Trust your gut this Christmas. The best Health and Science Books of 2024

 THE STORY OF A HEART by Rachel Clarke (Abacus £22, 288pp)

In the summer of 2017, a nine-year-old girl named Keira was fatally injured in a car crash. At the same time, across the country, a nine-year-old boy, Max, was awaiting a new heart that seemed to be his only chance of surviving cardiomyopathy. Clarke tells the story of how Keira’s family bravely authorised the donation of their daughter’s heart. Transplanted into Max’s body, it saved his life.

Combining empathy and compassion with a doctor’s understanding of the medical and ethical issues involved, Clarke’s written a deeply moving book.

 MAGIC PILL by Johann Hari (Bloomsbury £20, 336pp)

Are the new weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic too good to be true? When so many are overweight, the idea of a ‘magic pill’ which allows us to shed pounds effortlessly is an appealing one. One expert predicts that 20 to 30 per cent of our population will be taking anti-obesity drugs within a decade. Hari, whose descriptions of his own battles with his weight and yo-yo dieting are both funny and insightful, has come up with a book that entertainingly examines the pros and cons of drugging our way out of obesity.

The Singularity is Nearer is available now from the Mail Bookshop 

THE SINGULARITY IS NEARER by Ray Kurzweil (Bodley Head £25, 432pp)

The ‘singularity’, according to Kurzweil, is the moment in the future when AI and human intelligence will merge and we will transcend the limitations of our bodies and our brains. Twenty years ago he thought it was close; he now thinks it is closer. The consequences he forecasts are both exhilarating and scary. Will we soon have the opportunity to back up our minds as well as our computers, conferring on us a kind of immortality? It sounds like science fiction, but Kurzweil has often proved an accurate prophet.

CHALLENGER by Adam Higginbotham (Viking £25, 576pp)

The Challenger disaster in 1986 was a pivotal moment in space exploration. In front of a worldwide TV audience, Challenger took off from its launchpad in Florida. Seventy-three seconds into its flight, it exploded amid plumes of smoke. All seven crew members, including Christa McAuliffe, a teacher chosen from 11,000 applicants to join the mission, were killed. Higginbotham has written the definitive account of the tragedy, revealing both the history of the space shuttle programme and the stories of the people who lost their lives.

GENIUS GUT by Emily Leeming (Penguin £18.99, 400pp)

When we are nervous, we talk about ‘butterflies’ in the stomach. We often have a ‘gut instinct’ about people we meet.

Recent scientific research shows these are not just metaphors. We feel emotions in our minds but also in our gut as the brain and gut communicate with each other. Living in the gut are trillions of microorganisms – your gut microbiome – and this influences not only your digestion but your mood and problem-solving abilities.

Dietitian and former chef Emily Leeming has written a valuable handbook on how to change eating habits to revitalise the microbiome and improve both mental and physical health.