Jellyfish, depression, quarks, genes, artificial life and a 19th Century Russian chemist are the ingredients of this year's shortlist for the £10,000 Aventis prize for science books, often dubbed science's Booker Prize.

Author: Author of the computer game Creatures, managing director of Cyberlife Research and self-styled "Cybergod".

Malignant Sadness: The Anatomy of Depression, by Lewis Wolpert (Faber, £7.99)

In Brief: Clear and comprehensive guide to the science of severe depression, its causes and current treatments, with some personal touches from Wolpert's own experience of the disease. Concise and candid - you won't want to put it down.

Author: Distinguished biology professor at University College, London.

Mapping the Deep: The Extraordinary Story of Ocean Science, by Robert Kunzig (Sort of Books, £8.99)

In Brief: A rarely told story of jellyfish, siphonophores, salps and other characters from the world of water. A potted history of ocean exploration topped up with accounts from the cutting edge of marine science. Good stuff, only let down by a thin supply of colour illustrations and some poor-quality black-and-white ones.

Author: Science journalist at Discover magazine.

Mendel's Demon: Gene Justice and the Complexity of Life, by Mark Ridley (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, £20)

In Brief: Where else could you get a comparison of the merits of cloning, Earthly sex and Angelic sex? Ridley provides a colourful guide to why, biologically speaking, life is so complex. It is both thought provoking and hilarious, so that you can forgive the author his rare lapses into dry academic-speak.

Author: Influential evolutionary scientist at Oxford University.

Mendeleyev's Dream: The Quest for the Elements, by Paul Strathern (Penguin, £12.99)

In Brief: The Periodic Table could have been a lot more interesting at school with Strathern to explain its colourful history. He brings chemistry to life through some of its key characters through the ages from Paracelsus to Dmitri Mendeleyev and the unfortunate beheaded Antoine Lavoisier.

Author: Lecturer in philosophy and science at Kingston University.

In Brief: The first biography of the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Murray Gell-Mann, a child prodigy who became a pioneer in particle physics, discovering, among other things, the quark, but making plenty of enemies on the way. A great story, well told, that makes quantum physics almost comprehensible.

Author: Reports on science for the New York Times.

The shortlist for children's books is as follows:

DK Guide to Dinosaurs, by David Lambert (Dorling Kindersley, £12.99).

Fabulous illustrations and crystal clear explanations of how the dinosaurs lived and died.

Fascinating facts on natural phenomena from mist and fog to twisters and tornadoes.

Microbes, infections, plagues, coughs, colds and germ warfare - all explained in easy-to-digest chunks with some gruesome illustrations.

Humorous potted history of sciences successes and failures. Guaranteed to have the children chuckling as they learn.

Why does a jelly wobble? Why can't I fly like a bird? Why must I brush my teeth? These and other awkward questions explained with the help of simple experiments for home and garden.

A colourful introduction to the brain, including how we hear, see, smell, remember and dream.