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Good Science Books for the Layman

post #1 of 45
7/25/09 at 9:57am
Thread Starter 
I just finished Bodanis's "E=MC2" biography and I'm hungry for more science reading-albeit science reading appropriate for my meager background in the field.
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post #2 of 45
7/25/09 at 10:05am
Maybe one of Brian Greene's books? The Elegant Universe or The Fabric of the Cosmos.
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post #3 of 45
7/25/09 at 11:03am
Einstein's collected essays on relativity...
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post #4 of 45
7/25/09 at 11:10am
Carl Sagan has written some very interesting books on astronomy.
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post #5 of 45
7/25/09 at 11:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnnyLaw View Post
Carl Sagan has written some very interesting books on astronomy.
As well as science history, evolution, etc. All very readable for the layman.
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post #6 of 45
7/25/09 at 12:01pm
The Beak of The Finch, John Weiner (Evolution)
Chaos, James Gleick (Chaos Theory)
Descartes Error by Damasio (Psychology)
Why we get Sick, Nesse and Williams (Evolution + Medicine)

Stephen J Gould is also pretty readable.
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post #7 of 45
7/25/09 at 7:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jekyll View Post
Maybe one of Brian Greene's books? The Elegant Universe or The Fabric of the Cosmos.

I've never read Fabric of the Cosmos, but I definitely do not recommend The Elegant Universe. I found myself skipping entire chapters due to Greene meandering so far into uninteresting technical details, and I have a decent background for that sort of thing.
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post #8 of 45
7/25/09 at 7:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnnyLaw View Post
Carl Sagan has written some very interesting books on astronomy.

lolz @ Drake equation.
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post #9 of 45
7/25/09 at 11:28pm
Math: Prime Obsession - about the riemann hypothesis, very interesting read on one of the hardest problems in mathematics right now A Mathematician's Apology - Good outlook on why math is awesome Priceton's Companion to Mathematics - huge book on mathematics, with articles from the top mathematicians in the field Godel, Escher, Bach - google it, hit or miss but prob one of the most popular books math related A very short introduction to mathematics - short but sweet
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post #10 of 45
7/25/09 at 11:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dusty View Post
I've never read Fabric of the Cosmos, but I definitely do not recommend The Elegant Universe. I found myself skipping entire chapters due to Greene meandering so far into uninteresting technical details, and I have a decent background for that sort of thing.
Ehh....I probably did a bit of that too. It's been a while since I've read them, but I remember them being pretty good. I normally skip the math in these types of books though.
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post #11 of 45
7/25/09 at 11:44pm
The Periodic Table by Primo Levi. Mostly autobiographical.
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post #12 of 45
7/25/09 at 11:56pm
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Originally Posted by Gradstudent78 View Post
The Beak of The Finch, John Weiner (Evolution)

Seconded.
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post #13 of 45
7/26/09 at 12:09am
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Originally Posted by lawyerdad View Post
Seconded.

Good enough for me to take a trip to Strand. Will dig it.
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post #14 of 45
7/26/09 at 12:27am
Fermat's Last Theorem, Simon Singh (maths)
The Code Book, Simon Singh (Cryptography)
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post #15 of 45
7/26/09 at 1:18am
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson is a good and easy intro to the progression of science over the last few hundred years, with interesting anecdotes and details that make it less boring than most reads of such type.
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