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The books
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dare to be different
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Ralph Leighton and Richard P. Feynman
Nobel Prizewinning theoretical physicist Richard P. Feynman's popular and highly personal memoir -- more about his fun life than his science.
The Man Who Loved Only Numbers by Paul Hoffman
A warm, funny, artful biography of Paul Erdös, the extremely eccentric and incredibly prolific mathematician.
nature vs. civilization
The Control of Nature by John McPhee
McPhee's elegant prose turns to three attempts to control geological forces for the benefit of urban civilization.
Why Buildings Fall Down by Mario Salvadori and Matthys Levy
A brisk, information-packed explanation of why structures fail, complete with dozens of roof collapses, twisted bridges, and burst dams.
theory vs. empiricism
Longitude by Dava Sobel
Wonderful fast-moving read about the search for a reliable means of determining longitude.
science vs. tyranny
Illustrious Immigrants by Laura Fermi
A wealth of information about European emigré scientists of the 1930's; particularly strong on physicists and psychologists.
Codebreakers by Alan Stripp and F. H. Hinsley
A valuable collection of short first-person accounts by those who broke the Enigma codes.
wonders of the universe
Journey Beyond Selene by Jeffrey Kluger
A history of unmanned space exploration, focusing on the solar system's sixty-three moons.
Powers Of Ten by Philip Morrison and Office of Charles & Ray Eames
A stunning pictorial tour of the universe at forty-two different orders of magnitude.
The Periodic Kingdom by P. W. Atkins
A graceful and effective explanation of the structure and properties of the periodic table of the elements.
The Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas
Belles-lettristic musings on biological phenomena.
science vs. prejudice
The Mismeasure of Man by Stephen J. Gould
Masterful debunk of all attempts to declare one group of humans superior or inferior in intelligence to another group of humans.
The Mismeasure of Woman by Carol Tavris
A bracing, commonsensical look at gendered research practices, particularly in psychology and the medical sciences.
beauty of underlying form revealed
Life's Other Secret by Ian Stewart
An enthusiastic argument for the role of mathematics in the biology of form and development.
capriciousness of fate
T. Rex and the Crater of Doom by Walter Alvarez
The development of the impact theory of the K-T (dinosaur) extinction, as told by one of the central figures.
sociobiology is destiny
Born To Rebel by Frank J. Sulloway
An exhaustive historical study arguing that birth order predicts personality --- firstborns are conservatives, laterborns are radicals.
evolution as inventor
Plant and Planet by Anthony Huxley
The wonderful world of plant adaptation in all its bizarre glory.
thrill of the hunt
The Double Helix by James D. Watson
A controversially dishy memoir about one of the great scientific discoveries of all time.
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What's all this about themes?
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We find that a small set of themes tend
to recur in popular science books. Not every book has
an identifiable theme, but we have labeled those books
that have a strong one, and have grouped them together
for your amusement.
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Field finder
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Anthropology, physical (3)
Astronomy (3)
Biology, developmental (1)
Biology, evolutionary (5)
Biology, micro (2)
Biology, molecular (1)
Chemistry (2)
Computer science (3)
Ecology (1)
Economics (1)
Engineering (2)
Engineering, civil (4)
Engineering, mechanical (1)
Geology (5)
Geophysical sciences (1)
Human history (1)
Mathematics (4)
Medicine, clinical (3)
Paleontology (2)
Physics, theoretical (4)
Psychology, clinical (3)
Psychology, evolutionary (2)
Psychology, experimental (3)
Space exploration (1)
Statistics (1)
Zoology (3)
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