Four books published in 2026 explore the history of herbal medicine, the cultural meaning of smell, the physics of time and an additional work titled Otherwise It Might Be. The books range from richly illustrated botanical history to investigations of how societies have understood sensory experience and the laws governing the universe.
Nature’s Apothecary
Margaret Willes, Bodleian Library Publishing (2026)
According to the ancient Greek medical authority Hippocrates, “Nature itself is the best physician.” That quotation introduces Margaret Willes’s fascinating book on herbalism, which begins with a rich essay tracing European herbalism from the Middle Ages to the present day. The book covers plants ranging from costmary (Tanacetum balsamita), a member of the Asteraceae family, to the yew tree (Taxus baccata). Each entry is illustrated with exquisite colour drawings taken from John Gerard’s 1597 Herball, or Generall Historie of Plantes.
Smell
William Tullett, Yale University Press (2026)
When automobiles were invented in the late 19th century, their exhaust fumes were initially welcomed because cars replaced the smell of horse dung that had left many city streets in a “state of organic olfactory crisis”, says historian William Tullett. His immersive history of scent ranges from the smells of ancient Christianity and the perfumes of medieval India to the scents associated with 18th-century slavery and the status of smell in 20th-century China. It explores “the dirty, the savory, and everything in between.”
On Time
Jim Al-Khalili, Princeton University Press (2026)
Just before his death, Albert Einstein said, “The distinction between past, present, and future is but a stubbornly persistent illusion.” In this compelling, if intellectually demanding, book about the physics of time, physicist and broadcaster Jim Al-Khalili disagrees. He argues that “the irreversible passage of time needs to be incorporated into the laws of physics.” By comparing the concepts of time in quantum mechanics, general relativity and thermodynamics, he concludes that the arrow of time is real and moves the universe.
Otherwise It Might Be
Stuart Firestein, Basic (2026)
Source: www.nature.com
