|
After the Ice |
Steven Mithen |
Huge history of humanity
between 20,000 and 5,000 BC with neat "observer" style
 |
Human science |
|
Afterglow of Creation |
Marcus Chown |
Intriguing detective story tracking back from
the cosmic background radiation to the big bang. |
Cosmology |
|
[The Age of] Scurvy |
Stephen R. Bown |
Gripping story of the slow discovery of the
cure for scurvy that brings alive the atmosphere of life on sailing ships
|
Human science |
|
Almost Human |
Lee Gutkind |
Fly on the wall documentary book of the
personalities, achievements and disasters of the Carnegie Mellon roboticists.
|
Technology |
|
Antimatter |
Frank Close |
Intriguing guide to antimatter: what it is,
how it's made and how it's unlikely to be a serious component of a weapon.
|
Physics |
|
The Archimedes Codex |
Reviel Netz & William Noel |
Fascinating combination of the story of the
uncovering of a hidden manuscript copy of Archimedes' books and an
explanation of what's special about the content.
|
Maths |
|
As Far As We Know |
Paul Callaghan & Kim Hill |
Transcripts of entertaining
radio conversations covering a wide range of scientific issues from human
gender to thermodynamics.
|
Overview |
|
Aspirin: The Remarkable Story of a Wonder Drug |
Dairmuid Jeffreys |
The story of aspirin from
quinine substitute to heart medicine. Excellent background; truly
fascinating |
Chemistry, human sciences |
|
Atom |
Piers Bizony |
A good mix of biography and science as we
follow the trail of just what atoms are. Could do with a bit more depth in
the human interest side, but well-written.
|
Physics |
|
The Apple and the Atom |
Sebastien Balibar |
Enjoyable and very personal views on a series
of scientific topics from a French low temperature physicist.
|
Overview |
|
Are Angels OK? |
Bill Manhire &
Paul Callaghan (Eds.) |
Mix of science, science fiction and lab lit
from New Zealand. Mixed content, but explores well how science and
literature sit alongside each other.
 |
Overview |
|
The Autobiography |
Charles Darwin |
Not at all stuffy - short book
is a fascinating insight into Darwin as a human being
|
Biography, biology |
|
The Autobiography |
Patrick Moore |
A remarkable combination of stories from life
an opinions on the world from the UK's best known astronomer and TV
eccentric |
Biography,
astronomy |
|
Backroom Boys |
Francis Spufford |
Wonderful history of six quirky UK technology
breakthroughs including Concorde and the game Elite
|
Technology |
|
Bang! The Complete History of the Universe |
Patrick Moore,
Brian May, Chris Lintott |
A superbly illustrated introduction to the
basics of cosmology, for all ages, though we think it works best for younger
readers. |
Astronomy,
cosmology |
|
Bats Sing, Mice Giggle |
Karen Shanor &
Jagmeet Kanwal |
A whole pile of surprising and fascinating
facts about the inner lives of animals, though could have been less of a
long list.
|
Biology |
|
Beyond the Hoax |
Alan Sokal |
Hugely insightful look into the nature of
science based on Sokal's hoax academic paper, but could have better put
together. |
Overview |
|
The Big Necessity |
Rose George |
The rarely visited world of human waste -
great fun down the sewers, investigating Japanese high function toilets, and
with the sociological and health issues involved.
|
Human Science |
|
Blink |
Malcolm Gladwell |
Lightweight but delightfully told illustration
of how we make ultra-quick decisions
|
Human Science |
|
The Brain Book |
Rita Carter |
Surprisingly good adult
picture book on the brain and how it works.
|
Human science |
|
Brainwashing: The Science of Thought Control |
Kathleen Taylor |
That rarest of things, an academic book that
is enjoyable to the general reader - excellent study of brainwashing
|
Human science |
|
Branches |
Philip Ball |
Part of Ball's wide-ranging study of form,
this book looks at branching in nature, with a sideline in the concept of
scientific models.
|
Overview |
|
A Briefer History of Time |
Stephen Hawking
(with Leonard Mlodinow) |
Attempt to make Brief History more
approachable - good content, but suffers from übergloss
|
Cosmology, physics |
|
Buy-ology |
Martin Lindstrom |
Interesting study of how people react to
advertising by monitoring the brain, though some of the interpretation of
the science is poorly presented.
|
Human science |
|
The Cause of Mosquitoes' Sorrow |
Surendra Verma |
Chronological trip through scientific
breakthroughs, beginnings and blunders providing quick tasters.
|
Overview |
|
Chaos: A Very Short Introduction |
Leonard Smith |
One of the best entries in the Oxford series
of pocket introductions, concentrating on the practical uses of chaos
theory.
|
Maths |
|
Chloroform: the quest for oblivion |
Linda Stratmann |
Interesting history of the early anaesthetic
chloroform and its rise and fall. Great period detail.
|
Human science |
|
Climate Change Begins at Home |
Dave Reay |
Why climate change is a problem and what we as
individuals can do about it, without jargon or being preachy
|
Earth science,
technology |
| The Code Book |
Simon Singh |
The development of codes
and ciphers through the ages |
Maths |
|
Coincidences, Chaos and All that Math Jazz |
Edward B. Burger & Michael Starbird |
A high speed, highly enjoyable tour of many of
the interesting bits of maths that doesn't patronize, but is never
over-heavy. |
Maths |
|
Collider: the search for the world's smallest
particles |
Paul Halpern |
Useful introduction to the Large Hadron
Collider, particular good on the history of accelerators and particle
research. |
Physics |
| The Colossal Book of
Mathematics |
Martin Gardiner |
Classic puzzles, paradoxes
and problems |
Maths |
|
Complexity: a guided tour |
Melanie Mitchell |
Enjoyable and engaging exploration of
complexity, genetic algorithms, networks and more.
|
Overview |
|
Conflict in the Cosmos/Fred Hoyle: A Life in
Science |
Simon Mitton |
Biography of brilliant astronomer and huge
character, Fred Hoyle. Fascinating, but could have been better
|
Biography,
astronomy |
|
The Cosmic Verses |
James Muirden |
Astonishingly effective history of our ideas
on the universe, all in verse - certainly could have been much worse.
|
Cosmology |
|
Cosmology: a very short introduction |
Peter Coles |
Compact
but surprisingly detailed introduction to cosmology. Could do with an
update, but still good.
|
Cosmology |
|
The Cosmos: A Beginner's Guide |
Adam Hart-Davis & Paul Bader |
A beautifully illustrated book from a BBC TV
series that's really more about the equipment we use to study it than the
cosmos.
|
Cosmology |
|
Cows in the Maze |
Ian Stewart |
Mixed bag collection of recreational maths
pieces, some great, others not so.
|
Maths |
|
The Curies |
Denis Brian |
Interesting and in-depth biography of both the
Curies and the Joliot-Curies, though could have been even better with
judicious editing. |
Biography |
|
Darwin: Discovering the tree of life |
Niles Eldredge |
Not just another Darwin biography, but a very
readable and well illustrated attempt to show just how Darwin's thinking was
shaped |
Biology, biography |
|
Darwin: The Life of a Tormented Evolutionist |
Adrian Desmond &
James Moore |
A rich narrative of a "billionare of bizarre
facts" and his struggle between a revolutionary idea and a conservative
social context. |
Biography |
|
Decoding Reality |
Vlatko Vedral |
Fascinating subject - the significance of
information in the universe - but could have been much better written..
|
Physics |
|
The Devil's Doctor |
Philip Ball |
Revealing look at the medieval mix of magic
and science that lay behind the life and theories of Paracelsus the strange
and often reviled early medic
|
Biography |
|
Diagnosis [Every Patient Tells a Story] |
Lisa Sanders |
A profuse collection of diagnosis stories from
the doctor behind the TV programme House, M. D. An engaging and informative
read, but could have been better structured.
|
Human science |
|
The Discovery of the Germ |
John Waller |
Much more interesting than the
title sounds - the transformation of medicine from fantasy to reality
|
Biology, human science |
|
Donald Michie: on Machine Intelligence, Biology
& more |
Donald Michie &
Ashwin Srinivasan (ed.) |
An enjoyable collection of writings by a
pioneer of artificial intelligence and IVF.
|
Technology |
|
Dreaming |
J. Allan Hobson |
Dream and sleep science hauled out of the Freudian dark ages with an
excellent introduction
|
Human sciences |
|
The Earth: an intimate history |
Richard Fortey |
Not only a good explanation of
how the Earth works, but a tour of key locations too.
|
Earth science |
|
Einstein: A Life in Science |
Michael White & John Gribbin |
Between them, White & Gribbin iron out each
others faults to produce a good, balanced Einstein biog
|
Biography, physics |
|
Einstein's Heroes |
Robyn Arianrhod |
Excellent exploration of the move of maths to
centre stage in physics, mostly focussing on the life and work of James
Clark Maxwell
|
Physics, maths |
|
Einstein's Mistakes |
Hans C. Ohanian |
Brilliantly different exposition of Einstein's
work, only slightly let down by smugness and at least one error.
|
Physics |
|
Einstein's Universe: the layperson's guide |
Nigel Calder |
Short and useful book which outlines special
and general relativity - good start for anyone who is first encountering the
subject.
|
Physics |
|
The Electric Life of Michael Faraday |
Alan Hirshfeld |
A fascinating look at the life and
particularly the work of this pre-eminent Victorian physicist. |
Biography, physics |
|
Electric Universe |
David Bodanis |
Excellent as a teen introduction to the
wonders of electricity, but a bit too gushing for some adults.
|
Physics |
|
Electronic Brains |
Mike Hally |
The early days of electronic computer are
uncovered around the world - US, UK, Australia and USSR - in an engaging
little book |
Technology |
|
The Elegant Universe |
Brian Greene |
Precursor to Fabric of the Cosmos with
considerable overlaps. Not as good on relativity/quantum theory but more on
string theory. |
Physics, cosmology |
|
The Elements of Murder |
John Emsley |
A history of the use of several key elements
from mercury to lead in poisonings - fascinating stories and surprisingly
interesting |
Human science |
|
The Emperor's New Drugs |
Irving Kirsch |
An analysis of the ineffectiveness of
anti-depressant drugs and the importance of the placebo effect that is a
good guide to scientific method.
|
Human science |
|
Endless Universe: Before the Big Bang |
Neil Turok & Paul
J. Steinhardt |
Accessible and readable book from the
respected proponents of a theory of the creation of the universe without a
big bang.
|
Cosmology |
|
Enhancing Me |
Pete Moore |
Although using a restrictive definition of enhancement, a thought-provoking
look at how humans can be made more than human.
|
Human Science,
technology |
|
The Essential Einstein: His Greatest Works |
Albert Einstein |
Stephen Hawking edits and comments on
Einstein's best work - but you probably need a physics degree..
|
Physics |
|
Flow |
Philip Ball |
A study of the science of flow that offers many
pleasures to the reader (but a clear statement of the book's aims is not one
of them)
|
Overview |
|
Fred Hoyle's Universe |
Jane Gregory |
A thorough and effective biography of the
great astronomer Fred Hoyle - not perfect, but probably the best
|
Biography,
cosmology |
|
From Here to Infinity |
Ian Stewart |
Surprisingly readable and
low-equation tour of the heart of today's mathematics
|
Maths |
|
The Future of Food |
Brian J. Ford |
A sharp assessment of what's wrong with the
way we produce and consume food, and how things might change. Idiosyncratic
tone might irritate, but will also interest.
|
Overview |
|
Genius: The Life and science of Richard Feynman |
James Gleick |
The best biography of this superb physicist
and complex man - still flawed but well worth reading
|
Biography |
|
Galileo's Daughter |
Dava Sobel |
Biography of Galileo and
exploration of his work, cunningly linked by a series of letters from his
daughter |
Biography, overview |
|
The God Particle |
Leon Lederman &
Dick Teresi |
In-depth and often funny look at the history
of particle physics and the development of the standard model, viewed by an
insider.
|
Physics |
| Gödel, Escher, Bach |
Douglas Hofstadter |
Linking the music of Bach,
the art of Escher and the maths of Gödel to illustrate human thought
|
Psychology, overview |
|
The Goldilocks Enigma |
Paul Davies |
Why are all the physical constants so fine-tuned for an environment we can
live in? A thought provoking exploration of the cosmological reasons why
things are just right. |
Cosmology |
|
God's Philosophers |
James Hannam |
Highly informative and surprisingly readable
book filling in just what developments were made in the history of science
during the medieval period.
|
Overview |
|
Happiness |
Daniel Nettle |
The science of happiness - a fascinating
analysis of what happiness is and how we react to it
|
Human science |
|
Hope for Animals and their World |
Jane Goodall |
Very personal and moving accounts of animals
being saved from the brink of extinction - just a bit overlong.
|
Biology |
|
How Long is a Piece of String |
Rob Easterway &
Jeremy Wyndham |
Very enjoyable book of mathematical fun in
everyday life - could do to be a little more adult in presentation
|
Maths |
|
How Many Licks |
Aaron Santos |
Entertaining collection of 69 estimates for
remarkable statistics, illustrating the ease with which numbers can be
estimated (and the fun it can be to do so).
|
Mathematics |
|
How Slow Can You Waterski? |
Simon Rogers (ed.) |
... and other puzzling questions. Yes, it's
another collection of mini-science articles, but this is one of the better
ones, culled from the Guardian |
Overview |
|
How to Clone the Perfect Blonde |
Sue Nelson & Richard
Hollingham |
Eight fascinating applications of science,
beautifully explained, but let down a little by childish humour
|
Overview |
|
How to Fossilise Your Hamster |
Mick O'Hare (Ed.) |
Building on their Q&A books, now an
experiments book from the New Scientist's reliable Last Word column. |
Overview |
|
The Humans who went Extinct |
Clive Finlayson |
Strikingly different view of why Neanderthals
died out and we survived, well worth reading despite some boring bits.
|
Human science |
|
Ice, Mud and Blood |
Chris Turney |
As a call to action on climate change, it is a
missed opportunity. But as a story of scientific ingenuity and the wonders
of nature, it takes every chance - and succeeds
|
Earth science |
|
If Dogs Could Talk |
Vilmos Csányi |
Real eye-opener on the nature and
sophistication of the mind of a very familiar creature: the dog
|
Biology |
|
The Importance of Being Trivial |
Mark Mason |
Delightful exploration of why we find trivia
fascinating, packing in lots of wonderful factoids along the way.
|
Human science |
|
In Search of Schrödinger's Cat |
John Gribbin |
One of Gribbin's best books providing a good
introduction to quantum theory, which doesn't suffer too much from age
despite being over 20 years old. |
Physics |
|
The Infinite Book |
John D. Barrow |
Interesting book on infinity, generally very
good, though too much cosmology and attempts at artiness and not enough
maths
|
Maths |
|
In Search of Memory |
Eric R. Kandel |
Excellent account of the work of the Nobel
Prize winner Kandel, putting his studies of the cellular nature of memory
into the context of his life.. |
Biology |
|
In Search of the Multiverse |
John Gribbin |
A speculative but highly entertaining trip
around the different concepts that take us beyond a single universe to a
multiverse. |
Physics |
|
Introducing Quantum Theory |
J.P. McEvoy &
Oscar Zarate |
Wacky
but good illustrated introduction to the concepts of
quantum theory
|
Physics |
| Isaac Newton |
James Gleick |
Newton biog with good
insight into his physics |
Biography, physics |
|
Jurassic Mary |
Patricia Pierce |
Detailed insight into the life of Mary Anning,
one of the great Victorian fossil hunters whose name is largely hidden
because she was a working class woman
|
Biography |
|
Just Another Day |
Adam Hart-Davis |
Excellent concept of going through a composite
everyday life and exploring the science and technology. A lot of the author
in it, so a book you'll love or hate.
|
Overview |
|
The Last Man Who Knew Everything |
Andrew Robinson |
The first modern biography of the polymath
Thomas Young whose strong contributions to physics, engineering and more
make him a fascinating if enigmatic character.
|
Biography |
|
Leaps in the Dark |
John Waller |
Uncovering the myths of science to show that
those "Eureka!" moments might be rather different. Excellent.
|
Overview |
|
Light Years |
Brian Clegg |
The story of humanity's
exploration of light. Combination
of good history with fascinating new light science. New edition.
|
Physics |
|
Living with Enza |
Mark Honigsbaum |
The story of the 1918 flu pandemic and how it
impacted the UK, intertwined with events in the First World War. Scary at a
time of another pandemic.
|
Human science |
|
Lonesome George |
Henry Nicholls |
The attempts to mate the sole known tortoise
from Pinta Island in the Galapagos is used to introduce the islands
themselves, and a touch of Darwin
|
Biology |
| Longitude |
Dava Sobel |
Clockmaker John Harrison's
attempts to devise an accurate chronometer for navigation |
Biography, technology |
|
Lovelock & Gaia: Signs of
Life |
Jon Turney |
If you thought Gaia was all
about tree-hugging, think again with this excellent mini-introduction to
Lovelock |
Earth science |
|
The Man Who Stopped Time |
Brian Clegg |
Engaging biography of the motion picture
pioneer and murderer. Not a huge amount of science in his life, but brings
out the science of photography etc. well.
|
Biography |
| The Magic Furnace |
Marcus Chown |
Where atoms come from
- a remarkable story that takes us from the big bang to now
|
Physics, astronomy, cosmology |
|
Magic Universe |
Nigel Calder |
Alphabetic collection of articles on modern
science that are fascinating to read and give a good overview.
|
Overview |
|
Massive |
Ian Sample |
The search for the Higgs boson and the source
of mass. The story of the development of the colliders is great, but the
physics is rather summary.
|
Physics |
|
The Meadowlands |
Robert Sullivan |
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 |
|
The Mechanical Turk |
Tom Standage |
The amazing story of the
mechanical chess player built in 1770
|
Technology |
|
The Medical Detective [The Strange Case of the
Broad Street Pump] |
Sandra Hempel |
Fascinating medical history of the attempts to
discover how cholera spread, and John Snow's detective work to trace the
origins of the Broad Street outbreak
|
Human science |
|
Middle World |
Mark Haw |
Dull looking book, which is a shame because
it's a brilliant, very readable tour of the nanoscale from Brownian motion
to biological machines.
|
Physics |
|
The Mo[u]ld on Doctor Florey's Coat |
Eric Lax |
The true story of the development of
penicillin - both fascinating and very different from the myth
|
Biology, biography |
|
The Most Powerful Idea in the World |
William Rosen |
Engaging and detailed history of the people,
technology and particularly the ideas (and the nature of invention) that
made the industrial revolution happen.
|
Technology |
|
MonkeyLuv |
Robert M. Sapolsky |
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 |
|
The Mystery of the Aleph |
Amir Aczel |
Good biography of Georg Cantor
and explanation of his maths of the infinite.
|
Maths, biography |
|
Natural Acts |
David Quamman |
Collection of beautifully crafted short pieces
on science and nature, especially good on unexpected animal topics. |
Biology, overview |
|
Natural Computing |
Dennis Shasha &
Kathy Lazere |
Remarkable stories from the individuals
working at the edge of what's possible with computers - just lacks a bit of
'is this realistic?' |
Technology |
|
Nature via Nurture |
Matt Ridley |
A superbly balanced picture of the ages-old
debate between nature and nurture, and the latest thinking to emerge from
genetic science |
Human science |
|
The
Never Ending Days of Being Dead |
Marcus Chown |
A clear exploration of some of the big
questions in physics, bringing in a range of weird and wonderful theories
|
Physics, cosmology |
|
The New Killer Germs |
Pete Moore |
Very effective if depressing account of our
battle against bacteria and viruses, and how things are likely to get worse
in the future |
Human science |
|
New Theories of Everything |
John D. Barrow |
Hard to read, but insightful exploration of
the nature of theories in science and how they are constructed, particularly
around physics and theories of everything.
|
Physics |
| The Northern Lights |
Lucy Jago |
Kristian Birkeland, the
Norwegian scientist who first uncovered the secret of the Northern Lights
|
Biography, physics |
|
Not a Chimp |
Jeremy Taylor |
Convincing exploration of the very real
differences between humans and chimps, overlooked by simply comparing genes
|
Human science |
| The Nothing that Is |
Robert Kaplan |
An enjoyable tour around
that most significant gap in our counting system, zero |
Maths |
|
The One True Platonic
Heaven |
John L. Casti |
Cleverly written fictional
encounter between key physicists and mathematicians at the IAS - with some
politics thrown in for fun
|
Overview |
| Our Cosmic Habitat |
Martin Rees |
A clear and well-written
guide to the universe from the Astronomer Royal |
Cosmology, astronomy |
|
Our Inner Ape |
Frans de Waal |
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 |
|
The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing |
Richard Dawkins |
Interesting collection of extracts from many great science writers and
scientists. Excellent sampler. |
Overview |
|
Parallel Worlds |
Michio Kaku |
Fascinating ideas on parallel universes,
cosmology and string theory only slightly let down by oversimplification and
mixed writing. |
Cosmology, physics |
|
Perfect Copy |
Nicholas Agar |
Good introduction to the working of cloning
and exploration of the ethical implications and uses
|
Human science |
|
Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten
Track [Don't You Have Time to Think?] |
Richard Feynman |
Absolutely fascinating collection of letters
from one of the greatest scientists ever
|
Biography |
|
Phantoms in the Brain |
Sandra Blakeslee &
V. S. Ramachandran |
The workings of the brain cleverly explored
through mental problems and the effects of brain damage
|
Human science |
| The Physics of Star Trek |
Lawrence M. Krauss |
How much can real science
make the wonders of Star Trek possible? |
TV, physics |
|
The Physics of Superheroes |
James Kakalios |
One of the better 'science of'/'physics of'
books, using the exploits of superheroes to explore everything from
mechanics to electromagnetism.. |
Physics |
|
The Piltdown Forgery |
Joseph Weiner |
Fifty years after it was discredited, OUP
publish an updated version of Weiner's still very readable account
|
Human science |
|
Possessing Genius: The
Bizarre Odyssey of Einstein's Brain |
Carolyn Abraham |
Occasionally gory but
fascinating account of what happened to Einstein's brain after his death
|
Biography, human science |
|
Power, Sex, Suicide |
Nick Lane |
It sounds like a political thriller, but it's a
fascinating if fat exploration of the role of mitochondria, the invader
power packs of complex life. |
Biology |
|
Powering Up |
Rebecca Mileham |
Thought-provoking exploration of the effects
computer games have on us. Sometimes over-enthusiastic, but mostly good.
|
Technology |
|
Predictably Irrational |
Dan Ariely |
Great demonstration of how flawed the
conventional economics assumption that humans make rations decisions is,
with a string of experiments.
|
Human science |
|
The Prism and the Pendulum |
Robert P. Crease |
The ten most beautiful experiments in science
(well, physics), with good insights into the people behind them.
|
Physics |
|
Pythagoras |
Kitty Ferguson |
A difficult task in writing a book on a person we know almost nothing about
(and not much more on his theories) - but instead we follow his influence
through the centuries in a fascinating fashion. |
Biography |
| The Queen's Conjuror |
Benjamin Woolley |
The remarkable John Dee and
his fascinating mix of science and magic
|
Biography |
|
Radiation and Reason |
Wade Allison |
Powerful arguments for a better assessment of
the risk of nuclear power, but could do to be more approachable.
|
Physics, human
science |
|
The Rainhill Trials |
Christopher McGowan |
Pure technology, but a
fascinating insight into the men and machines that brought railways into
being
|
Technology |
|
Rats |
Robert Sullivan |
A study of the wild rat in New York, in Robert
Sullivan's unique style that brings in many fascinating tangential stories
|
Biology |
|
Real Mosquitoes Don't Eat Meat |
Brad Wetzler |
A collection of delightful and fun answers to
those questions that always puzzle us, in this case about the natural world
|
Overview |
|
The Rising Sea |
Orrin H. Pilkey & Rob Young |
Impressive and telling description of how sea
level can be expected to rise and what it's impact will be on humans,
wildlife and land masses.
|
Earth science |
|
Risk: The science and politics of fear |
Dan Gardner |
Good insights into how human responses divide
into 'head' and 'gut' and how our gut leads us to be frightened more than we
should. |
Human science |
|
The Road to Reality |
Roger Penrose |
Remarkable tour-de-force exploration of
physics and its mathematical basis, but almost totally incomprehensible!
|
Physics, maths |
|
The Rocketbelt Caper |
Paul Brown |
Stranger than fiction true story of the
development of the rocketbelt and the plunge into kidnapping and murder that
one rocketbelt caused |
Technology |
|
Sand |
Michael Welland |
Genuinely fascinating book on every aspect of
sand, but quite difficult to overcome the urge not to read it... because
it's (yawn) about sand.
|
Earth science |
|
Science and Islam: a history |
Ehsan Masood |
An enlightening and very accessible survey of
Islamic science during the so-called Dark Ages and beyond.
|
Overview |
| Science of
Discworld III: Darwin's Watch |
Terry Pratchett,
Ian Stewart & Jack Cohen |
The highly entertaining and original combo of
Discworld fantasy and scientific precision is aimed at evolution. A few
quibbles but great
|
Biology |
|
The Science of Doctor Who |
Paul Parsons |
The world's longest running SF TV show comes
under the "Science of" spotlight in an enjoyable and tantalising book
|
TV |
|
The Science of Middle Earth |
Henry Gee |
Surprisingly effective study of Tolkein's
attitude to science and its appearance on his writings
|
Overview |
|
Second Nature |
Jonathan Balcombe |
The book presents important messages about
animals' ability to feel and how we should treat them, but does so in a
repetitious and poorly argued way.
|
Biology |
|
The Selfish Genius |
Fern Elsdon-Baker |
Excellent analysis of what's right and wrong
with Richard Dawkins' approach to evolution and public understanding of
science, with real insights into science in society.
|
Biology |
|
Seven Deadly Colours |
Andrew Parker |
Superb description of nature's mechanisms for
producing colour and colour's impact on the eye, a little let down by poor
physics |
Biology |
| Sex, Botany and Empire |
Patricia Fara |
Joseph Banks (and Linnaeus)
and his contribution to biological classification
|
Biography, biology |
|
Sex, Drugs & DNA |
Michael Stebbins |
Powerful indictment of the failings of the US
political system on scientific and medical issues, written in a highly
approachable style
|
Overview |
| A Short History of Nearly
Everything |
Bill Bryson |
Triumphant charge through
all of science |
Overview |
|
The Silicon Eye |
George Gilder |
Meet some unknown but essential characters of
the silicon revolution and join their journey, attempting to take a whole
new approach to digital cameras.
|
Technology |
|
The Single Helix |
Steve Jones |
One hundred light and enjoyable newspaper
columns, collected to give an excellent dip into pretty well every area of
science. |
Overview |
|
Six Degrees: our future on a hotter planet |
Mark Lynas |
An important book - graphically tells of the
impact of one to six degrees of temperature rise on the planet. Gets a
little repetitious, but still important.
|
Earth sciences |
|
Sleepfaring: A journey through the science of
sleep |
Jim Horne |
Wonderfully readable tour of the science of
sleep. Sags just a little in the middle, but overall excellent
|
Biology |
|
Statistics: a very short introduction |
David J. Hand |
Very readable pocket introduction to
probability and statistics: first half is particularly good.
|
Maths |
|
The Strangest Man |
Graham Farmelo |
Very detailed and well researched biography of
the most secretive of the quantum physicists, Paul Dirac. A welcome
addition.
|
Biography, physics |
|
The Sun Kings |
Stuart Clark |
Well-written and enjoyable history of
discoveries about the Sun and its influence on the Earth from renaissance
times.
|
Astronomy |
|
The Super-Organism |
Bert Holldobler
and E. O. Wilson |
Big glossy and in-depth study of the
super-organism behaviour of bees and ants. Fascinating, though can get a bit
heavy in both senses.
|
Biology |
|
The Surgeons |
Charles Morris |
By turns gory and over-awed, but still a
dramatic account of the author's stint with New York heart surgeons.
|
Human Science |
|
Surviving Armageddon |
Bill McGuire |
Good, short book on the possible disasters
facing the earth and how we can overcome them
|
Earth science |
|
Sync: the emerging science
of spontaneous order |
Steven Strogatz |
A wonderful,
cross-disciplinary jaunt that mixes real life scientific experience with
exploration of synchronicity |
Overview |
|
Taking the Red Pill |
Glen Yeffeth (Ed.) |
Tasty collection of essays on the science and philosophy of the movie The
Matrix
|
TV/Movies |
|
The Talent Code |
Daniel Coyle |
Interesting observations on how the brain
programs for skills that work well for physical skills but the author fails
to spot they're anathema to creativity.
|
Human science |
|
The Talking Ape |
Robbins Burling |
Fascinating exploration of the origins and nature of language. Approachable
yet authoritative. |
Human Science |
|
The Tao of Physics |
Fritjof Capra |
Classic book drawing parallels between physics
(particularly quantum physics) and Eastern religions, still interesting
despite blatant misuse by new-agers.
|
Physics |
|
The Telephone Gambit |
Seth Shulman |
How an exploration of the archival material on
Alexander Graham Bell uncovered the true story of the telephone.
|
Technology |
|
The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments |
George Johnson |
Engaging look at ten real desktop experiments
through history. You can dispute if he's got the best, but certainly makes
them highly readable. |
Overview |
|
The Tipping Point |
Malcolm Gladwell |
Connectedness, how information spreads virally
and the stickiness of ideas transformed into a great little book by
excellent stories
|
Human Science |
|
The Triumph of Numbers |
I. B. Cohen |
A genuinely interesting and often surprising history of statistics that
brings in unexpected characters from King David and Dickens to Florence
Nightingale.
|
Mathematics |
|
The Turk |
Tom Standage |
The amazing story of the
mechanical chess player built in 1770
|
Technology |
|
The Velocity of Honey |
Jay Ingram |
23 fun excursions into the science of the everyday from falling toast to
skipping stones
|
Overview |
|
The Victorian Internet |
Tom Standage |
How the telegraph network changed the world,
crossed continents (and resulted in love between telegraphists).
|
Technology |
|
Venn that Tune |
Andrew Viner |
Clever gift book combining Venn diagrams (and
other mathematical diagrams) with song titles.
|
Maths |
|
Venomous Earth |
Andrew Meharg |
Interesting exploration of arsenic's duel role
as poison and medicine, fascinating on poisonous wallpaper
|
Chemistry |
|
The View from the
Centre of the Universe |
Nancy Ellen Abrams
& Joel Primack |
Superbly brilliant idea of the need for a new
cosmological myth to ground us in the universe, only slightly let down by
so-so writing
|
Cosmology |
|
Viruses vs Superbugs |
Thomas Häusler |
An intriguing but frightening look at one
alternative to antibiotics - will phages save us as killer bacteria become
resistant?
|
Human sciences |
|
Watching the English |
Kate Fox |
Excellent insights into the English culture
and how much English behaviour can be explained by social dis-ease.
|
Human science |
|
Wegener's Jigsaw |
Clare Dudman |
Biographical novel, providing excellent
insights into the life and works of the man who thought up continental
drift, Alfred Wegener. |
Biography |
|
Weighing the Soul |
Len Fisher |
Seven examples of challenges to scientific
beliefs, from the weight of the soul to the nature of lightning,
delightfully told
|
Overview |
|
What Do You Care What Other People
Think? |
Richard Feynman |
Feynman's follow up collection of
reminiscences, distinguished by amazing section on the Challenger enquiry
|
Biography |
| What Just Happened |
James Gleick |
Articles on the development
and future of the IT business |
Technology |
|
Why Balloons Rise and Apples Fall |
Jeff Stewart |
Very good beginners introduction to classical
physics, slightly let down by style and some of the modern content
|
Physics |
|
Why does a ball bounce? |
Adam Hart-Davis |
The UK's favourite TV boffin explains 101
phenomena - much too short, but still great fun
|
Overview |
|
Why Does E=mc2 |
Brian Cox & Jeff
Forshaw |
Explanation of the derivation of the world's
most famous equation, exploration of the standard model master equation and
great exposition of Higgs - but too technical for the general reader.
|
Physics |
|
Why Do Men Have Nipples? |
Mark Leyner &
Billy Goldberg |
Delightful answers to all those silly
questions people want to ask doctors, only missing perfect because of the
painfully unfunny sections in between the Q&A
|
Human science |
|
Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze |
Mick O'Hare (Ed.) |
One of the better "weird science question and
answer" books from the New Scientist's reliable Last Word column. |
Overview |
|
Why Evolution is True |
Jerry A. Coyne |
A persuasive and plain-spoken summary of the
evidence for evolution by natural selection, with some minor conceptual
problems.
|
Biology |
|
Why People Believe Weird Things |
Michael Shermer |
Powerful and effective exploration of where
strange beliefs come from and how they take hold.
|
Sceptics, overview |
|
Why the Toast Always Falls Butter Side Down |
Richard Robinson |
Subtitled The Science of Murphy's Law,
a witty and light exploration of how our brains fool us to make everything
seem to go wrong |
Human science |
|
Why We Lie |
David Livingstone
Smith |
Be amazed, not just at how much we lie, but
how essential it is for the operation of society. Interesting and original
|
Human science |
|
Witness to Extinction |
Samuel Turvey |
The sad story of the attempt to preserve the
Yangtze river dolphin and the lessons it gives on practical conservation.
|
Biology |
|
Wizard |
Marc J. Seifer |
Good biography of the remarkable electrical
engineer Nikola Tesla in its historical context, but poor at the science.
|
Technology |
|
Wormwood Forest |
Mary Mycio |
An engrossing personal experience of the
contaminated zone from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, revealing the amazing
spread of wildlife since the accident
|
Biology |
|
Yes! 50 secrets from the science of persuasion |
Noah J. Goldstein,
Steve J. Martin, Robert B. Cialdini |
Some excellent insights from scientific
studies of how people behave that help persuade them to act in a particular
way. More business book than science, but very good nonetheless.
|
Human science |
|
Your Money and Your Brain |
Jason Zweig |
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 |
|
The Zen of Magic Squares, Circles & Stars |
Clifford Pickover |
You'll either love or be bored to tears by
this exploration of all that is magical squares - it's mathematical marmite
|
Maths |
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