Wherever you are in the world and whatever you’re interested in, our ‘Books of the Month’ features a broad sample of different recent releases authored by University of Liverpool staff. From architecture to business, photography to tourism, there’s something for everyone.
The University of Liverpool Library has curated a reading list for Book of the Month which is available and searchable for University of Liverpool staff and students. The newest titles are added at the top of the list for visibility, and further information can be found in the notes area.
If you are a member of University staff and would like your new or recent (2024, 2025 & 2026) publication to be featured, please email the details to the Research Communications Team at rescomms@liverpool.ac.uk.
Author: Jonathan Sharples
Published: 2026
Earth’s oceans are vital for sustaining life on our planet. Oceanography is an intrinsically multidisciplinary science that explores how the ocean does this. The author uses plankton as a focus for the book, drawing together the physics of the ocean circulation, the chemistry of nutrients and carbon, and the biology of the plankton.
The book begins by describing the major ocean currents and tides, and the importance of stratification, or layers, in the ocean. It explains how microscopic plants and animals, the plankton, are fundamental to ocean food chains and Earth’s climate, and shows how ocean currents and mixing control the global distribution of plankton. Contrasts are explored between the open ocean and the shallow coastal seas, to help understand why the shallow seas are so productive. Case studies illustrate how the ocean supports fish, including upwelling of deep nutrients, the links between plankton and fish, and how ocean currents provide vital transport routes for fish eggs and larvae. The author explores the importance of the ocean in Earth’s carbon cycle and climate. A final chapter describes some of the core techniques used to observe the ocean.
Oceanography: The Basics is an essential introduction to the field for undergraduates and includes further resources and short, quantitative diversions for students who want to take the concepts further.
Jonathan Sharples is Professor of Oceanography, in Earth, Ocean and Ecological Sciences, School of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, at the University of Liverpool.
Introduction to Entropy – The Way of the World
Authors: Jonathan Allday, Simon Hands
Published: 2025
The concept of entropy arises in diverse branches of science, including physics, where it plays a crucial role. However, the nature of entropy as a unifying concept is not widely discussed – it is dealt with in a piecemeal manner within different contexts. The interpretation of the concept is also subtly different in each case. This book draws these diverse threads together and present entropy as one of the crucial physical concepts. It covers a range of different applications of entropy, from the classical theory of thermodynamics, the statistical approach, entropy in quantum theory, information theory and finally, its manifestation in black hole physics. Each is presented in a manner suitable for undergraduates and interested laypersons with no previous knowledge. The book takes an overview of these areas and assesses to what extent the concept of entropy is being treated in the same way in each, and how it differs.
Watch a video featuring the authors discussing entropy
Key Features
- Provides an accessible introduction to the exciting topic of entropy.
- Includes the latest research on black holes, quantum theory, and the Big Bang.
- Contains worked examples and exercises.
Jonathan Allday is originally from Liverpool and did his PhD at University of Liverpool part time while working as a lecturer and teacher.
Simon Hands is Professor of Theoretical Physics, in Mathematical Sciences, School of Physical Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering at University of Liverpool.
Inventing the Built Environment – Planning, Science, and Control in British Architecture
Author: Juliana Yat Shun Kei
Published: 2024
Why and how was the term ‘built environment’ first introduced? Inventing the Built Environment retrieves the origin of this ubiquitous term. The articulation of the ‘built environment,’ Kei demonstrates, coincided with the redefinition of education, research, and professional practices in architecture and town planning in 1960s Britain.
Concentrating on the half-decade during which the term permeated the architectural and planning professions, this book recalls a time when the ‘built environment’ was conceived as a part of the British government’s effort in national economic planning. Inventing the Built Environment unpacks the proposal for a Research Council for the Built Environment to mobilise architecture and town planning for political economy. How a relatively small group of architects, planners, politicians, and researchers transposed scientific thoughts from biology, economics, and computation into the ‘built environment’ will be considered, too. Kei highlights the assumptions about and classification of the population that were made when inventing the ‘built environment.’ The architectural and biosocial implications of the making and remaking of this architectural-environmental notion, in Britain and beyond, will be revealed through the works of pre-eminent architect-planners including Richard Llewelyn-Davies and William Holford.
At a time when environmental concerns again take the front seat of architectural and planning debates, this book offers, for scholars and students, an alternative lens to reflect on the assumptions and bias that can be embedded in our architectural lexicons.
Juliana Yat Shun Kei is Senior Lecturer in Architecture, School of the Arts, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, at the University of Liverpool.