Looking forward to 2024

By Brian Clegg

Those of you who berate me when my reviews are mostly not science or science fiction books, the Christmas present reading pile is nearly done – expect more of a usual mix next week.

I don’t believe in making New Year’s resolutions – they just set you up for failure. But I hope, like me, you are, on the whole, looking forward to 2024. The world is going through a difficult period – of that there’s no doubt. And politically, we’ve got elections in over half the democratic segment of the world – so there could be interesting times. But I do think a negative outlook can be self-fulfilling, and optimism is the best way to make the most of life.

I’m certainly looking forward to some excellent new popular science books in 2024. As it happens the first one I’ll be reviewing next week is from 2022 (but the paperback, which I’m reviewing, is out in February). I know there are some excellent books on the way, including a far reaching title from last year’s Royal Society Prize winner, Henry Gee. I am hoping we will have more popular science titles in areas of particular interest to me, such as physics, cosmology, IT and maths, and perhaps less emphasis on the human brain and medicine – but obviously I can see the appeal. We’ve certainly had some interesting scientific developments across the board in 2023, whether it’s the rise of generative AI like ChatGPT or new vaccines, such as the promising Malaria vaccine.

As for me, I’m currently working on my next longer book, which is due in to the publisher in March – I can’t give away anything at the moment, but I’ve enjoyed writing in more than anything else I’ve written in years*. It’s unlikely to be out until 2025, but I’ve got big hopes for it.

Here’s to the rest of 2024.

* Enjoyment in writing doesn’t necessarily translate into big sales. The book I most enjoyed writing ever was Conundrum, my book of puzzles and ciphers to crack. It has some dedicated fans – and at the time of writing, 17 people worldwide have solved the book (you can see the hall of fame and find out more about the book at its website). But it hasn’t been a big seller.

Image from Unsplash by Andreas Rasmussen

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Now Appearing is the blog of science writer Brian Clegg (www.brianclegg.net), author of Inflight Science, Before the Big Bang and The God Effect.