Book suggestions for me ?????????????

[ViperVisor]

Stuff like..................

A short history of nearly everything.

The Elegant Universe : Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory

The Universe and Multiple Reality: A Physical Explanation for Manifesting, Magick and Miracles

The Empty Ocean: Plundering the World's Marine Life

For Love of Insects

A Gap in Nature: Discovering the World's Extinct Animals

[richardm]

Originally posted by ViperVisor
Stuff like..................

A short history of nearly everything.


Bill Bryson has had a reasonable stab at this, in a book of the same name.

But I'd vote for the "Science of Discworld" books for a similar but more enjoyable read myself...

[ceptimus]

Cross posted to several forums eh? Naughty!

Here's a few I think you might like:

The Blind Watchmaker - Richard Dawkins
H2O - Philip Ball
Genome - Matt Ridley
Longitude - Dava Sobel
Surely You're Joking Mr, Feynman! - Richard P. Feynman
Trilobite! - Richard Fortey
The Fabric of Reality - David Deutsch

Second the Science of the DiscWorld - I enjoyed that one too.

[Nyarlathotep]

The Engines of Creation: The coming age of Nanotechnology" by K. Eric Drexler


Sometimes Drexler comes across as a cheerleader for nanotech, you get the distinct impression that he thinks it is going to solve all the worlds problems (provided it doesn't destroy us) but if you can get past that it is a pretty fascinating look at nanotechnology and it's potential.

[whitefork]

Hydrogen: The Essential Element by Rigden

[epepke]

Originally posted by ViperVisor
Stuff like..................

A short history of nearly everything.

The Elegant Universe : Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory

The Universe and Multiple Reality: A Physical Explanation for Manifesting, Magick and Miracles

The Empty Ocean: Plundering the World's Marine Life

For Love of Insects

A Gap in Nature: Discovering the World's Extinct Animals

Anything by Richard Feynman.

Anything by Loren Eisley.

[richardm]

Originally posted by ceptimus
Second the Science of the DiscWorld - I enjoyed that one too.

There is, in fact, a sequel out now: "Science of DiscWorld - The Globe", which focusses more closely on the world. This one, that is.

[Halbert]

How about a little history:

The Path to the Double Helix (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0486681173/104-9654363-0102340?v=glance) by Robert Olby

[Iconoclast]

Originally posted by epepke
Anything by Richard Feynman.
Better yet, EVERYTHING by Richard Feynman, though you should be aware that quite a few of his essays appear in more than one of his books.

[Iconoclast]

- You also might want to check out "Fermat's Last Theorem" by Simon Singh (published as "Fermet's Enigma" in USA). I've lent my copy of this book to over a dozen people now and without exception they've described it as one of the best books they've ever read, and the reviews on Amazon.com seem to agree.

- Sing's other famous piece "The Code Book" regarding the history of codebreaking is another good read.

- Also, "Failure is not an Option" by Gene Krantz, which documents the history of NASA up until the end of the Apollo program from the point of view of launch control is a pretty good read. Gene Krantz is the guy who plays Ed Harris in real life.

[bignickel]

This one's easy: "Quicksilver" by Neal Stephenson

A fiction book which is really a love poem to science and and it's place and importance in history.

[whitefork]

Everyone needs a copy of The Cabinet of Natural Curiousities (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/3822816000/qid=1071951575/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-8895439-0562254?v=glance&s=books) by Albertus Seba.

[ASRomatifoso]

Almost anything by John McPhee. He is absolutely amazing. The Founding Fish, Oranges, and any of his geology works are great.

[The Central Scrutinizer]

Anything by Gerald Posner