Sourced from some of the best science book reviewers online, along with some top picks from Fahrenheit, here is a roundup of this year’s best books…

TOP TEN

The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another by Ainissa Ramirez

Science News Favorite Books of 2020
Smithsonian Magazine Best Science Books of 2020
Science Friday Best Science Books of 2020
Big Think Best Science and Tecnology Books of 2020
Amazon Book Review Best Science Books of 2020
Science Magazine Podcast Best Books of 2020

The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) by Katie Mack

A Fahrenheit pick of the year
Goodreads Choice Awards shortlist
New York Times 100 Notable Books 2020
New Scientist Best Science and Technology Books of 2020
Science News Favorite Books of 2020
Barnes & Noble Best Science Books of 2020

How to Argue with a Racist: What Our Genes Do (and Don’t) Say About Human Difference by Adam Rutherford

A Fahrenheit pick of the year
Goodreads Choice Awards shortlist
New Scientist Best Science and Technology Books of 2020
Barnes & Noble Best Science Books of 2020
Big Think Best Science and Tecnology Books of 2020

Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor

A Fahrenheit pick of the year
Goodreads Choice Awards shortlist
Barnes & Noble Best Science Books of 2020
Big Think Best Science and Tecnology Books of 2020
Amazon Book Review Best Science Books of 2020

Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, and Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake

Goodreads Choice Awards shortlist
Science Friday Best Science Books of 2020
Big Think Best Science and Tecnology Books of 2020
Amazon Book Review Best Science Books of 2020

Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World’s Largest Owl by Jonathan C. Slaght

New York Times 100 Notable Books 2020
Goodreads Choice Awards shortlist
Smithsonian Magazine Best Science Books of 2020
Big Think Best Science and Tecnology Books of 2020 (Notable Mention)

Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker

New York Times 100 Notable Books 2020
Smithsonian Magazine Best Science Books of 2020
Big Think Best Science and Tecnology Books of 2020

The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious Creature in the World by Patrik Svensson

New York Times 100 Notable Books 2020
Goodreads Choice Awards shortlist
Smithsonian Magazine Best Science Books of 2020

The Human Cosmos: Civilization and the Stars by Jo Marchant

Smithsonian Magazine Best Science Books of 2020
Barnes & Noble Best Science Books of 2020
Big Think Best Science and Tecnology Books of 2020

Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe by Brian Greene

A Fahrenheit pick of the year
Goodreads Choice Awards shortlist
New York Times 100 Notable Books 2020
Barnes & Noble Best Science Books of 2020

NOTABLE MENTIONS

The World According to Physics by Jim Al-Khalili

A Fahrenheit pick of the year
2020 shortlist for The Royal Society Book Prize
Financial Times Best Books of 2020: Science

Black Hole Survival Guide by Janna Levin

A Fahrenheit pick of the year
Science Friday Best Science Books of 2020

A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future by David Attenborough

Goodreads Choice Awards winner 2020
Big Think Best Science and Tecnology Books of 2020

The Great Pretender: The Undercover Miission that Changed our Understanding of Madness by Susannah Cahalan

2020 shortlist for The Royal Society Book Prize
The Guardian Best Science Books of 2020

Explaining Humans: What Science Can Teach Us about Life, Love and Relationships by Camilla Pang

2020 winner of The Royal Society Book Prize
Big Think Best Science and Tecnology Books of 2020 (Notable Mention)

The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac

Goodreads Choice Awards shortlist
Science News Favorite Books of 2020

Why Fish Don’t Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the idden Order of Life by Lulu Miller

Goodreads Choice Awards shortlist
Smithsonian Magazine Best Science Books of 2020

Some Assemby Required: Decoding Four Billion Years of Life, from Ancient Fossils to DNA by Neil Shubin

Goodreads Choice Awards shortlist
Science News Favorite Books of 2020

T-Minus AI by Michael Kanaan

Goodreads Choice Awards shortlist
Big Think Best Science and Tecnology Books of 2020

The Next Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move by Sonia Shah

Goodreads Choice Awards shortlist
Amazon Book Review Best Science Books of 2020

All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine K. Wilkinson

Smithsonian Magazine Best Science Books of 2020
Big Think Best Science and Tecnology Books of 2020 (Notable Mention)

The Apocalypse Factory: Plutonium and the Making of the Atomic Age by Steve Olson

Science Friday Best Science Books of 2020
Barnes & Noble Best Science Books of 2020

7-1/2 Lessons About the Brain by Lisa Feldman Barrett

Barnes & Noble Best Science Books of 2020
Amazon Book Review Best Science Books of 2020

The Bird Way by Jennifer Acherman

Science Friday Best Science Books of 2020
Goodreads Choice Award shortlist

Clean: The New Science of Skin by James Hamblin

Smithsonian Magazine Best Science Books of 2020
Science Friday Best Science Books of 2020

The Double X Economy: The Epic Potential of Empowering Women by Linda Scott

2020 shortlist for The Royal Society Book Prize

Transcendence: How Humans Evolved Through Fire, Language, Beauty, and Time by Gaia Vince

2020 shortlist for The Royal Society Book Prize

The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson

2020 shortlist for The Royal Society Book Prize

Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace by Carl Safina

New York Times 100 Notable Books 2020

The Great Secret: The Classified World War II Disaster rthat Launched the War on Cancer by Jennet Conant

Amazon Book Review Best Science Books of 2020

The Story of More: How we Got to Climate Change and Where to Go From Here by Hope Jahren

Goodreads Choice Awards shortlist

A Dominant Character: The Radical Science and Restless Politics of J. B. S. Haldane

New York Times 100 Notable Books 2020