1999: Darwin’s Radio by Greg Bear

A strange virus causes women to begin birthing the next stage in human evolution, threatening to make homo sapiens extinct. Now we know how all those monkeys felt when we grew opposable thumbs! This book is what’s commonly known as ‘hard’ scifi; as in ‘hard’ to read, ‘hard’ to follow and ‘hard’ly worth my time. The story, while compelling, is riddled with scientific terminology far beyond a lummox like me (‘Duuuhhh…..what’s a ‘beaker’…?). But if you’re a PhD – holding endemic virologist looking for a little light reading between cataloguing RNA sequences, give it a whirl. Preferably in your haemacrotic centrifuge.

On a scale of viruses ranging from cytoplasmic ployhedrosis to acute laryngotracheobronchitis, this book is: duck hepatitis B.

Catch Monkey Man and the Drive Time Zoo Croo every morning on Darwin’s Radio!