“David Bainbridge is establishing a reputation for clear, popular science writing, laced with imaginative flair and good humour, plus the essential skill of good story-telling.”

“Yours is the only book which explains what is actually happening.”

“There are many literary stars in the firmament of writers on evolution, and to a man they write with dash and persuasive logic. David Bainbridge is one such”

“Making Babies is a marvellous book, from beginning to end. To appreciate this book you do not need an MD, a PhD or even a background in reproductive biology. All that is required is curiosity.”

“The X in Sex is absolutely fascinating, so intriguing, in fact, that I found myself unwilling to put it down.”

“Bainbridge does what too few scientists are able to do: write about science in a way that a layperson can not only understand, but wants to read. This is an excellent example of how good science writing can be.”

“Accessible and intelligent science writing to not often go together, but Bainbridge succeeds.”

“It’s a pacey, fun read – get set to amaze your friends with your new scientific know-how.”

“Bainbridge has an accessible style and a vivid turn of phrase”

”In all, I can find really no fault in this book”

“Perhaps his next book should be a primer for popular-science writers”

Welcome to davidbainbridge.org

Hello. I am David Bainbridge and I write popular science books, usually about biology. My aim is to write books that can explain to anyone how we work.

Contrary to popular belief, science is essentially simple. Unlike most areas of human endeavour, our scientific knowledge has accumulated as a series of simple incremental steps. Because of this, it can all be explained as a simple story, so long as you leave out all the awful jargon. Although I now work at Cambridge University, I used to work as a veterinary surgeon and I soon realised that you can explain biology to anyone as long as you see it from their point of view.

Also, biology can be more interesting than most people expect. Obviously, it has the power to tell us what we are and how we got here, but the story of how we acquired that knowledge is itself fascinating. The history of biology is populated by an array of wonderful, awful, charming, irritating, strange, imperfect people who got it wrong more often than they got it right. And sometimes getting it wrong is more interesting. Most of all it has shown us that although humans represent just one of millions of animal species, we are the weirdest and most fascinating species on earth. And only by understanding that weirdness can we understand why humans do the things we do, and why being human feels like it does.

I love a blank page and the opportunities it gives. A chance to weave words into a narrative of what we know and why we know it. I like to base my books on questions which non-specialists ask me – no one asks more interesting questions.

And most of all, I like to tell stories.

About the books

I have written five books so far – one about the brain, one about X chromosomes, one about pregnancy, one about teenagers and now one about middle age. (The pregnancy one has different titles in the UK and US.)

To find out more about any of the books – synopsis, reviews, purchasing details and translations available - just click on its cover picture.

MIDDLE AGE: A NATURAL HISTORY (Portobello) OUT NOW

TEENAGERS: A NATURAL HISTORY (Portobello) Guardian Bookshop #1 Seller, 2009

BEYOND THE ZONULES OF ZINN A Fantastic Journey through your Brain (Harvard) Booklist Online: Top 10 Science Books 2008

THE X IN SEX How the X Chromosome Controls Our Lives (Harvard) Winner, American Medical Writers’ Association Prize, 2004

A VISITOR WITHIN The Science of Pregnancy (UK: Weidenfeld and Nicholson) MAKING BABIES The Science of Pregnancy (US: Harvard) Washington Post annual ‘Book Rave’ 2001

Some more about me

I have a day job. I am the University Clinical Veterinary Anatomist at what we like to think of as the best science university in the world: Cambridge University. A member of the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, I am responsible for organising and teaching many of the pre-clinical veterinary courses at the university. Our aim is to use our understanding of evolutionary and developmental biology to inform our teaching of animal structure and function. If you are interested in studying Veterinary Medicine at Cambridge, then click this link and this link.

Many staff at Cambridge are also affiliated to one of the thirty-or-so colleges – small communities of teachers, researchers and students studying a wide range of science, arts and social science subjects. The collegiate system gives all of us a unique level of intellectual and social stimulation and support. I am a fellow at St. Catharine’s College, a medium sized college in the centre of Cambridge which has made a greater commitment than any other to teaching biology and pre-clinical students. I am also a pastoral tutor and admissions tutor at the college. If you are interested in studying any subject at St. Catharine’s, click this link.

Most of my popular science output is published as books, but there are some exceptions to this. A more complete list is available at this link.

I studied zoology and veterinary medicine at Cambridge, before spending a year in private mixed veterinary practice. I have undertaken frequent veterinary work ever since. After leaving practice, I studied for a PhD at the Zoological Society of London’s Institute of Zoology at Regent’s Park Zoo, followed by post-doctoral work at the Oxford University Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. After a lectureship at the Royal Veterinary College, I took up my present job.

I live in Suffolk with my wife Michelle and three children, Eleanor, Edward and Rose. If you would like to mail me, you can click here and it will get to me.

Alternatively, for trade, editorial and media enquiries, you could contact my agent, Peter Tallack, at the Science Factory.