Each year since 2009, Physics World has been awarding one excellent popular-science book with the title of Book of the Year, not to mention creating a shortlist of nine other top titles from all the books we reviewed that year. We also love talking about physics books, and ever since our first such podcast in 2011, we get together each December to discuss our shortlist and reveal our winner. As is becoming a tradition, this chat was hosted by our regular podcast presenter and producer Andrew Glester, in his garden shed, where he can often be found musing about “science fiction, science fact and everything in-between” for his own podcast the Cosmic Shed.

As this year’s winner is the 10th to bag our Book of the Year, we decided to catch up with some previous winners to see what they are working on today; to chat about how their books have aged; and hear what they would do differently today. Tune in to the podcast to hear 2009 winner Graham Farmelo talk about Paul Dirac and his family; find out what 2015 winner Amanda Gefter is working on today; hear what 2010 winner Anil Ananthaswamy has to say about travel and science-writing; and find out more about hippies and physics from 2012 winner David Kaiser.

Of course we also discuss the various exciting books on the 2018 shortlist, and reveal our 10th winner of the Physics World Book of the Year, so tune in to the podcast to hear from a host of interesting writers and scientists.

We hope that everyone will find something to appreciate on this list, and hopefully we have given you a few ideas for some excellent holiday presents.

Treknology: the Science of Star Trek from Tricorders to Warp Drives by Ethan Siegel

Ad Astra: an Illustrated Guide to Leaving the Planet by Dallas Campbell

Exact Thinking in Demented Times: the Vienna Circle and the Epic Quest for the Foundations of Science by Karl Sigmund

Beyond Weird: Why Everything You Thought You Knew About Quantum Physics is Different by Philip Ball

The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli

Lost in Math: How Beauty Leads Physics Astray by Sabine Hossenfelder

The Dialogues: Conversations About the Nature of the Universe by Clifford V Johnson

When the Uncertainty Principle Goes to 11: Or How to Explain Quantum Physics with Heavy Metal by Philip Moriarty

What is Real: the Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics by Adam Becker

Hello World: How to be Human in the Age of the Machine by Hannah Fry