Alice Roberts, the TV presenter and author, has revealed the books that have significantly influenced her life and career. She recalls early reading memories of Sheila K McCullagh's 'The Village with Three Corners' series and enjoyed Arnold Lobel's 'Frog and Toad' stories, which she later read to her own children.
As a teenager, Roberts found Richard Dawkins's 'The Selfish Gene' to have a profound effect, clarifying evolution through a gene's-eye view. She then read Stephen Jay Gould's essays on evolutionary biology, finding both authors inspiring.
Roberts credits Dawkins's 'The Blind Watchmaker' with solidifying her decision to move away from her Anglican faith. She explained that by the time she finished the book, she understood that biological diversity could be explained by natural processes, leading her to become a humanist.
Her first book was written as a handout for her BBC Two series 'Don’t Die Young'. Roberts states that she never intended to be a writer but enjoyed writing for a general readership. She continues to follow Gould's advice on communicating complex ideas without oversimplifying, by providing enough steps and removing jargon.
Roberts frequently revisits Darwin's 'On the Origin of Species by Natural Selection' and discovered George Eliot's 'Middlemarch' later in life, calling it a masterpiece that challenged her prejudices. She is currently reading several books for work and pleasure, including Val McDermid's 'Queen Macbeth' and Karen Hao’s 'Empire of AI', and is reading Liu Cixin's 'The Three-Body Problem' to her teenage son.