Robin McKie’s best science books of 2016

The pick of this year's science books put our health - and other obsessions - under the microscope

Seventy years ago, doctors began an experiment that would revolutionise our understanding of human development. For a week, in March 1946, they recorded the births of almost every baby born in the UK. Thousands were then tracked through later life, creating the world's longest-running birth cohort study. Thanks to that study, and to four follow-ups, many inescapable truths have been learned: the grim impact on infants of poor health service provision, smoking during pregnancy and air pollution. We also know now that reading regularly to children has clear educational benefits; that babies are safe sleeping on their backs; and that breast-fed children tend to have better health. The influence on social services and daily lives has been immeasurable.

Have we all gone nuts, asks Garfield. To judge by this hugely enjoyable romp, the answer is 'almost but not quite'