Malcolm Gladwell is the most popular popular science writer in the world — and, reading this, you can see why. He explains complicated things in a way that is so simple. You never have to read a sentence twice. Also, he explains things in an upbeat, cheerful way which makes you feel good about the world. Here his subject is success — why are winners such as Bill Gates and The Beatles so far ahead of others in their field? Partly because of talent, of course, but also because they were in the right place at the right time. And because they worked hard — 10,000 hours is, apparently, the magic number.