My favorite economic monograph of all time is from Friedrich von Hayek: http://www.econlib.org/library/Essays/hykKnw1.html http://www.econlib.org/library/Essay

My favorite economic monograph of all time is from Friedrich von Hayek: http://www.econlib.org/library/Essays/hykKnw1.html http://www.econlib.org/library/Essays/hykKnw1.html He describes how a market economy, though the price mechanism, utilizes distributed, localized data to effect the distribution of resources. It's hard to comprehend the unconscious and intricate processes of the market. For lighter, more modern fair, I have always enjoyed the works of Steven Landsburg. From the trivial, such as why we walk up stairs but not escalators: http://www.slate.com/id/2070182 http://www.slate.com/id/2070182 To the profound, such as how to grow cars in Iowa: http://faculty.tamu-commerce.edu/dfunderburk/428/readings/The%20Iowa%20Car%20Crop.htm http://faculty.tamu-commerce.edu/dfunderburk/428/readings/Th... Empirical economics (what perhaps you mean by "scientific") is also fun and illuminating. The author of "Freakonomics", Steven Levitt, is enduringly popular nowadays. His work tends towards the empirical: http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/ http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/ I've always been a big fan of Cowen and Tabarok: http://www.marginalrevolution.com/ http://www.marginalrevolution.com/ In college I studied the economics of environmentalism, which is essential to understand what approaches to helping the environment are likely to work or not (incentives matter!). I also studied the economics of law. Sorry, no quick fun links! There is so much great economics out there, and so little life. Right now I am studying monetary policy. It's dense and dry, but also very controversial and unsettled, which makes it exciting.