Recommendations you can check.
Researcher and science writer; co-founder and editor at Works in Progress, formerly Our World in Data, and author of the Scientific Discovery newsletter.
9 things
Genentech: The Beginnings of BiotechBook Sally Smith Hughes
This amazing book traces the development of genetic engineering, and how Herbert Boyer and Robert Swanson turned the science into a commercial product by developing recombinant insulin.
Year-end post whose 'Reading recommendations' section lists her favourite reads of the year on the history of science and medicine.
2025-12-28·scientificdiscovery.dev ↗
A History of ImmunologyBook Arthur M. Silverstein
I loved this book. I enjoyed learning about the early, often wildly speculative theories of immunity, how blood groups and allergies were discovered
Year-end post whose 'Reading recommendations' section lists her favourite reads of the year on the history of science and medicine.
2025-12-28·scientificdiscovery.dev ↗
The Butchering ArtBook Lindsey Fitzharris
Joseph Lister, the pioneer of antiseptic techniques in surgery, had a fascinating life that I didn’t know anything about until I read this book.
Year-end post whose 'Reading recommendations' section lists her favourite reads of the year on the history of science and medicine.
2025-12-28·scientificdiscovery.dev ↗
The Code BreakerBook Walter Isaacson
I mistakenly expected this to be a somewhat shallow, generic popular science book, but it was a very thorough account of how CRISPR gene editing emerged from decades of obscure basic research into bacterial immune systems.
Year-end post whose 'Reading recommendations' section lists her favourite reads of the year on the history of science and medicine.
2025-12-28·scientificdiscovery.dev ↗
DatawrapperSoftware Datawrapper GmbH
I instead use Datawrapper to create interactive charts very quickly. They follow great data visualization principles, have influenced my work, and their styles look great.
Her long guide to data visualization; the 'Which tools do I use?' section sets out her actual charting workflow. She adds in the same paragraph that she has a Datawrapper subscription through Works in Progress.
2025-12-09·scientificdiscovery.dev ↗
Hard DrugsPodcast Saloni Dattani and Jacob Trefethen
And if you prefer podcasts, may I suggest Hard Drugs
Year-end post whose 'Reading recommendations' section lists her favourite reads of the year on the history of science and medicine. She co-hosts this podcast herself, which the quote states.
2025-12-28·scientificdiscovery.dev ↗
ggplot2Software Hadley Wickham
I download the data and write up code in R , using ggplot2 to create a graph
Her long guide to data visualization; the 'Which tools do I use?' section sets out her actual charting workflow.
2025-12-09·scientificdiscovery.dev ↗
FigmaSoftware Figma
I then export the graph as an .svg file, and open it up on Adobe Illustrator or Figma
Her long guide to data visualization; the 'Which tools do I use?' section sets out her actual charting workflow. She names Illustrator and Figma as interchangeable steps in the same workflow.
2025-12-09·scientificdiscovery.dev ↗
Adobe IllustratorSoftware Adobe
I then export the graph as an .svg file, and open it up on Adobe Illustrator or Figma
Her long guide to data visualization; the 'Which tools do I use?' section sets out her actual charting workflow. She names Illustrator and Figma as interchangeable steps in the same workflow.
2025-12-09·scientificdiscovery.dev ↗
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