Literary Elements: Books about Science!

[AACPL]

The Double Helix by James D. Watson
Scientist sometimes get a bad wrap for their communication skills—but James Watson is an excellent storyteller. This book introduced me to the more thrilling aspects of biology.
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A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
I love Bill Bryson; he’s funny and engaging and smart and all around lovely. I haven’t quite gotten around to reading A Short History of Nearly Everything yet, but it was the number one pick when I asked around for science book recommendations!
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A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawkins
Interested in Cosmology? Why not sit down with one of the world’s most famous leading experts and learn something new.
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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Henrietta Lacks’ cells were taken without her knowledge or permission and still live today, decades after her death. These cells are responsible, in part, for many medical advances, but what are the ethical repercussions?
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Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
Dinosaurs and adventure. Do I have to say more?
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Cosmos by Carl Sagan
This book is based off the popular TV series, Cosmos.
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Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
This laugh-out-loud and grotesque book explores the “lives” of bodies after death.
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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
Kean takes us through the history and anecdotes behind the discoveries of different elements on the periodic table.
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The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks
This book tells the tales of those suffering from neurological disorders.
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Bad Science by Ben Goldacre
Ben Goldacre is the Guardian’s Bad Science columnist. In this book, he explores the world of the “bad science” that we are bombarded with every day in advertisements.
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Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen Dubner
Levitt, an economist, and Dubner, a journalist, write together to illuminate simple questions using a “mountain of data.” These simple questions include nature vs. nurture, the legalization of abortion, sports, teachers and sumo wrestlers.
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A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle
A good friend of mine suggested this book. When I asked him why, he explained that it was part of what got him interested in physics.
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Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
It’s the end of the world, but thankfully Arthur Dent has Ford Prefect to guide him through the most confusing aspects of the galaxy.
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The Poisoner's Handbook by Deborah Blum
In The Poisoner’s Handbook, Deborah Blum follows New York City’s first forensic investigators, chief medical examiner Charles Norris and toxicologist Alexander Gettler, and their investigations.
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Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
First published in the New Yorker in 1962, this work about DDT changed the laws for water, land, and the air.
http://aacp.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_U... it in the library


Why I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming by Mike Brown
Mike Brown is the scientist responsible for the reclassification of Pluto as a dwarf planet—and this is his firsthand account of how and why it had to happen.
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The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
A seminal work on natural selection, The Selfish Gene helped us reform ideas about social biology.
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Madame Curie by Eve Curie
This the biography of the scientist who did important work with radioactivity, written by her daughter.
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On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins
In this book, Jeff Hawkins talks about how the human brain could provide the clues to creating a more intelligent technology.
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Rocket Boys by Homer Hickman
This memoir of a NASA engineer’s childhood in a small West Virginia town is one of my brother’s favorite books and is what inspired him to become an air and space engineer.
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[[deleted user]]

What a great list! I'd like to add my personal favorite. A science degree isn't required to read this book but an interest in science is. Heck, reading this book will surely make you appreciate the world around you even more.


For the Love of Physics: From the End of the Rainbow to the Edge of Time: A Journey Through the Wonders of Physics

[Victoria]

Henrietta Lacks is one of the best books I ever read in any genre. And I appreciated the local connection with Baltimore and the Crownsville facility that I pass all the time. I can't help but think of Henrietta Lacks whenever I go by. Highly recommend this book.

[Stephanie]

I'm working my way through A Short History of Nearly Everything right now. It's like an amusing refresher course in all of that high school and college science I took!

But I don't have to do a science fair project, which is awesome. :D

[Kelly]

I just got a chance to read Gravity by Jason Chin. The art is very rich, there weren't very many words per page, and I think it would be a great way to introduce physics to young readers in a way that would capture their imaginations.

[Gail]

For the past 6 months I've been reading An Irish Country Doctor book series (1st published in 2004, the author Dr. Patrick Taylor based this fictional series of almost 10 books-so-far on his medical internship in Northern Ireland in the mid 1960's [at the end of every book is a list of the meal recipes mentioned in that book]), which is very similar to English veterinarian James Herriot's All Creatures Great & Small book series---drama & humor combined. I got hooked on these books thru the South County Senior Center/The Book Club selection An Irish Country Doctor (I'm on #5 now: An Irish Country Courtship).

[Victoria]

Speaking of science books, I really want to read these, but haven't seen either through either the Overdrive or 3M elibraries yet.
The Remedy: Robert Koch, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the Quest to Cure Tuberculosis

Extreme Medicine: How Exploration Transformed Medicine in the Twentieth Century

I always enjoyed the All Creatures series, Gail. I was dating a veterinary student (now a doctor) whe I read those. Seemed like right place, right time.

[T.M.]

To elaborate on Carl Sagan's works, Neil de Grasse Tyson (narrator of the new "Cosmos" special) also wrote several books and his theories follow along the same lines as Sagan's. (This is all according to my dad who actually read most of their work.)