Rationality by Steven Pinker review – it all stands to reason

The cognitive psychologist makes perfect sense in his defence of rational thinking and why our brains often lead us astray

Geoengineering by Gernot Wagner review – a stark warning

Spraying aerosols into the atmosphere may be fraught with risk, but to dismiss it out of hand is irresponsible, a climate scientist argues

Covid by Numbers review – how to make sense of the statistics

David Spiegelhalter and Anthony Masters delve into the detail behind the data and explore the true human cost of the pandemic

Oliver Sacks: His Own Life review – beautiful and honest study of an amazing man

Remarkable footage shows the pioneering neurologist at work in this excellent documentary

Covid car parks to galactic lockdown: fascinating but futile quarantine ideas

Whether atomic priesthoods, 50ft concrete spikes or burying astronauts in concrete, humanity’s attempts to keep free from infection are examined in Until Proven Safe

Pinker’s progress: the celebrity scientist at the centre of the culture wars

The long read: How the Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker became one of the world’s most contentious thinkers

The big idea: should scientists run the country?

Covid has put academics like Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance at the heart of government, but smart politicians are essential too

A Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century review – self-help laced with pseudoscience

Heather Heying and Bret Weinstein attempt to show how human nature is at odds with modern society, but their science, and style, grates

Einstein’s handwritten calculations for theory of relativity to be auctioned for €3m

The rare document, which records attempts to explain an anomaly in the orbit of Mercury, is ‘a fascinating dive into the mind of the greatest scientist of the 20th century’

Scientists identify key conditions to set up a creative ‘hot streak’

Researchers use AI to reveal runs of artistic success are commonly preceded by an experimental phase

Life being put on hold was just the spur this writer needed to fulfil her youthful ambition

Charlotte Northedge wrote a new novel in lockdown. She considers others who have realised the dreams of their youth

‘Hycean’: a portmanteau of hydrogen and ocean that’s not so far, far away

This new class of planet hoped by scientists to harbour alien life is a hot waterworld. Let’s stop Earth turning into one

Being a Human review – two go mad in the stone age

Charles Foster’s search for the meaning of human life leads him and his son to become hedgehog-eating hunter-gatherers in a Derbyshire wood

Passing the ‘chimp test’: how women were key to the birth of language

How did humans learn to talk and why haven’t chimpanzees followed suit? Linguistics expert Sverker Johansson busts some chauvinist myths

Being You by Professor Anil Seth review – the exhilarating new science of consciousness

Our world and the self are constructions of the brain, a pioneering neuroscientist argues