Task 2: Read a Nonfiction Book About Science

[Matthew]

I read The Pentagon's Brain: An Uncensored History of DARPA, America's Top-Secret Military Research Agency for this book requirement. I couldn't recommend it though.

[Megan]

Reading The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York now. Lucked out because my local book club chose to read this one. It's pretty interesting so far.

[Paloma]

Would Black Holes and Baby Universes be ok for this task? What about for "Collection of essays"? Thanks :)

[Bea]

Paloma wrote: "Would Black Holes and Baby Universes be ok for this task? What about for "Collection of essays"? Thanks :)"

Paloma, it looks like it would fit both tasks.

[Erin]

Okay, I FINALLY found a book for this challenge that I'm totally in love with. Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science-and the World. I could not be happier with the choice. It's 52 short pieces on brilliant women of science, that I honestly look forward to reading to my kids someday if I'm ever a mom. It's just that good.

[Paloma]

Thanks Bea!

[Robin P]

Erin wrote: "Okay, I FINALLY found a book for this challenge that I'm totally in love with. Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science-and the World. I could not be happier with the choice. It's 5..."

I read that one too. It isn't something you'd read straight through but great for a few entries at a time. School-age kids could choose any one of the women for a research project.

[Teresa]

Erin and Robin, I recommended that book to my daughter. She's a teacher. Thanks.

[Jaime]

This may be my least favorite task! Generally I do not enjoy reading nonfiction.

I have Woman: An Intimate Geography on my shelf so I am going to read that.

I'd love another suggestion about animals. I never read about animals or nature so this task is my opportunity! The Soul of an Octupus would definitely fulfill that.

[Wellington]

I would recommend Crab Wars by William Sargeant. It is an interesting look at how to balance conservation and human need.

[Jaime]

Re: Crab Wars, just read the synopsis and that is the type of book I can get into!

[Evyjo]

Decided to read Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War I'm 1 chapter in and love it! I have Spook and Stiff from Mary Roach as well but never got around to reading them. Being this is my first Roach I love her voice!

[Books, Brews & Booze]

I highly recommend The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating - this book is an amazing dichotomy of science and memoir, about a woman who is bedridden with an illness when her friend brings her a snail.

She starts to learn all about the snail and while she does so, she learns a great deal about humans as well.

[Ashley]

Jaime wrote: "This may be my least favorite task! Generally I do not enjoy reading nonfiction.

I have Woman: An Intimate Geography on my shelf so I am going to read that.

I'd love another suggestion about anim..."

Hi Jaime! So if you like animals, perhaps you can check out The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness or Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World as I've been meaning to read these myself and have heard wonderful things about them!

[Books, Brews & Booze]

Thank you for reminding me of those two books! I've been wanting to read them for a while too!

[Britany]

Finished
by Mary Roach- 3 Stars

My Review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Anna]

Read Lab Girl for this one. Enjoyed it immensely!

[Mary Sue]

I chose The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science for this task. IT explores the science of neuroplasticity and how it is being used to treat the effects of stroke, brain trauma, aging and other conditions. It was very informative and the results to date are very encouraging.

[Nancy]

I read How to Clone a Mammoth: The Science of De-Extinction, by Beth Shapiro. This book is written for a general audience, not her scientific peers, and explores not only the technical aspects of the various genetic manipulations that might be use to recreate a vanished species (more accurately, tinkering with the genetics of a living species by adding certain traits from the one that has gone extinct) but the ethics, legalities, financial implications, biological and habitat questions, etc., that must be addressed. While Shapiro is involved with some of the de-extinction projects, she's not a "cheerleader" presenting only an optimistic, and probably unrealistic, scenario of the future. I found this book to be a thoughtful and balanced look at the subject.

[Emily]

I generally don't read a lot of nonfiction these days, but I am absolutely enchanted by The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness. I am so glad I had a chance to find this book thanks to the challenge. I will never look at or think about octopuses the same way! I'm about 3/4 through the book at the moment and never want it to end. I never thought I could weep over the death of an octopus, but I totally did.

[Julia]

I finally got around to reading Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach. I've owned it over five years, and I really liked it a lot.

I often laughed out loud, which I didn't expect from the subject matter, but it's my first book by Mary Roach.

[Bonnie G.]

Julia wrote: "I finally got around to reading Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach. I've owned it over five years, and I really liked it a lot.

I ..."

She is great! Bonk and Stiff are my favorites, but I am reading Gulp right now and loving that too!

[Wallace]

I think I'll try Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food for this challenge, if only because the cover is so striking.

[Sonia]

I'm reading In a Different Key: The Story of Autism by John Donvan

[Melanie]

I'm work g my way through The Origin of Species. It's not modern by any means, but it is a text that is historically important. I've been meaning to read it for years, but needed extra motivation.

[Anna]

If anyone is still looking for a book for this prompt, I'm reading (and loving) Lab Girl.

[Julia]

Sonia, I finished In a Different Key: The Story of Autism by John Donvan & Caren Zucker yesterday.

It could fit the non-fiction about science category, the over 500 pages, or politics.

[Mindy]

I am going to read Botany of Desire, which is waaaay out of my comfort zone. I've heard very good things about it, and a few years ago went to a lecture at Cornell about creating new types of apples from those in places where their specific apple trees are starting to die out/be cut down. They talked quite a bit about this book.

https://www.amazon.com/Botany-Desire-...

[Megan]

My brother loaned me his copy of What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, which I finished a few days ago. Very funny despite the serious science that went into answering the questions submitted to the website!

[Bonnie G.]

Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal was tons of gross fun. For other Michiganders (or former Michiganders like me) who never knew who Beaumont Hospital was named for, there is a lot here on William Beaumont, and he we a serious freak. A freak who made important observations about digestion, but a freak nonetheless. My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Patty]

I highly recommend the book I read for this task:
The Sixth Extinction
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jessica]

I love nonfiction science books, so a lot of the books I've read lately would have counted. I have decided to use 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 for this category. Sam Kean's other books The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons: The History of the Human Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma, Madness, and Recovery and The Violinist's Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code would also work.

A few other titles that would definitely fit: Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World, The Drunken Botanist: The Plants That Create the World's Great Drinks, Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities, A Short History of Nearly Everything, and The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World

I think arguments could also be made for Thunderstruck and Radioactive: Marie and Pierre Curie, A Tale of Love and Fallout

[Amanda]

I'm about a quarter of the way through "When Breath Becomes Air" and that seems like a good fit for this challenge. Does anyone agree/disagree?

[Michelle]

I'm currently reading Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race. This could also use this for the book/movie comparison option as well since it was made into a movie this year.

[Rachel]

I just finished reading Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species: A Graphic Adaptation. I originally was more interested in a psychology/cognitive science book, but I found this while looking for other graphic novels. I thought it was interesting to explain this kind of text in graphic novel form.