AUTHOR: Timothy Ferris TITLE(S): Coming of Age in the Milky Way ABOUT: My favorite cosmology/physical sciences popularization. It covers the development of our understanding of the universe from a deeply humane and humanistic perspective.
AUTHOR: Siddhartha Mukherjee TITLE(S): The Emperor of All Maladies ABOUT:The layperson's book about cancer. It's history, science, medicine, philosophy, and ethics all at once.
AUTHOR: Charles C. Mann TITLE(S): 1491 ABOUT: Compiles the information we have about pre-Columbian cultures. Since few of them had writing, much of it is archaeological problem-solving. This book will entirely rearrange your understanding of the world.
AUTHOR: Charles MacKay TITLE(S): Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds ABOUT: The many-splendored history of how people can't be trusted in groups.
AUTHOR: Bill Bryson TITLE(S): Basically anything, but A Short History of Nearly Everything is his best, IMO. ABOUT: What it says on the tin, plus excellent writing.
AUTHOR: Oliver Sacks TITLE(S): Again, basically anything, but The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat is a good place to start. ABOUT: Sacks is a neurologist who consults on very strange or rare cases, and writes about all the ways the brain can go fascinatingly wrong.
AUTHOR: Tom Standage TITLE(S): A History of the World in 6 Glasses ABOUT:Booze. Also caffeine.
AUTHOR: Bill Streever TITLE(S): Cold: Adventures in the World's Frozen Places ABOUT: Pretty much I'm just horrifyingly fascinated by the idea of dying terribly in a blizzard.
AUTHOR: Bill Hayes TITLE(S): Five Quarts: A Personal and Natural History of Blood ABOUT: Probably not for the needle-averse.
AUTHOR: John Kelly TITLE(S): The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time ABOUT: Both human stories and medical science.
NONFICTION
TITLE(S): Coming of Age in the Milky Way
ABOUT: My favorite cosmology/physical sciences popularization. It covers the development of our understanding of the universe from a deeply humane and humanistic perspective.
AUTHOR: Siddhartha Mukherjee
TITLE(S): The Emperor of All Maladies
ABOUT: The layperson's book about cancer. It's history, science, medicine, philosophy, and ethics all at once.
AUTHOR: Charles C. Mann
TITLE(S): 1491
ABOUT: Compiles the information we have about pre-Columbian cultures. Since few of them had writing, much of it is archaeological problem-solving. This book will entirely rearrange your understanding of the world.
AUTHOR: Charles MacKay
TITLE(S): Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
ABOUT: The many-splendored history of how people can't be trusted in groups.
AUTHOR: Bill Bryson
TITLE(S): Basically anything, but A Short History of Nearly Everything is his best, IMO.
ABOUT: What it says on the tin, plus excellent writing.
AUTHOR: Oliver Sacks
TITLE(S): Again, basically anything, but The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat is a good place to start.
ABOUT: Sacks is a neurologist who consults on very strange or rare cases, and writes about all the ways the brain can go fascinatingly wrong.
AUTHOR: Tom Standage
TITLE(S): A History of the World in 6 Glasses
ABOUT: Booze. Also caffeine.
AUTHOR: Bill Streever
TITLE(S): Cold: Adventures in the World's Frozen Places
ABOUT: Pretty much I'm just horrifyingly fascinated by the idea of dying terribly in a blizzard.
AUTHOR: Bill Hayes
TITLE(S): Five Quarts: A Personal and Natural History of Blood
ABOUT: Probably not for the needle-averse.
AUTHOR: John Kelly
TITLE(S): The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time
ABOUT: Both human stories and medical science.