Books & Arts in 2011

For the past decade, physicist Kenneth Libbrecht has been studying how ice crystals form, taking thousands of photographs of their intricate structures. He describes how he grows snowflakes in his lab at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, and never tires of tracking the real thing in the far north.

Philip Ball celebrates the fourth centenary of Johannes Kepler's ice-crystal analysis.

Carl Zimmer charts the boom in electronic publishing and what that spells for wood pulp and ink.

From stretchy ice cream to wire-brushed crackling, Harold McGee digests an eclectic modernist menu.

Gabrielle Walker enjoys a historic exploration of the frozen continent's great mountain range.

Stefan Michalowski and Georgia Smith find that a mix of unexplained equations and thunderclaps doesn't add up.

Michael A. Goldman hails the first English translation of the three-man paper that launched molecular biology.

Evan Thompson weighs up a treatise that explores the dynamics of matter and consciousness.

Chris Loss savours a wide-ranging exploration of flavour that takes in evolution and physiology — and suggests it could be key to a healthier future.

Daniel Stoljar contemplates two contrasting takes on science and Buddhism.

Theoretical chemist, poet and playwright Roald Hoffmann won a Nobel prize in 1981 for his work on how molecules change as they react. As the International Year of Chemistry comes to a close and he releases two books, Hoffmann talks about language, ethics and the sublime.

Mystery lingers round the sudden defection of cold-war physicist Bruno Pontecorvo, finds Sharon Weinberger.

Paolo Mazzarello argues that the disposal of collections requires clear consultation with the public.

An opera on the astonishing life of Marie Curie enthralls Stefan Michalowski and Georgia Smith.

Robert P. Crease revels in the life of a Hollywood goddess who pioneered wireless technology.

Paul McEuen savours a technothriller from the late Michael Crichton that makes the tiny terrifying.

Tracy K. Smith has her head in the stars. Thanks to her late father's job as an engineer on the Hubble Space Telescope, the US poet gathers inspiration from astrophysics and cosmology. Published this year, her third collection, Life on Mars, explores the future of human life, the great beyond and her father's death. As she prepares for a poetry reading at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, Smith talks about the limits of space and time.