<p>Books are the original medium for communicating science to the masses. In a holiday special, producer Kunal Patel asks Babbage’s family of correspondents about the books that have inspired them in their careers as science journalists.</p><br><p>Host: Alok Jha, <em>The Economist</em>’s science and technology editor. Contributors: Rachel Dobbs, <em>The Economist</em>’s climate correspondent; Kenneth Cukier, our deputy executive editor; <em>The Economist</em>’s Emilie Steinmark; Geoff Carr, our senior editor for science and technology; and Abby Bertics, <em>The Economist</em>’s science correspondent. </p><br><p>Reading list: “The Periodic Table” by Primo Levi; “When We Cease to Understand the World” by Benjamín Labatut; “A Theory of Everyone” by Michael Muthukrishna; “Madame Curie” by Ève Curie; “Sociobiology” by E. O. Wilson; “The Selfish Gene” by Richard Dawkins; “Why Fish Don't Exist” by Lulu Miller; and “How Far the Light Reaches” by Sabrina Imbler.</p><br><p><em>Sign up for a </em><a href="http://www.economist.com/podcastsplus-babbage" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>free trial</em></a><em> of Economist Podcasts+. If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you’ll have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our </em><a href="https://myaccount.economist.com/s/article/What-is-Economist-Podcasts" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>FAQs page</em></a><em> or watch </em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48TlDbL-4vU" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>our video</em></a><em> explaining how to link your account.</em></p>
