Royal Society science book prize shortlist tackles 'the big questions'

Judges hail writers' blend of eloquence and erudition on subjects ranging from the evolution of the octopus to the impact of technology on modern man

From the vastness of infinity to the microbes that live within us, the shortlist for the Royal Society Insight Investment science book prize tackles "the big questions of our time", according to chair of judges Richard Fortey.

Palaeontologist and writer Fortey, with his fellow judges, read almost 200 books to come up with their lineup of six, which ranges from In Pursuit of Memory, Joseph Jebelli's look at the quest to find a cure for Alzheimer's, to Peter Godfrey-Smith's Other Minds, which explores the evolutionary journey of the octopus. Also shortlisted are Cordelia Fine's study of gender politics, Testosterone Rex, which tackles the myth that sex creates male and female natures and Mark O'Connell's To Be a Machine, looking at how technology is changing the human condition. Completing the field are Eugenia Cheng's Beyond Infinity, a study of the concept of infinity, and Ed Yong's I Contain Multitudes, about the microbes in our bodies.