List of Non-Fiction Science Books for Review

List of Non-Fiction Science Books for Review

Posted by Leslie Hepler at 5/27/2014

Here is a list (not complete) of non-fiction science books you can read for your semester book report and blog post. Those marked with a (*) can be found in the reference library. Those marked with a (**) can be borrowed from my classroom library. Please see me if you would like to read a book that is not on the list so that I can approve it and add it to the list.

Archeology:

·  Under a Lucky Star, by Roy Chapman Andrews

Chemistry:

·  * **Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood, by Oliver Sacks

·  Atom: An Odyssey From the Big Bang to Life on Earth … and Beyond, by Lawrence M. Krauss

·  Oxygen: The Molecule that Made the World, by Nick Lane

·  Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie (Great Discoveries), by Barbara Goldsmith

·  * **The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements, by Sam Kean

·  The 13th Element: The Sordid Tale of Murder, Fire and Phosphorous by Jon Emsley

·  A Force of Nature: The Frontier Genius of Ernest Rutherford (Great Discoveries) by Richard Reeves

·  The Cartoon Guide to Chemistry by Larry Gonick and Craig Criddle

·  Chasing the Molecule by John Buckingham

·  Elegant Solutions: Ten Beautiful Experiments in Chemistry by Philip Ball

·  The Gecko's Foot: Bio-Inspiration — Engineering New Materials and Devices from Nature by Peter Forbes

·  Genesis: The Scientific Quest for Life's Origin by Robert M. Hazen

·  The Joy of Chemistry: The Amazing Science of Familiar Things by Cathy Cobb and Monty L. Fetterolf

·  Lavoisier in the Year One: The Birth of a New Science in an Age of Revolution (Great Discoveries) by Madison Smartt Bell

·  Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World by Simon Garfield

·  Molecules at an Exhibition: Portraits of Intriguing Materials in Everyday Life by John Emsley

·  Nature's Building Blocks: An A-Z of the Elements by John Emsley

·  On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee

·  The Periodic Kingdom: A Journey Into the Land of the Chemical Elements (Science Masters Series) by Peter W. Atkins

·  The Periodic Table by Primo Levi

·  The Poison Paradox: Chemicals as Friends and Foes by John Timbrell

·  Prometheans in the Lab: Chemistry and the Making of the Modern World by Sharon Bertsch McGrayne

Physics:

·  **E=mc2: A Biography of the World’s Most Famous Equation, by David Bodanis

·  The Relativity of Wrong, by Isaac Asimov

·  Why does E=MC square? (And Why Should We Care?), by Brian Cox

·  *The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory, by Brian Greene

·  *The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality, by Brian Greene

·  *Einstein — His Life and Universe, by Walter Isaacson

·  *Cosmos, by Carl Sagan

General Science/Biographies:

·  *A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson

·  Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, Revised and Expanded Edition, by Oliver Sacks

·  *The Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way, by Joy Hakim

·  *The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist, Richard Feynman

·  *Demon-Haunted World, by Carl Sagan

·  *Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace — One School at a Time, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

·  Mind Hacks: Tips & Tools for Using Your Brain, by Matt Webb

·  Passionate Minds: Emilie du Chatelet, Voltaire, and the Great Love Affair of the Enlightenment, by David Bodanis

Weather:

·  Rough Guide to Climate Change and Rough Guide to Weather, by Bob Henson

·  Fixing Climate: What Past Climate Changes Reveal About the Current Threat--and How to Counter It, by Wally Broecker

Biology:

·  * **The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot*

·  *Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History, by Stephen Jay Gould

·  *The Diversity of Life, by Edward O. Wilson

·  *The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA, by James Watson

·  *A Primate’s Memoir: A Neuroscientist’s Unconventional Life Among the Baboons, by Robert Sapolsky

·  *Microbe Hunters, by Paul deKruif

·  *The Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic–and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World, by Steven Johnson

·  *The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story, by Richard Preston

·  *Why Evolution Is True, by Jerry Coyne

·  *Superbug, by Maryn McKenna

·  Good Germs, Bad Germs by Jessica Snyder Sachs

·  *Guns, Germs & Steel by Jared Diamond

·  *Asleep, by Molly Caldwell Crosby

·  The Coming Plague, by Laurie Garrett

·  Lives of a Cell, by Lewis Thomas

·  *For Love of Insects, by Thomas Eisner

·  *Parasite Rex, by Carl Zimmer

·  * **Your Inner Fish: A Journey Into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body, by Neil Shubin

·  The Reluctant Mr. Darwin: An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of His Theory of Evolution (Great Discoveries), by David Quammen

·  *Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson

·  *Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA, by Brenda Maddox

Science Fiction (please limit to only one per year)

·  *Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card*

·  *Next, by Michael Creighton*