4 ms·

Are there any science books (pop or not) you could recommend that don’t into this pattern?

sombremesa 7y ago
Atom Land is pretty good, though there are some problems with the analogy. If you use it with the internet as a supplement and are a bit forgiving regarding bad analogies (as with PG essays), it's great.
7thaccount 7y ago
The Eerie Silence by Paul Davies. It does cover a history of SETI, but goes into a lot of the theory that is generally beyond a bit of what I've seen discussed before in popsci. I thought I knew the subject very well, but learned a lot of new things.
decebalus1 7y ago
Some books I enjoyed in the past years: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28256439-the-hidden-life-of-trees https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28256439-the-hidden-life... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34272565-life-3-0 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34272565-life-3-0 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19395553-our-mathematical-universe https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19395553-our-mathematica... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28116739-other-minds https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28116739-other-minds https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30555486-to-be-a-machine https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30555486-to-be-a-machine https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7972148-proofiness https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7972148-proofiness https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25817279-door-to-door https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25817279-door-to-door https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23013953-gut https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23013953-gut
- bigmit37 7y ago
  Thank you for sharing — the gut bacterial and two math books (proof ones and universal theory) caught my eye.
- harshreality 7y ago
  Other Minds, about cephalopods, is written by a philosopher, not a biologist or neuroscientist, so take it with a grain of salt[1]. I would also recommend _Octopus_ by Anderson, Mather, and Wood, who are actual biologists. [1] Specifically, cephalopods are very intelligent compared to other invertebrates, but that's it. It's interesting because they represent a parallel evolution of greater intelligence outside the vertebrates, and because what they can do with that intelligence is greatly enhanced by their physical capabilities. Give a fish a human brain and it will have trouble twisting a lid open.
deleted 7y ago
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nikofeyn 7y ago
i highly recommend looking at the used market for the out of print but plentiful scientific american library series. https://www.thriftbooks.com/series/scientific-american-library-series/92985/ https://www.thriftbooks.com/series/scientific-american-libra... the books are heavily illustrated, don’t shy away from the real stuff, but are still the most readable scientific publishing i have seen. whoever was the editor or manager of the series is a genius of publishing. john wheeler, julian schwinger, steven weinberg, peter atkins, and more can be found as authors. i am personally trying to collect them all.

Atom Land is pretty good, though there are some problems with the analogy. If you use it with the internet as a supplement and are a bit forgiving regarding bad analogies (as with PG essays), it's great.

7thaccount 7y ago

The Eerie Silence by Paul Davies. It does cover a history of SETI, but goes into a lot of the theory that is generally beyond a bit of what I've seen discussed before in popsci. I thought I knew the subject very well, but learned a lot of new things.

decebalus1 7y ago

Some books I enjoyed in the past years: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28256439-the-hidden-life-of-trees https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28256439-the-hidden-life... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34272565-life-3-0 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34272565-life-3-0 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19395553-our-mathematical-universe https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19395553-our-mathematica... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28116739-other-minds https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28116739-other-minds https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30555486-to-be-a-machine https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30555486-to-be-a-machine https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7972148-proofiness https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7972148-proofiness https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25817279-door-to-door https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25817279-door-to-door https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23013953-gut https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23013953-gut

bigmit37 7y ago
Thank you for sharing — the gut bacterial and two math books (proof ones and universal theory) caught my eye.
harshreality 7y ago
Other Minds, about cephalopods, is written by a philosopher, not a biologist or neuroscientist, so take it with a grain of salt[1]. I would also recommend _Octopus_ by Anderson, Mather, and Wood, who are actual biologists. [1] Specifically, cephalopods are very intelligent compared to other invertebrates, but that's it. It's interesting because they represent a parallel evolution of greater intelligence outside the vertebrates, and because what they can do with that intelligence is greatly enhanced by their physical capabilities. Give a fish a human brain and it will have trouble twisting a lid open.

deleted 7y ago

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nikofeyn 7y ago

i highly recommend looking at the used market for the out of print but plentiful scientific american library series. https://www.thriftbooks.com/series/scientific-american-library-series/92985/ https://www.thriftbooks.com/series/scientific-american-libra... the books are heavily illustrated, don’t shy away from the real stuff, but are still the most readable scientific publishing i have seen. whoever was the editor or manager of the series is a genius of publishing. john wheeler, julian schwinger, steven weinberg, peter atkins, and more can be found as authors. i am personally trying to collect them all.