- SCIENCE BESTSELLERS
- The
Elegant Universe : Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the
Ultimate Theory
by Brian Greene
There is an ill-concealed skeleton in the closet of physics: "As they are
currently formulated, general relativity and quantum mechanics cannot both
be right." Each is exceedingly accurate in its field: general relativity
explains the behavior of the universe at large scales, while quantum mechanics.
- Driving
Mr. Albert: A Trip Across America with Einstein's Brain
by Michael Paterniti
Driving Mr. Albert chronicles the adventures of an unlikely threesome--a
freelance writer, an elderly pathologist, and Albert Einstein's brain--on
a cross-country expedition intended to set the story of this specimen-cum-relic
straight once and for all.
- Voodoo
Science : The Road from Foolishness to Fraud
by Robert L. Park
Scientific error, says Robert Park, "has a way of evolving ... from self-delusion
to fraud. I use the term voodoo science to cover them all: pathological science,
junk science, pseudoscience, and fraudulent science." In pathological science,
scientists fool themselves.
- Genome
: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters
by Matt Ridley
Science writer Matt Ridley has found a way to tell someone else's story without
being accused of plagiarism. Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in
23 Chapters delves deep within your body (and, to be fair, Ridley's too)
looking for dirt dug up by the Human Genome Project.
- The
Design of Everyday Things
by Donald A. Norman
Anyone who designs anything to be used by humans--from physical objects to
computer programs to conceptual tools--must read this book, and it is an equally
tremendous read for anyone who has to use anything created by another human.
- Longitude
: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem
of His Time
by Dava Sobel
The thorniest scientific problem of the eighteenth century was how to determine
longitude. Many thousands of lives had been lost at sea over the centuries
due to the inability to determine an east-west position.
- Betrayal
of Trust : The Collapse of Global Public Health
by Laurie Garrett
"This chilling exploration of the decline of public health should be taken
seriously by leaders and policymakers around the world."
- Failure
Is Not an Option : Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond
by Gene Kranz
In 1957, the Russians launched Sputnik and the ensuing space race.
Three years later, Gene Kranz left his aircraft testing job to join NASA and
champion the American cause. What he found was an embryonic department run
by whiz kids (such as himself), sharp engineers and technicians who had to
create...
- Lucifer's
Legacy : The Meaning of Asymmetry
by F. E. Close
Is the universe perfectly balanced? Physicist Frank Close looks at symmetry
and the deep structures of the universe in his luminescent book Lucifer's
Legacy. Matter and antimatter, positive and negative charge, even the
curious properties of quarks all seem to be arranged in diametrically opposed...
- Galileo's
Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love
by Dava Sobel
Everyone knows that Galileo Galilei dropped cannonballs off the leaning tower
of Pisa, developed the first reliable telescope, and was convicted by the
Inquisition for holding a heretical belief--that the earth revolved around
the sun. But did you know he had a daughter?
- A
Brief History of Time
by Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking, one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists in history,
wrote the modern classic A Brief History of Time to help nonscientists
understand the questions being asked by scientists today: Where did the universe
come from? How and why did it begin?
- Godel,
Escher, Bach : An Eternal Golden Braid
by Douglas R. Hofstadter
Twenty years after it topped the bestseller charts, Douglas R. Hofstadter's
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid is still something of
a marvel. Besides being a profound and entertaining meditation on human thought
and creativity, this book looks at the surprising points of contact...
- Leonardo
: The First Scientist
by Michael White
"This story deals almost exclusively with Leonardo the man and Leonardo the
scientist," admits British science writer Michael White, who touches only
lightly on da Vinci's more famous achievements as a painter. Providing an
extensive analysis of Leonardo's notebooks, White argues persuasively that...
- The
Selfish Gene
by Richard Dawkins
Inheriting the mantle of revolutionary biologist from Darwin, Watson, and
Crick, Richard Dawkins forced an enormous change in the way we see ourselves
and the world with the publication of The Selfish Gene. Suppose, instead
of thinking about organisms using genes to reproduce themselves, as we had...
- The
Evolution of Useful Things
by Henry Petroski
This surprising book may appear to be about the simple things of life--forks,
paper clips, zippers--but in fact it is a far-flung historical adventure on
the evolution of common culture. To trace the fork's history, Duke University
professor of civil engineering Henry Petroski travels from...
- Rare
Earth : Why Complex Life Is Uncommon in the Universe
by Peter Douglas Ward, Donald Brownlee
"Do you feel lucky? Well do ya?" asked Dirty Harry. Paleontologist Peter Ward
and astronomer Donald Brownlee think all of us should feel lucky. Their rare
Earth hypothesis predicts that while simple, microbial life will be very widespread
in the universe, complex animal or plant life will be...
- A
Passion for DNA: Genes, Genomes, and Society
by James, D. Watson
In A Passion for DNA: Genes, Genomes, and Society, James Watson once again
proves that he is the "prose laureate" of biomedical sciences. As a result
of his classic works, The Double Helix (1968) and Molecular Biology of the
Gene (1965), we have come to expect him to treat complex issues with...
- The
Code Book : The Evolution of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography
by Simon Singh, Siobhan Adcock (Editor)
People love secrets. Ever since the first word was written, humans have sent
coded messages to each other. In The Code Book, Simon Singh, author
of the bestselling Fermat's
Enigma, offers a peek into the world of cryptography and codes, from
ancient texts through computer encryption. Singh's...
- Flatland
: A Romance of Many Dimensions (Dover Thrift Editions) [UNABRIDGED]
by Edwin A. Abbott(Illustrator), Banesh Hoffmann (Introduction)
Flatland is one of the very few novels about math and philosophy that
can appeal to almost any layperson. Published in 1880, this short fantasy
takes us to a completely flat world of two physical dimensions where all the
inhabitants are geometric shapes, and who think the planar world of length
and...
- Darwin's
Ghost : The Origin of Species Updated
by Steve Jones
Biologists have a dirty little secret: while practically everyone knows of
The
Origin of Species (and owes much to it), almost nobody has read it.
British geneticist Steve Jones wants to make the arguments contained in that
great text accessible to modern audiences, and succeeds with the delightful
...
- The
Making of the Atomic Bomb
by Richard Rhodes
If the first 270 pages of this book had been published separately, they would
have made up a lively, insightful, beautifully written history of theoretical
physics and the men and women who plumbed the mysteries of the atom. Along
with the following 600 pages, they become a sweeping epic, filled...
- Darwin's
Dangerous Idea : Evolution and the Meanings of Life
by Daniel Clement Dennett
In Consciousness Explained, Daniel Dennett insists on the importance
of considering consciousness from the evolutionary point of view. Darwin's
Dangerous Idea elaborates upon his theory of the evolution of consciousness,
but also compendiously presents his views on the nature and significance of...
- Nightwatch
: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe
by Terence Dickinson, et al
The third edition of Nightwatch continues its tradition of being the
best handbook for the beginning astronomer. Terence Dickinson covers all
the problems beginners face, starting with the fact that the night sky does
not look the way a modern city-dweller expects. He discusses light pollution,
how...
- Genes,
Peoples and Languages
by Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, Mark Seielstad (Translator)
Over a long scientific career, the author has championed the application of
genetics to the discovery of Homo sapiens' origins. Allied with archaeology
and linguistics, genetics backs up the theory of an African beginning about
150,000 years ago, an initial radiation to Asia, and thence to the ends...
- Hyperspace
: A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps and the Tenth
Dimension
by Michio Kaku
How many dimensions do you live in? Three? Maybe that's all your commonsense
sense perception perceives, but there is growing and compelling evidence to
suggest that we actually live in a universe of ten real dimensions. Kaku has
written an extraordinarily lucid and thought-provoking exploration of...
- The
Cartoon Guide to Genetics
by Larry Gonick, Mark Wheelis (Contributor)
Having trouble deciphering your genetic code? Do dominant genes make you feel
recessive? Let reigning nonfiction cartoonist Larry Gonick and microbiologist
Mark Wheelis ease your way through Mendelian genetics, molecular biology,
and the basics of genetic engineering. Gonick's drawings range from a...
- Volcano
Cowboys : The Rocky Evolution of a Dangerous Science
by Dick Thompson
Vulcanology is not the sexiest of sciences, despite Hollywood movies in which
clenched-jawed heroes tame ferocious floods of lava that are busily swallowing
up some crowded metropolis or another, racing against the clock to save humankind
from the elements. It turns out that those movies aren't...
- Innumeracy
: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences
by John Allen Paulos
This is the book that made "innumeracy" a household word, at least in some
households. Paulos admits that "at least part of the motivation for any book
is anger, and this book is no exception. I'm distressed by a society which
depends so completely on mathematics and science and yet seems to..
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