I'm not talking about textbooks, but science/math books of interest to the general reader with some knowledge of the subject (because of college level science/math education or because of pure interest in the subject) , it could also be biographies of scientists/mathematicians that touch on some of their theories, etc.
Just started reading Sylvia Nasar's "A Beautiful Mind" about John Nash. Don't know if its good, will know soon.
I just finished Antonio Damasio's "Looking for Spinoza" and thought it was very interesting, though I guess the theories might have already been discredited considering the book's been around for so many years... I remember reading all of Carl Sagan's books when I was a kid and thought I wanted to do astronomy in future, and recently am rekindling that love for reading some of these math/science books again. But I don't really like reading the hard stuff unless its for exams.
2007-08-17 02:57:14 · 17 answers · asked by rachiepachie 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Other - Science
I know 2 great books -
1. Our Stolen Future
2. And the Waters Turned to Blood
extra --- Silent Spring by Rachael Carson
2007-08-21 14:00:07 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Just a few suggestions
Someone already mentioned Stephen J Gould and I heartily concur he was an excellent writer. Try and get hold of "The mismeasure of man"
Stephen Rose has written some wonderful books in the general science vein, as a researcher he works on the biochemistry underlying brain function, esp memory and this is reflected in his book "The making of memory", a broader scope is taken in by "Lifelines" which takes a well aimed swipe at overly reductionist approaches to understanding lifescience and evolution.
My brother, who's a physicist always rated Richard Feynman
2007-08-20 03:58:42 · answer #2 · answered by Bill T 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The Instant Ready Reckoner (1948)
2007-08-17 03:01:31 · answer #3 · answered by captbullshot 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
*Any* book by Stephen J. Gould (my favorite science writer).
"The Demon Haunted World" by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan
"The Ancestor's Tale" by Richard Dawkins.
"Godel, Escher, Bach" by Doug Hofstadter.
"The Anthropic Cosmological Principle" by Barrow, Tipler, and Wheeler (most challenging book I've ever read cover to cover ... would not have finished it if it hadn't been *really* good).
"Genius" by James Gleick (biography of Richard Feynman).
2007-08-17 16:34:02 · answer #4 · answered by secretsauce 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
"A short history of nearly everything" by Bill Bryson. I wish I had this when I was at school. Easily accessable, with a humourous touch to it. There is an illustrated version available aswell. I'm glad you mention Carl Sagan. A friend of mine gave me his old battered copy of Cosmos and I devoured it.
Check out this link for Bill Bryson's book. Well worth getting!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Short_History_of_Nearly_Everything
2007-08-17 05:23:10 · answer #5 · answered by Melok 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The best book science/math book I ever read is Brilliant Tutorials . Because it have both math & science and also we get many new tyep of questions to solve which are not present in our text books.
2007-08-17 04:39:01 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
"Mendel's Dwarf" by Simon Mawer is a facinating novel about a brilliant molecular geneticist who is a great, great, great...grand nephew of Gregor Mendel who is researching the genetic basis of achondroplastic dwarfism. The kicker is that he, himself is a dwarf.
It gets into the science in a way that is easy for a layperson to follow but the story gets more personal as it delves into the ethics of genetic screening and eugenics.
2007-08-18 15:05:24 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
"Ibn al-Haytham: First Scientist" by Bradley Steffens.
It tells the fascinating story of the eleventh-century Muslim scholar who developed the scientific method, invented analytic geometry and the camera obscura, traveled to Egypt to build a dam on the Nile, and was imprisoned for 10 years in Cairo by Caliph al-Hakim, "the Mad Caliph." Midwest book review calls it "a find blend of history and science biography."
2007-08-17 08:16:42 · answer #8 · answered by Centaur 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
A History of Pi by Petr Beckmann. Any easy ready and it doesn't get too technical for the ordinary reader.
2007-08-17 06:35:24 · answer #9 · answered by John G™ 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The best science book i have ever read is
"A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME " by stephen hawking
it is really great he makes difficult things look simple
2007-08-17 06:21:28 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋