Recommend your favorite Science or Technology book.

[TimelessTrek]

Hyperspace by Michio Kaku.

[cultcross]

I agree with a number of the choices so far, but I'm going to try and list new ones only.
In Search of Schrödinger's Cat and its follow-up, Schrödinger's Kittens, both by John Gribben.
Six Easy Pieces by Richard Feynman
Nature via Nurture and Genome by Matt Ridley
Field Notes from a Catastrophe: A Frontline Report on Climate Change by Elizabeth Kolbert
Heat: How We Can Stop the Planet Burning by George Monbiot

[Sigma7]

An American Genius: The Life of Ernest Orlando Lawrence , by Herbert Childs


The History of Physics , by Issac Asimov

[jeff lebowski]

I want to thank you guys for recommmending the Sagan books. I just got done reading "The Demon Haunted World" and I loved every minute of it.

Since then, I have gone a little Sagan crazy, and I've bought some more of his books and his series Cosmos on DVD.

He seems to have the exact same philosophy on life as I do.

The book really spoke to me.

Thanks again!

[betz]

Why People believe weird things - Michael Shermer (wrote e review on http://www.betz.lu/index.php/b/2007/...hings_michael_

Then there is Mendel in the Kitchen by Nina Fedoroff

[Chris_Johnston]

Thanks for reminding me that I need to bust out Kip Thorne's Black Holes & Time Warps and take another stab at it!
For some reason I just never got around to reading it cover-to-cover, but every now & then I flip through it just to marvel at the wonderful illustrations!
I also love the story about the bet he made with Hawking about whether Cygnus X-1 is a black hole or not.

Another title I like is Fred Alan Wolf's Taking the Quantum Leap.

[dreadnought]

If you want a really good book that requires a "little" mathematical understanding, but want to know what this science thing is all about and why we mathematicians don't always agree with our fellow scientists then,

"Foundations of Science" by Henri Poincare is the book you should read. This is a classic in its own right, but if you want to play with the universe, Poincare should be first on your list, because he's the one who invented Topology (well, he didn't invent it, but he certainly defined it). It's because of him that a triangle is looked at as a circle and a coffee cup as a donut.

While I'd also reccommend Riemann, he requires considerable mathematical knowledge to fathom, but if you want to have a fun twist to add to your vision of the universe, then read this book.

Also, now that it is public domain, you can go to google books and get it as pdf. Once you read this book you'll understand somewhat what Einstein was talking about. But Poincare did it first.

[Mark de Vries]

I'm reading W. David Woods' How Apollo Flew To The Moon, which is a detailed introduction of the physics and engineering of the Apollo program. It discusses every stage of the lunar missions, from inception, via launch, orbit, landing and return to Earth, and also explains the how and why of the decisions made and techniques used. Very interesting.

[Flavius]

One of my alltime favorites is Summa Technologiae, by Stanislaw Lem.

[MikeGainer]

If anybody is looking for a descriptive history of the personal computer, "Fire in the Valley" by by Paul Freiberger and Michael Swaine. Its a bit outdated (doesn't include the Google-era) but its worth the read.

[Dayton3]

The Case for Mars by Robert Zubrin

[All Seeing Eye]

Fraggle Rock: Uncle Travelling Matt goes to Mars by Jim Henson.

[CaptainDonovin]

Haven't read this one yet but intend to soon because it is facinating to me. I added a bit of a snippet from it as to what it's about but being a history junkie this grabbed my attention. After I read it (likely this month) I'll give my thoughts on it. Just been putting it off because it is pricy.

The Forgotten Revolution: How Science was Born in 300 BC and why it Had to be Reborn - By Lucio Russo

The third and second centuries BC witnessed, in the Greek world, a scientific and technological explosion. Greek culture had reached great heights in art, literature and philosophy already in the earlier classical era, but it was in the age of Archimedes and Euclid that science as we know it was born, and gave rise to sophisticated technology that would not be seen again until the 18th century. This scientific revolution was also accompanied by great changes and a new kind of awareness in many other fields, including art and medicine. What were the landmarks in the meteoric rise of science 2300 years ago? Why are they so little known today, even among scientists, classicists and historians? How do they relate to the post-1500 science that we are familiar with from school? What led to the end of ancient science? These are the questions that this book discusses, in the belief that the answers bear on choices we face today.

[dillon3001]

The Giant Leap by Adrian Berry

A great book (in my opinion) on why intersteller travel will happen and why its a good idea.

Moonrush: Improving life on Earth with the Moon's Resources by Dennis Wingo

Another good read on utilizing the moon and asteriods as resources we can use to better life on this planet

These 2 are the most current books ive purchased and read as of late, but from reading this particular threat, theres ALOT more out there. I also have an older Carl Sagan book "The Cosmic Connection" that i 'borrowed' from my mom

[Sean Aaron]

Llama wrote:

---

Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History by Stephen Jay Gould

a great read!

This is mine as well. Much of the conclusions as to the nature of the organisms discussed were overturned not too long after the initial publication, but what he says about the misinterpretations of Darwin's theory and the mechanism of evolution is really good stuff -- as well as the copius illustrations.

Fortey's Trilobite! led me to Gould and is also nicely done.