 Popular science books range from complex theoretical texts to glossy coffee table tomes, but it's unusual to have an example from each end of the spectrum contributed by the same author. Brian Cox is the country's highest profile scientist thanks to his television appearances, but any novices coming to The Quantum Universe (allen Lane, ?20), co-written with Jeff Forshaw, are in for potential brain freeze. It's a well written account of contemporary quantum theory, but even without lots of explicit maths it's uncompromisingly highbrow and if you're looking to give it as a present, make sure that the recipient has some knowledge of modern physics already.  a more mainstream gift would be Cox's other book, Wonders of the Universe (Collins, ?20), co-written with andrew Cohen. a tie-in to his television series, it's a big, shiny hardback made with the same high production values; sumptuous, cinematic in scope, and often mind-blowing. Covering astronomy and cosmology, it works as both a companion to the series and as a good stand-alone introduction to its subject matter.  Even better looking is The Magic of Reality (Bantam, ?20) written by Richard Dawkins and illustrated by Dave McKean. Here, Dawkins takes time out from bothering religious types to do what he does best: writing lucidly and enthusiastically about science. The book is primarily aimed at teenagers, but plenty of adults will get a kick out of it too, as Dawkins asks, and then answers, big questions such as "What are things made of?" and "Why do bad things happen?". McKean's drawings bring the text to life brilliantly, and while the chapter on evolution - inevitably given his background - is the best, Dawkins writes convincingly about everything from chemistry to statistics.  Consensus these days is that earth and humanity are heading for hell in a handcart, but two of this year's finer books argue otherwise. The f 