of Microbe Talk in 2025, we’re bringing you something fascinating and a bit different— non-communicable diseases. In this special episode, Clare chats with Professor John Tregoning, a  Professor in Vaccine Immunology, about his new book, 'Live Forever? A Curious Scientist’s Guide to Wellness, Ageing and Death'. Clare and John chat about why he's writing about non-communicable diseases, the processes behind his book and any public engagement advice he'd give to our community. 

Find out where you can buy a copy of Johns book here: https://oneworld-publications.com/work/live-forever/ 

Johns other work can be found here: https://linktr.ee/a_curious_scientist 

You can also download a transcript of the podcast from our website:  https://microbiologysociety.org/blog/microbe-talk-exploring-the-science-of-wellness-ageing-and-death-with-john-tregoning.html

Music by Yrii Semchyshyn from Pixabay

Exploring the science of wellness, ageing and death with John Tregoning

Audiobook demo, nonfiction (popular science) Jennie Litt: Packing For Mars, by Mary Roach

nonfiction, popular science, "voicy" first person narration

On sale June 17th, 2025

A playful examination of how science’s silliest research leads to crucial breakthroughs and enduring insights

Why would anyone research how elephants pee? Or study worms who tie themselves into a communal knot? Or quantify the squishability of a cockroach? It all sounds pointless, silly, or even disgusting.

Maybe it is. But in The Salmon Cannon and the Levitating Frog, Carly Anne York shows how unappreciated, overlooked, and simply curiosity-driven science has led to breakthroughs big and small. Got wind power? You might have humpback whales to thank. Know anything about particle physics? Turns out there is a ferret close to the heart of it all. And if you want to keep salmon around, be thankful for that cannon! The research itself can seem bizarre. But it drives our economy. And what’s more, this stuff is simply cool.

York invites listeners to appreciate the often unpredictable journey of scientific exploration, highlighting that the heart of science lies in the relentless pursuit of knowledge for its own sake. Emphasizing the hard work of the people behind the discoveries, this is an accessible, story-driven book that shows how important and exciting it is to simply let curiosity run wild.



Listen Here

The Salmon Cannon and the Levitating Frog By Carly Anne York, Read By Eileen Stevens (Audiobook Excerpt)

The Microbiology Society is a membership organisation for scientists who work in all areas of microbiology.

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New tracks tagged #Popular science