Recommend your favorite Science or Technology book.

TerriO · March 15 2006, 04:27 AM

Of course the writer's going to come up with this one.

Right alongside the websites, it occurs to me we should have a thread where we can recommend science and technology books for our fellow posters to read. So, here goes. If you'd like to recommend a book, please feel free to give us the title, author, and a brief summary of why you're recommending the book.

Roving Mars by Steve Squyres--an excellent look into the genesis and development of the MER program, written by the principal investigator (and, in truth, the public face) of MER. If you've ever wondered just what it takes to get a project like MER off the ground, you should read this. Squyres' style is very conversational and accessible.

Parallel Worlds : A Journey Through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmos by Michio Kaku--Kaku has, IMO, an astonishing ability to make quantum theory accessible to the average person. I just tend to recommend his books in general, but I found this one particularly fascinating on the subject.

Feel free to add more, guys.

Jenee · March 15 2006, 04:33 AM

I'm still trying to get through A Brief History of Time and I've had it for almost a decade.

But, I do like 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About Science.

I'm really kind of a simple-minded science geek.

Emh · March 15 2006, 04:42 AM

The Universe in a Nutshell by Steven Hawking is a fun read.

One of my physics professor is always recommending Brian Greene's iThe Elegant Universe, so someday I'm going have to check it out.

Ruaidhri · March 15 2006, 04:58 AM

The Song of the Dodo by David Quammen. Great look at evolution, touching, of course, quite a bit on Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace- who developed the theory independently.

I also really enjoy a book called The Control of Nature by John McPhee. Three stories about how humans are resisting natural geologic forces, like the natural tendency of a river system to change it's course (in this case, the Mississippi trying to shift into the Atchfalaya).

Rosalind · March 15 2006, 04:58 AM

^ I've read that, and it's excellent! He made the subject of quantum theory, relativity and string theory seems so easy!

DNA by James Watson, published in 2003 as a celebration of 50 years since the 'discovery' of DNA. My biology is limited to Year 10 high school stuff, yet I found the book not only interesting, and at times exciting to read, all the technical details were pretty easy to understand.

Will go through my library for other books later...

Neopeius · March 15 2006, 05:03 AM

Dinosaur Heresies by Bob Bakker

Lucy and Lucy's Child by Don Johannsen

The entire Space Science Series put out by the University of Arizona Press.

The Viking Rocket Story by Milt Rosen--great rocket history.

Anything under the byline of Gideon Marcus.. (me.. hoping to be published soon, somewhere)

Jepp5 · March 15 2006, 06:19 AM

The Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan

Arrqh · March 15 2006, 06:40 AM

The Elegent Universe by Brian Greene. Great book on the basics of relativity, quantum mechanics and string theory using little to no math, so it's really accessable.

Neopeius · March 15 2006, 06:40 AM

Jepp5 said:
The Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan

Yeah--that's a good one.

Trek Terp · March 15 2006, 07:18 AM

also The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene
and a multitude of nonfiction too numerous to recount by Asimov.

FatherRob · March 15 2006, 10:59 AM

All this and no one has mentioned Sagan's Cosmos? I mean, the show was great, but the book is really good too... even if elements of it are dated.

That being said, I tend to be a retro reader... I have Clarke's Man and Space that he did for Time-Life before the Saturn I series had finished the unmanned test flights. I also have Powers' Shuttle from 1978... talk about your OPTIMISTIC predictions!

Any astronomy book by Patrick Moore is good, particularlly his Night Sky with Binoculars volume.

Rob+

Sparky · March 15 2006, 11:25 AM

Coming of Age in the Milky Way by Timothy Ferris

It's a bit old, but it is a great tale of how our understanding of the world and the universe has progressed over the last 3000-4000 years.

Naraht · March 15 2006, 11:45 AM

Here are a few of my top picks. More to follow, probably. (My favourite spaceflight books will be in a different list.)

The New Physics, edited by Paul Davies, is a brilliant one-volume reference work, written at a fairly detailed but still readable level. It has chapters on astrophysics, cosmology, chaos, low temperture physics, and other hot topics. Unfortunately, it's fifteen years old now, and there's a new version out, but I haven't read the new one yet.

Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter, won the Pulitzer Prize and is simply one of the most brilliant books written on any subject ever. It explores the intersection between artificial intelligence, creativity, logic, music and art. This is the sort of book that permanently changes the way you look at the world.

Surely You're Joking, Mr Feynman? by Richard Feynman. One of the most brilliant physicists of the 20th century, he was also one of its greatest characters. This is part of his autobiography.

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward Tufte. It's about charts and graphs, and how to design them properly. That might not sound interesting, but this is one of the more beautiful and elegant books that I've ever read. Don't believe me? Take a look at his website.

The Origins of Order: Self-Organization and Selection in Evolution by Stuart Kauffman. This is a tough book, and I'm not sure that I ever completely understood it. But those moments where I thought I did were intellectually exhilarating. It takes a perspective on evolution that Darwin could only have dreamt of, using insights from theories of complexity and information. He argues that complex systems have self-organizing properties, and that thus natural selection may not have played as big a role in evolution as we might have thought.

ScarletBea · March 15 2006, 12:32 PM

Trek Terp said:
also The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene

I second this one.
I'm not a person with a science background, just an interest, and I absolutely love this book, it's opened my eyes to so many things!

I still haven't read 'The Elegant Universe', but I want to.

Peregrine · March 15 2006, 01:50 PM

Right now I'm really into "Warped Passages" by Lisa Randal. Published sometime last year. I picked it up on a day trip to Fredericton. I used to read it on the bus on the way to work before I got my car, so I haven't had a spare chance to get past Chapter 7 since November.

March 15 2006, 04:27 AM	#1
TerriO Writer-type human Location: Doing a little bit of writing	Recommend your favorite Science or Technology book. Of course the writer's going to come up with this one. Right alongside the websites, it occurs to me we should have a thread where we can recommend science and technology books for our fellow posters to read. So, here goes. If you'd like to recommend a book, please feel free to give us the title, author, and a brief summary of why you're recommending the book. Roving Mars by Steve Squyres--an excellent look into the genesis and development of the MER program, written by the principal investigator (and, in truth, the public face) of MER. If you've ever wondered just what it takes to get a project like MER off the ground, you should read this. Squyres' style is very conversational and accessible. Parallel Worlds : A Journey Through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmos by Michio Kaku--Kaku has, IMO, an astonishing ability to make quantum theory accessible to the average person. I just tend to recommend his books in general, but I found this one particularly fascinating on the subject. Feel free to add more, guys. __________________ "Asking a working writer what he thinks about critics is like asking a lamppost what it feels about dogs."--John Osborne (no relation that I'm aware of)

March 15 2006, 04:33 AM	#2
Jenee Dancing Goddess Location: In the park	Re: Recommend your favorite Science or Technology book. I'm still trying to get through A Brief History of Time and I've had it for almost a decade. But, I do like 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About Science. I'm really kind of a simple-minded science geek. __________________ Avatar by KingDaniel Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass... It's about learning to dance in the rain.

March 15 2006, 04:42 AM	#3
Emh The Doctor Location: Japan	Re: Recommend your favorite Science or Technology book. The Universe in a Nutshell by Steven Hawking is a fun read. One of my physics professor is always recommending Brian Greene's iThe Elegant Universe, so someday I'm going have to check it out. __________________ "Eccleston was a tiger and Tennant was, well, Tigger. Smith [is] an uncoordinated housecat who pretends that he meant to do that after falling off a piece of furniture." - Lynne M. Thomas "I'm in Hell and it's full of Avons!" - Vila

March 15 2006, 04:58 AM	#4
Ruaidhri Commodore Location: Ruaidhri...Toronto in body, Philly in spirit!	Re: Recommend your favorite Science or Technology book. The Song of the Dodo by David Quammen. Great look at evolution, touching, of course, quite a bit on Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace- who developed the theory independently. I also really enjoy a book called The Control of Nature by John McPhee. Three stories about how humans are resisting natural geologic forces, like the natural tendency of a river system to change it's course (in this case, the Mississippi trying to shift into the Atchfalaya). __________________ Sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt. These are the tears of things, and the stuff of our mortality cuts us to the heart. An Informed Approximation

March 15 2006, 04:58 AM	#5
Rosalind TrekLit's Dr Rose Mod Location: Sydney, Australia	Re: Recommend your favorite Science or Technology book. ^ I've read that, and it's excellent! He made the subject of quantum theory, relativity and string theory seems so easy! DNA by James Watson, published in 2003 as a celebration of 50 years since the 'discovery' of DNA. My biology is limited to Year 10 high school stuff, yet I found the book not only interesting, and at times exciting to read, all the technical details were pretty easy to understand. Will go through my library for other books later...

STAR TREK

CSI

ABOUT US

March 15 2006, 05:03 AM	#6
Neopeius Admiral Location: OSF Headquarters	Re: Recommend your favorite Science or Technology book. Dinosaur Heresies by Bob Bakker Lucy and Lucy's Child by Don Johannsen The entire Space Science Series put out by the University of Arizona Press. The Viking Rocket Story by Milt Rosen--great rocket history. Anything under the byline of Gideon Marcus.. (me.. hoping to be published soon, somewhere) __________________ "When God gives you lemons, you find a new God."

March 15 2006, 06:19 AM	#7
Jepp5 Commodore	Re: Recommend your favorite Science or Technology book. The Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan __________________ "Tomorrow is not promised to any of us." --Kirby Puckett 1960 - 2006

March 15 2006, 06:40 AM	#8
Arrqh Vice Admiral	Re: Recommend your favorite Science or Technology book. The Elegent Universe by Brian Greene. Great book on the basics of relativity, quantum mechanics and string theory using little to no math, so it's really accessable. __________________ Don't you know? The chances of a random object being a scone are about one in six.

March 15 2006, 07:18 AM	#10
Trek Terp Vice Admiral Location: Bay Area, CA	Re: Recommend your favorite Science or Technology book. also The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene and a multitude of nonfiction too numerous to recount by Asimov. __________________ IDIC, keep it in mind...

March 15 2006, 10:59 AM	#11
FatherRob Rear Admiral Location: Citizen of the Kingdom of God (Living in Bargersville, IN)	Re: Recommend your favorite Science or Technology book. All this and no one has mentioned Sagan's Cosmos? I mean, the show was great, but the book is really good too... even if elements of it are dated. That being said, I tend to be a retro reader... I have Clarke's Man and Space that he did for Time-Life before the Saturn I series had finished the unmanned test flights. I also have Powers' Shuttle from 1978... talk about your OPTIMISTIC predictions! Any astronomy book by Patrick Moore is good, particularlly his Night Sky with Binoculars volume. Rob+ __________________ "Purity in doctrine... Compassion in application."

March 15 2006, 11:25 AM	#12
Sparky Commodore Location: Calgary, Alberta. Canuckistan	Re: Recommend your favorite Science or Technology book. Coming of Age in the Milky Way by Timothy Ferris It's a bit old, but it is a great tale of how our understanding of the world and the universe has progressed over the last 3000-4000 years. __________________ January 2, 1955 - January 23, 2012. Love you Dad. Keep pedalling towards those planes.

March 15 2006, 11:45 AM	#13
Naraht Rear Admiral Location: Oxford, UK	Re: Recommend your favorite Science or Technology book. Here are a few of my top picks. More to follow, probably. (My favourite spaceflight books will be in a different list.) The New Physics, edited by Paul Davies, is a brilliant one-volume reference work, written at a fairly detailed but still readable level. It has chapters on astrophysics, cosmology, chaos, low temperture physics, and other hot topics. Unfortunately, it's fifteen years old now, and there's a new version out, but I haven't read the new one yet. Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter, won the Pulitzer Prize and is simply one of the most brilliant books written on any subject ever. It explores the intersection between artificial intelligence, creativity, logic, music and art. This is the sort of book that permanently changes the way you look at the world. Surely You're Joking, Mr Feynman? by Richard Feynman. One of the most brilliant physicists of the 20th century, he was also one of its greatest characters. This is part of his autobiography. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward Tufte. It's about charts and graphs, and how to design them properly. That might not sound interesting, but this is one of the more beautiful and elegant books that I've ever read. Don't believe me? Take a look at his website. The Origins of Order: Self-Organization and Selection in Evolution by Stuart Kauffman. This is a tough book, and I'm not sure that I ever completely understood it. But those moments where I thought I did were intellectually exhilarating. It takes a perspective on evolution that Darwin could only have dreamt of, using insights from theories of complexity and information. He argues that complex systems have self-organizing properties, and that thus natural selection may not have played as big a role in evolution as we might have thought.

March 15 2006, 01:50 PM	#15
Peregrine Captain Location: Canada	Re: Recommend your favorite Science or Technology book. Right now I'm really into "Warped Passages" by Lisa Randal. Published sometime last year. I picked it up on a day trip to Fredericton. I used to read it on the bus on the way to work before I got my car, so I haven't had a spare chance to get past Chapter 7 since November.