4 ms·
Ask HN: Best general-audience science books
I love Bryson’s “A Short History of Nearly Everything” but it’s now 17 years old.
- barbe 6y agoPhysics for Future Presidents but Richard A. Muller
- barbe 6y agoPhysics for Future Presidents by Richard A. Muller (major scientific ideas, not just physics...)
- raleighm 6y agoThanks. I see the same author has a similar book specifically on energy. Will check them out.
- ahazred8ta 6y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flying_Circus_of_Physics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flying_Circus_of_Physics -- 700 unusual science phenomena; each case is presented as a puzzle with an explanation in the back of the book. Physics, chemistry, biology, engineering
- rramadass 6y agoMust read classic: The Evolution of Physics by Albert Einstein and Leopold Infeld
- lolptdr 6y agoFrozen Star by Greenstein
- sieste 6y ago"Big Bang" by Simon Singh
- magnio 6y agoHaven't read this yet, but "Fermat's Last Theorem" by the same author is a really good and approachable book.
- Jugurtha 6y agoThere's a nice series from MIR Publishers entitled "Science for Everyone"[1]. Some books are even written by Lev Landau. The series is destined to interest people. [1]: https://archive.org/search.php?query=publisher%3A%22Mir%20Publishers%22%20for%20everyone https://archive.org/search.php?query=publisher%3A%22Mir%20Pu... [2]: https://mirtitles.org/?s=for+everyone https://mirtitles.org/?s=for+everyone
- HELVINCARTER9 6y agoThanks,have not seen this ever before
- smcleod 6y agoThe Skeptics' Guide to the Universe: How to Know What's Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Skeptics%27_Guide_to_the_Universe_(book) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Skeptics%27_Guide_to_the_U...
- Zanni 6y agoQED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter by Richard Feynman. [0] This is a series of four lectures given my Feynman on quantum electrodynamics for a lay audience, and it's rare in being comprehensible yet not so watered-down as to be wrong or confusing. Probably my all-time favorite science book. I've lent out and given away more copies than I can count. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QED:_The_Strange_Theory_of_Light_and_Matter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QED:_The_Strange_Theory_of_Lig...
- kratom_sandwich 6y agoAlthough I personally didn't like it very much, I know that many hold "Gödel, Escher, Bach" in high regard.
- WMCRUN 6y agoLifespan, David Sinclair
- banjo_milkman 6y agoOn DNA/genetics: Life's Greatest Secret, Matthew Cobb Siddhartha Mukherjee's books: 'The Emperor of All Maladies' + The Gene are very good as an introduction (start off by watching the PBS documentary) Jim Baggott's books are good on physics e.g. 'Mass'. Also Jim Holt, though he was trained as a philosopher. Penrose 'The Emperor's New Mind' etc are very good but not new.