Science Books

Discussion in 'Sci Reviews' started by Aladdin, Sep 1, 2011.

  1. Aladdin Registered Senior Member

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    125
    So, what science books impressed you the most? What would be your top three (or top 10, or ...) science books that you'd recommend to pretty much anyone able to read? The ones kept on your personal "must-have" shelf, most likely read more than once already...?

    Also, if you know of any science books that had success with young children I'd love to hear about them as well.

    Thanks in advance!
     
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  3. AlexG Like nailing Jello to a tree Valued Senior Member

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    4,304
    The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene

    Before the Beginning by Sir Martin Rees

    Black Holes and Time Warps by Kip Thorne.
     
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  5. leopold Valued Senior Member

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    17,455
    i'm not really a science type of guy.
    i'm more of the technical hands on type.
    i don't have that many science books.
    i do however have "hackh's chemical dictionary".
    i also have "standard mathematical tables".
    good reading:
    "the double helix" by james watson.
    "dark sun" by richard rhodes.
     
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  7. Boris2 Valued Senior Member

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    1,106
    Fabric of Reality David Deutsch
    Chaos James Gleick
    Atom lawrence krauss
    Beagle Diary Charles Darwin
     
  8. James R Just this guy, you know? Staff Member

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    39,397
    Probably the one that had the greatest single impact on me was Richard Dawkins The Selfish Gene. Once you've read and understood that, you can't help but either change your whole worldview or else stick your head in the sand and pretend it never happened. In fact, everything Dawkins has written for the general public is well worth a read.

    A similar eye-opening book (on a somewhat different subject) is Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel.

    Back when I was lot younger, I read virtually any science book I could lay my hands on by Isaac Asimov, who as well as writing science fiction also wrote a lot of non-fiction science books.

    I have a whole shelf of skeptical literature. Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World is still an excellent introduction to science and skepticism.

    I also have a shelf full of advanced technical books on physics and mathematics, but they are all very specialised and nobody but a professional or student would recognise the authors.

    PS leopold's post has jogged my memory. Richard Rhodes' book The Making of the Atomic Bomb is fascinating if you're into the history of science (and this particular event in world history).
     
  9. Shogun Bleed White and Blue! Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    7,635
    The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations

    The Prince

    The Art of War - Sun Tzu

    Utility of Force: The Art of War in the Modern World

    The Intelligent Investor

    The Selfish Gene

    The Mating Mind

    To pick one from the list...I'd have to say the Art of War by Sun Tzu, IMO the Samuel B. Griffith translation is the best, because of the selected commentaries. The Art of War is basically the bible for business and strategy...
     
  10. monicamorgan Registered Member

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    8
    I love medical books since it is somehow related with science
     
  11. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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  12. danshawen Valued Senior Member

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    3,951
    "The God Particle" Leon Lederman
    "The Particle at the End of the Universe" Sean Carroll
    "Time Reborn" Lee Smolin
    "Einstein's Telescope" Evalyn Gates
    "Not Even Wrong" Peter Woit
    "Mismeasure of Man" Stephen Jay Gould
    "The Quark and the Jaguar" Murray Gell Mann
    "The Feynman Lectures in Physics" Richard Feynman
    "Simplexity" Jeffrey Kluger
     
  13. paddoboy Valued Senior Member

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    27,543
    Probably still the best book I have read.
     
  14. paddoboy Valued Senior Member

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    27,543
    Read the first and the last Alex.
    A book I did read and found interesting was by Sir Martin Rees and Mitch Begalman.... "Gravity's Fatal Attraction"
     
  15. el es Registered Senior Member

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    322
    Lighter reading:

    UNCLE TUNGSTEN.....Memories of a Chemical Boyhood.....OLIVER SACKS
     
  16. zgmc Registered Senior Member

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    I grew up on Carl Sagan. I also like Michio Kaku, and Brian Greene to name a few. Are there any new must reads out there right now?
     
  17. river

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    Paul LaViolette

    Secrets of Antigravity Propulsion
     
  18. exchemist Valued Senior Member

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    12,451
  19. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    The thread is asking for science books.
    You haven't listed one.

    Oh, it's worse than that...
    He's also the guy that was able to successfully decipher the lost science said to be encoded in the lores of the Tarot and astrology.

    (IOW perfect woo for River to subscribe to).
     
  20. exchemist Valued Senior Member

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    12,451
    Yes, River is a sort of anti-science troll, really, who can be counted on to try to put a spanner in the works or in other ways waste your time. Luckily, most regular readers have worked this out. I myself found out the hard way, via a determinedly silly correspondence on the subject of water, which you can still find buried somewhere in the Chemistry section. I took him at face value then, but never since. I have adopted a policy of not addressing him directly, in order to discourage further timewasting.
     
  21. river

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    Of course this response towards Paul is not unexpected

    To bad really

    Neither the posters of # 15 or 16 dwell
     
  22. river

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    the book called TESLA , inventor of the electrical age by W. Bernard Carlson ,pub. 2013 ( is a professor of science , technology , and society in the School of Engineering and Applied Science and professor of history , at the University of Virginia , ) . He not only gets into Tesla's biography , but also the electrical thinking and thinkers of his time .

    with also explaining the details of some of Tesla's inventions

    well worth the read
     
  23. Magical Realist Valued Senior Member

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    "One, Two, Three...Infinity" by George Gamow. This book opened me to the wonders of science.

    Also, "The Seven Mysteries of Life" by Guy Murchie.
     
    Last edited: Nov 19, 2014

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