Science Books for the New Year

[Phil]

Hi All!

As we welcome the new year, there are undoubtedly some books we all have in mind that we are looking forward to reading.

What are some of the science books you are looking forward to the most?

[Phil]

I've begun reading Neil DeGrasse Tyson's Astrophysics for People in a Hurry and Siddhartha Mukherjee's The Emperor of all Maladies.

Once these are done, I'd like to read Richard Dawkin's The Extended Phenotype, The Greatest Show on Earth, and Brian Greene's The Elegant Universe.

[Dea]

I’m expecting to arrive soon, Symbiotic Planet: A New Look At Evolution by Lynn Margulis. Lynn is the amazing woman that discovered the theory of endosymbiosis of mitochondria and chloroplast into eukaryotic cells. Her theory is that these two organelles started out as prokaryotic cells which eukaryotes took in to aid in their development and I just can’t wait to read it! I’m a microbiologist, so to me, this stuff is the coolest ever.

[Phil]

That sounds very interesting. Thanks for bringing this up, I've added it to my "want-to-read" list as well!

[Rachel]

Phil wrote: "I've begun reading Neil DeGrasse Tyson's Astrophysics for People in a Hurry and Siddhartha Mukherjee's The Emperor of all Maladies.

Once these are done, I'd like to read Richard Dawkin's The Exten..."

I love Dawkins! The Greatest Show was very good. I have read the Extended Phenotype most of the way through, but need to go back to it. I feel like it's probably his 2nd most important book, but I'm not sure many people read it. I'm reading Climbing Mount Improbable now.

[Phil]

@Rachel

Climbing Mount Improbable - not sure why I didn't have that one on my want-to-read list! I also love Dawkins, though I'm not really into his atheistic works nearly as much as his stuff on evolutionary biology.

[Rachel]

Yeah, actually as much as I love him I've not read those books either! Have you read his really huge book, The Ancestor's Tale? I've had that book for years but have hardly made it through the first couple of chapters.

[Phil]

Not yet, but I will eventually. I would like to read all his books on evolution and science. I've got a nice hardcover copy of The Greatest Show on Earth which will likely be my next book to read.

[Radiantflux]

The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution is one of my favorite books! It's really great science writing.

I didn't read too many science books last year, but Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst was amazing. I also really liked The Vital Question: Energy, Evolution, and the Origins of Complex Life though I got a bit lost. Need to read more by both authors this year.

If you haven't already read it, Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds is one of my all time favorite science/nature books. He really nails the scientific method. I definitely should read a bit or Heinrich this year too.

The Ends of the World: Supervolcanoes, Lethal Oceans, and the Search for Past Apocalypses and Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs: The Astounding Interconnectedness of the Universe were also very good. As was Scale: The Search for Simplicity and Unity in the Complexity of Life, from Cells to Cities, Companies to Ecosystems, Milliseconds to Millennia.

[Rachel]

I like the suggestions! I also tried reading The Vital Question and was also lost after a bit. Another one I wanted to like was Restless Creatures, but I got fatigued on that one too!