| Robert M. Sapolsky |
MonkeyLuv |
Elegant and witty articles on the
nature/nurture debate, the interface between the human mind and body, and
the interaction between society and human biology. Highly readable
 |
Human science |
| Carl Sagan |
The Demon Haunted World |
An eloquent plea for reason
and the scientific method instead of wide-eyed acceptance |
Sceptics, overview |
| Nick Sagan, Mark
Frary and Andy Walker |
Future Proof |
Good, if unoriginal concept of showing how the
future technology of earlier days hasn't come into being. Glossy, but not
very inspiring.  |
Overview |
| Ziauddin Sardar & Iwona Abrams |
Introducing Chaos |
Wacky
illustrated introduction to the concepts of chaos - pure marmite
|
Maths, physics |
| Ziauddin
Sardar, Jerry Ravetz and Borin van Loon |
Introducing Mathematics |
Strangely illustrated ultra-quick overview of
maths - pure marmite
|
Maths |
| Eric R. Scerri |
The Periodic Table |
An in-depth exploration of the birth and
development of the periodic table. Too technical and not enough context for
the general reader.
|
Chemistry |
| Gino Segre |
Einstein's Refrigerator
[A Matter of Degrees] |
Excellent exploration of temperature, heat and cold, taking in a trip
through much of science |
Physics, overview |
| L. J. K. Setright |
Drive On! A social history of the motor car |
Infuriatingly pompous, yet fascinating
exploration of the development and impact of the automobile
|
Technology |
| Michael Shermer |
Why People
Believe Weird Things |
Powerful and effective exploration of where
strange beliefs come from and how they take hold.
|
Sceptics, overview |
| Joel Shurkin |
Broken Genius |
Exceedingly well-told biography of William
Shockley, physics Nobel prize winner and founder of Silicon Valley whose
reputation was ruined by his social theories.
|
Biography |
| Tom Siegfried |
A Beautiful Math |
Although it sounds like a follow up the
biography of John Nash (A Beautiful Mind), it's actually a flawed but
interesting attempt to show that game theory could be the real
psychohistory.
|
Maths |
| Joseph Silk |
The Infinite Cosmos |
Up-to-date (as of 2005) overview of cosmology
- lots of great information, but poorly written and not recommended unless
you already know the basics
|
Cosmology |
| Steve Silverman |
Einstein's Refrigerator |
Rather 'gee whiz'
exposition of weird but true, mostly science-based tales |
Overview |
|
SIMON SINGH |
Biography |
More on books |
|
| Simon Singh |
Big Bang |
The answer to the ultimate question of the
universe - where did it come from? - beautifully put in context
|
Cosmology |
| Simon Singh |
The Code Book |
The development of codes
and ciphers through the ages |
Maths |
| Simon Singh |
Fermat's Last Theorem |
The history and the final
solution of this knotty mathematical problem |
Maths |
| David Livingstone
Smith |
Why We Lie |
Be amazed, not just at how much we lie, but
how essential it is for the operation of society. Interesting and original
|
Human science |
| Leonard Smith |
Chaos: A Very Short Introduction |
One of the best entries in the Oxford series
of pocket introductions, concentrating on the practical uses of chaos
theory.
|
Maths |
| Lee Smolin |
The Trouble with Physics |
Absorbing exploration of the problems with
string theory and how it has become an ineffective panacea.
|
Physics |
| Dava Sobel |
Galileo's Daughter |
Biography of Galileo and exploration of his
work, cunningly linked by a series of letters from his daughter
|
Biography,
overview |
| Dava Sobel |
Longitude |
Clockmaker John Harrison's
attempts to devise an accurate chronometer for navigation |
Biography, technology |
| Dava Sobel |
The Planets |
Highly poetic and personal exploration of the
solar system - enjoyable reading but a little weak on science
|
Astronomy |
| Colin Spedding |
The Second Mouse Gets the Cheese |
Very slim book on proverbs, based on the
author's use of them in science lectures. A real oddity.
|
Overview |
| Francis Spufford |
Backroom Boys |
Wonderful history of six quirky UK technology
breakthroughs including Concorde and the game Elite
|
Technology |
| Tom Standage |
The [Mechanical] Turk |
The amazing story of the mechanical chess
player built in 1770
|
Technology |
| Tom Standage |
The Victorian Internet |
How the telegraph network changed the world,
crossed continents (and resulted in love between telegraphists).
|
Technology |
| Michael Stebbins |
Sex, Drugs & DNA |
Powerful indictment of the failings of the US
political system on scientific and medical issues, written in a highly
approachable style
|
Overview |
| Duncan Steel |
Eclipse |
The history of eclipses and
humanity's scientific and spiritual reactions to them |
Astronomy |
|
IAN STEWART |
Biography |
|
|
| Ian Stewart |
From Here to Infinity |
Surprisingly readable and low-equation tour of the heart of today's
mathematics |
Maths |
| Ian Stewart |
The Mayor of Uglyville's Dilemma |
Thirty delightful mathematical puzzles of the
sort that begins with a story and ends with something to solve. Only 3 stars
because not really popular maths
|
Maths |
| Ian Stewart & Jack Cohen |
The Collapse of Chaos |
Combines chaos theory and
complexity theory to boggle the mind |
Maths |
| Ian Stewart & Jack Cohen |
Evolving the Alien [What does a Martian
look like] |
Clever idea of exploring alien life
possibilities, partly driven by SF ideas, but suffers from smugness
|
Biology |
| Ian Stewart, Terry
Pratchett & Jack Cohen |
Science of
Discworld |
Clever mix of Pratchett's fantasy and science
covering the "construction" of the earth. Not the best in the series, but
good |
Overview |
| Ian Stewart, Terry
Pratchett & Jack Cohen |
Science of
Discworld II |
Clever idea, mixing Pratchett's fantasy and
science, but this instalment on the mind is by far the worst
|
Human Science |
| Ian Stewart, Terry
Pratchett & Jack Cohen |
Science of
Discworld III: Darwin's Watch |
The highly entertaining and original combo of
Discworld fantasy and scientific precision is aimed at evolution. A few
quibbles but great |
Biology |
| Mary Stopes-Roe |
Mathematics with Love |
Delightful correspondence and maths lessons
between Barnes Wallis, inventor of the bouncing bomb and his sweetheart |
Biography,
technology |
| Linda Stratmann |
Chloroform: the quest for oblivion |
Interesting history of the early anaesthetic
chloroform and its rise and fall. Great period detail.
|
Human science |
| Steven Strogatz |
Sync: the emerging science of spontaneous order |
A wonderful, cross-disciplinary jaunt that
mixes real life scientific experience with exploration of synchronicity
|
Overview |
| Robert Sullivan |
The Meadowlands |
Mix of industrial archaeology, travel and
natural history in this warm exploration of the swamps and tips on the edge
of New York City
|
Overview |
| Robert Sullivan |
Rats |
A study of the wild rat in New York, in Robert
Sullivan's unique style that brings in many fascinating tangential stories
|
Biology |
|
Gaurav Suri & Hartosh Singh Bal |
A Certain Ambiguity |
Attempt to get across the joys
of maths in a novel form. Wonderful idea, hence the bracketed five stars,
but doesn't work very well as novel or popular maths.
[] |
Mathematics |
| Henrik Svensmark &
Nigel Calder |
The Chilling Stars |
Controversial but fascinating theory that much
of the Earth's climate change through history has been caused by the impact
of cosmic rays. |
Cosmology, Earth
Science |
| George C. Szpiro |
The Secret Life
of Numbers |
Collection of articles on interesting maths
topics let down by lack-lustre writing
|
Maths |
| Charles Tanford &
Jacqueline Reynolds |
Nature's Robots:
A History of Proteins |
Accessible history of science textbook on
proteins and their discovery, but not really popular science
|
Biology |
| Jürgen Tautz |
The Buzz about
Bees |
A delightful surprise when what appears to be
a textbook proves to be a fascinating, beautifully illustrated exploration
of these remarkable superorganisms.
|
Biology |
| Dick Taverne |
The March of
Unreason |
Interesting counter to the anti-science,
anti-practically everything tone that is so popular these days.
|
Overview |
| Kathleen Taylor |
Brainwashing: The Science of Thought Control |
That rarest of things, an academic book that
is enjoyable to the general reader - excellent study of brainwashing
|
Human science |
| Steve Taylor |
Making Time |
A magazine article on the way subjective time
varies blown up with much padding into a book that confuses science and
anecdote. |
Human science |
| John Timbrell |
The Poison Paradox |
Comprehensive but rather repetitive and weakly
edited guide to the nature of poisons, both natural and synthetic
|
Biology, chemistry |
| Chris Turney |
Bones, Rocks and Stars |
An interesting look into the science behind
dating, deciding how old things are and working out when things happened
|
Overview |
| Jon Turney |
Lovelock & Gaia: Signs of Life |
If you thought Gaia was all about
tree-hugging, think again with this excellent mini-introduction to Lovelock
|
Earth science |
| Neil Turok & Paul
J. Steinhardt |
Endless Universe: Before the Big Bang |
Accessible and readable book from the
respected proponents of a theory of the creation of the universe without a
big bang.
|
Cosmology |
| Neil deGrasse
Tyson |
Death by Black Hole |
Reasonable collection of cosmological
articles. Well written, but failed to excite.
|
Cosmology |
| Surendra Verma |
The Cause of Mosquitoes' Sorrow |
Chronological trip through scientific
breakthroughs, beginnings and blunders providing quick tasters.
|
Overview |
| Surendra Verma |
The Little Book of Scientific Principles,
Theories and Things |
A delightful collection of 175 vignettes,
illuminating scientific theories and the people who devised them. Highly
recommended |
Overview |
| Surendra Verma |
The Tunguska Fireball |
Fascinating story of the Siberian puzzle of
1908 told in an ultimately unsatisfactory fashion
|
Overview |
| Surendra Verma |
Why Aren't They Here? |
A description of different theories of why we
haven't been contacted by aliens (and of our attempts to reach them). Some
nice historical context, but a trifle dull.
|
Cosmology |
| William T.
Vollmann |
Uncentering the Earth |
A turgid, unreadable attempt at telling what
should be the interesting story of Copernicus's move of the Earth away from
the centre of the universe |
Cosmology |
| Frans de Waal |
Our Inner Ape |
The affection the author feels for chimps and
bonobos comes through strongly as he explores the behaviour of our closest
relatives, and what it can tell us about ourselves
|
Biology |
| John Waller |
Leaps in the Dark |
Uncovering the myths of science to show that
those "Eureka!" moments might be rather different. Excellent.
|
Overview |
| James D. Watson |
Avoid Boring People |
Dull autobiography that has none of the style
and panache of the much younger Watson's The Double Helix.
|
Biography |
| James D. Watson |
The Double Helix |
Forget the tendency to disregard this book
because it's not politically correct - it's a wonderful personal account of
the discovery of the structure of DNA
|
Biology, physics |
| John Waller |
The Discovery of the Germ |
Much more interesting than the title sounds -
the transformation of medicine from fantasy to reality
|
Biology, human
science |
| Gavin Weightman |
Signor Marconi's Magic Box |
Gripping story of the young Marconi's race
against time to be the first to achieve long distance radio communication.
Excellent stuff |
Technology |
| Joseph Weiner |
The Piltdown Forgery |
Fifty years after it was discredited, OUP
publish an updated version of Weiner's still very readable account
|
Human science |
| Brad Wetzler |
Real Mosquitoes Don't Eat Meat |
A collection of delightful and fun answers to
those questions that always puzzle us, in this case about the natural world
|
Overview |
|
MICHAEL WHITE |
Biography |
|
|
| Michael White |
The Fruits of War |
A huge sweep - effectively a brief history of
all of technology, pointing out where its development was accelerated by war
proves interesting but too much to cover
|
Overview |
| Michael White |
Isaac Newton, the Last
Sorcerer |
Newton biog with emphasis on
personal development and his interest in alchemy |
Biography, physics |
| Michael White |
Leonardo, the First Scientist |
A biography of Leonardo da Vinci concentrating on his
contributions to science rather than art
|
Biography |
| Michael White |
A Teaspoon and an Open Mind: The Science of
Doctor Who |
Doctor Who seems the ideal subject for a
Science Of... book, but unfortunately the science is very weakly linked to
the TV show, rather missing the point
|
TV/Movies |
| Michael White & John Gribbin |
Einstein: A Life in Science |
Between them, White & Gribbin iron out each
others faults to produce a good, balanced Einstein biog
|
Biography, physics |
| G. J. Whitrow |
What is Time? |
A good introduction to the nature of time, but
could have been even better if written for a modern audience
|
Physics |
| Maurice Wilkins |
The Third Man of the Double Helix |
Autobiography of the third DNA Nobel prize winner.
Not great writing, but fascinating insight, especially into the Frankin
affair
|
Biography, biology |
| Ian Wilmut & Roger
Highfield |
After Dolly |
Excellent combination of a history of the
development of the first animal clone, Dolly the sheep, with an exploration
of the ethics and practicality of cloning by one of the team behind Dolly's
birth. |
Biology |
| E. O. Wilson |
The Creation |
A short and beautifully put together plea for
better stewardship of the natural world, let down by lack of coherence.
|
Biology |
| Davey Winder |
Being Virtual |
Glossy and very personal view on virtual
worlds and the people who inhabit them.
|
Technology |
|
Robert Winston (Ed.) |
Human |
Wonderful illustrated
reference guide to the human being - not popular science really, hence
only |
Human science |
| Robert Winston |
The Human Mind |
A good exploration of the human brain and
its functions, but not what the title says it is and occasionally
trivializes
|
Human science |
| Peter Woit |
Not Even Wrong |
Stunning but hugely difficult book describing
the failing of string theory and why it perhaps isn't even science. [UNRATEABLE] |
Physics |
| Maryanne Wolf |
Proust and the Squid |
Wonderful concept - looking at how the brain
copes with reading - not very well executed as a popular science book. |
Human science |
| Bernard Wood |
Human Evolution: A Very Short Introduction |
Pocket summary of the latest thinking on human
evolution and the paleo-anthropology that lies behind it |
Human science |
| Benjamin Woolley |
The
Herbalist (UK) |
Life and works of herbalist
and medic Nicholas Culpeper |
Biography, human
science |
| Benjamin Woolley |
Heal Thyself (US) |
see
The Herbalist |
|
| Benjamin Woolley |
The Queen's Conjuror |
The remarkable John Dee and
his fascinating mix of science and magic
|
Biography |
| Glen Yeffeth (Ed.) |
Taking the Red Pill |
Tasty collection of essays on the science and philosophy of the movie The
Matrix
|
TV/Movies |
| Robert Zimmerman |
Leaving Earth |
Interesting, in-depth history of space
stations, their planned roles as stepping stones to the solar system and
what really happened.
|
Technology |
| Gary Zukav |
The Dancing Wu Li Masters |
Dated but reasonable attempt to explain "new"
physics flawed by unnecessary mysticism
|
Physics |
| Jason Zweig |
Your Money and Your Brain |
Although technically a 'how to invest' guide,
it's really a great exploration of how the different mechanisms of the brain
make us unsuited to the stock market.
|
Human science |
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