[Wonder83]

Originally Posted by book smarts

Any of the Aventis prize winners or shortlists. Philip Ball- Critical Mass, Jared Diamond- Collapse, Dawkins, Bryson etc, checkout the website

Critical Mass by Philip Ball was superb as was Biography of water, one of favourite popular science authors at present.

[Neodymium]

I don't think you could quite classify it as a popular science book but nevertheless I really enjoyed 'reading' "Dr. Euler's Fabulous Formula" by Paul Nahin. I say 'reading' but you really need to sit down with a pen and paper and work through the examples to enjoy it. This book is an excellent read if you are interested in maths and its applications.

On the other end of the spectrum is "The 4% Universe". I bought this book hoping I would learn something about dark matter and dark energy. I found it amazing how the author managed to write a book about something as fascinating dark matter and make it an incredibly non-informative and dull read. The entire book is just filled with anecdotal hogwash about the lives and personalities of the scientists who made astronomical discoveries which lead to the formation of the theory of dark matter and dark energy. If you care about what the scientists ate for dinner or if you care about where they went on holidays, then read this book. I would suggest you look elsewhere if you want a book which provides an informative and scientific understanding of dark matter and dark energy.

Another book which I found disappointing which was by the same publisher as the '4% perecent unviverse' was 'How to teach quantum physics to your dog', and with a name like that I should have known what I was getting myself into, but hey it was a present. This book as you would guess has been made far, far to simple, so much so that it doesn't provide much in the way of scientific reasoning behind the watered down facts. I found the 'Quantum Universe' by Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw a much morre enjoyable and informative read.

[krd]

Originally Posted by Neodymium

I don't think you could quite classify it as a popular science book but nevertheless I really enjoyed 'reading' "Dr. Euler's Fabulous Formula" by Paul Nahin.

Just got a copy on your advice. It's really good. I'm only a bit in and already I've had a few "aaaw haw....so that's what that does " moments.


A book I would love to get my hands on is Zee's Quantum Field Theory in a Nutshell. 56 quid is a little steep as I've seen quoted. If anyone has a second hand copy?

[EventHorizon]

The price of altruism by Oren Harman and Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine both good reads.

[Lector]

Books I would recommend as interesting pop science would include
The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra
The Sleepwalkers by Arthur Koestler
The first half of Brian Greene's Elegant Universe (the second half disappears up its String Theory :-) )
The Periodic Table by Primo Levi - not strictly a pop science book, but a great read and plenty of chemistry throughout
Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond
Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything

And a lighter one I'm reading now
It's Not Rocket Science by Ben Miller (comedian and former physicist...)

[senecafalls]

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned already, but 'The Demon Haunted World' by Carl Sagan was recommended to me by the (no longer) head of Physics in UCD; I read it and it changed my perspective on everything. I highly recommend it.

[Carawaystick]

Science, by Azimov, sums up a huge swathe of science in one volume
The Flamingos tale by Stephen Gould, lots of essays about biology

again anything by Feynman

the Ancestors tale by rDawkins is good, clearly explains evolution, but has a few political barbs, that are probably dated already