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Amazon Books editors announce picks for best 2022 general interest science books

Amazon Books editors announce their picks for the 2022 Best Books of the Year, including the top book within the science category, Siddhartha Mukherjee’s The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human.

By Staff writer
November 16, 2022
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  1. It is that time of year, when the lists of “best of…” begin to appear. As they have in previous years, the Amazon Books editors have gotten into the act. Yesterday they announced their picks for 2022’s Best Books of the Year, including those within the general interest science category.

    Amazon Books editors read thousands of books annually to make selections for Best Books of the Month, Best Books of the Year So Far, and Best Books of the Year, and offer recommendations on the Amazon Book Review. After reviewing titles released from January through December this year, Amazon editors made their selections for the books that stood out over the course of 2022.

    The editors chose Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin as this year’s Best Book of the Year.

    In the press release announcing the selections, Sarah Gelman, editorial director for Amazon Books, said: "We've had a bumper crop of amazing books to choose from this year. But to get our passionate (read: opinionated!) team of editors to agree on one they loved is almost a miracle. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is that miracle—a simply perfect book about the complexities of human relationships, the importance of human connection, the innocence and optimism of youth, our journey with technology, and the many shades of love.”

    In the general interest science category, Siddhartha Mukherjee’s book, The Song of the Cell: An Explanation of Medicine and the New Human, topped this year’s list. Mukherjee is a cancer physician and researcher, and a Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the book The Emperor of All Maladies, a biography of cancer. Another of his books, The Gene, was a Number 1 New York Times bestseller.

    “Mukherjee has an incredible ability to make science not only accessible but thoroughly engaging,” said Amazon Books editor Al Woodworth. “In his latest feat of storytelling, the Pulitzer Prize-winner weaves together the history, his personal anecdotes, and the most current health research of the cell and the result is nothing short of astounding. With vivid prose, wonder and humor, Mukherjee explains how cellular biology can reshape public health, medicine, and therefore, our world.

    “We are thrilled to name The Song of the Cell as our Best Science Book of 2022,” Woodworth added. “Johann Hari’s Stolen Focus, which we named the Best Book of the Year So Far, came in a close second. There are so many great books on this list—whether you’re looking to understand how animals experience the world (An Immense World by Ed Yong), a personal story of chronic illness (The Invisible Kingdom by Megan O’Rourke), how people think differently (Visual Thinking by Temple Grandin), or the cosmos (Starry Messenger by Neil deGrasse Tyson), our list offers something for everyone.”

    Below is the list of the Top 20 picks of 2022 within the general interest science category.

  2. The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human
    The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human

    By Siddhartha Mukherjee

  3. Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention—and How to Think Deeply Again
    Stolen Focus- Why You Can't Pay Attention—and How to Think Deeply Again.jpeg

    By Johann Hari

  4. An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us
    An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us

    By Ed Yong

  5. Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus
    Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus

    By David Quammen

  6. Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions
    Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions

    By Temple Grandin

  7. Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization
    Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization

    By Neil deGrasse Tyson

  8. How the World Really Works: The Science Behind How We Got Here and Where We're Going
    How the World Really Works- The Science Behind How We Got Here and Where We're Going.jpeg

    By Vaclav Smil

  9. The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward
    The Power of Regret- How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward.jpeg

    By Daniel H. Pink

  10. How Minds Change: The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion
    How Minds Change- The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion.jpeg

    By David McRaney

  11. How to Speak Whale: A Voyage into the Future of Animal Communication
    How to Speak Whale: A Voyage into the Future of Animal Communication

    By Tom Mustill

  12. There Are Places in the World Where Rules Are Less Important Than Kindness: And Other Thoughts on Physics, Philosophy and the World
    There Are Places in the World Where Rules Are Less Important Than Kindness.jpeg

    By Carlo Rovelli

  13. What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
    What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions

    By Randall Munroe

  14. The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: Space, Time, and Motion
    The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: Space, Time, and Motion

    By Sean Carroll

  15. Eating to Extinction: The World's Rarest Foods and Why We Need to Save Them
    Eating to Extinction- The World's Rarest Foods and Why We Need to Save Them.jpeg

    By Dan Saladino

  16. The Man from the Future: The Visionary Life of John von Neumann
    The Man from the Future- The Visionary Life of John von Neumann.jpeg

    By Ananyo Bhattacharya

  17. The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness
    The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness

    By Meghan O'Rourke

  18. The Rise and Reign of the Mammals: A New History, from the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us
    The Rise and Reign of the Mammals: A New History, from the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us

    By Steve Brusatte

  19. Regenesis: Feeding the World Without Devouring the Planet
    Regenesis: Feeding the World Without Devouring the Planet

    By George Monbiot

  20. The Facemaker: A Visionary Surgeon's Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I
    The Facemaker- A Visionary Surgeon's Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I.jpeg

    By Lindsey Fitzharris

  21. This Is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You
    This Is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You

    By Susan Rodgers and Ogi Ogas

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