Slashdot Mirror
The Best of Popular Science?
Stront asks: "No doubt like many on Slashdot, I am an avid reader of popular science, and am constantly on the search for good examples of the genre. Now, The Elegant Universe is probably the best on Superstrings; the excellent Genome received a very favourable review on Slashdot; and probably the most anticipated book on Quantum physics is the soon to be released The New Quantum Universe, the follow up to the highly rated The Quantum Universe. Now of the thousands of Popular Science books available, what does Slashdot recommend for the other innumerable sciences such as of relativity, molecular biology, consciousness, astronomy etc?"
Right back atcha, he's not talking about the breathless, soy-ink, dumbed-down magazine.
...
I would recommend The Extravagent Universe, by Robert Kirshner. It gives a good explanation of the new discoveries in cosmology; specifically the idea that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. Kirshner has a very enjoyable writing style, with stories from his own life thrown in (he is the head of one of the two competeing teams that study the supernovae that led to the accelerating universe theory). He makes a few assumptions about your knowledge of astronomy, but if you've gotten through the elegent universe you should have no trouble with this. I found the book very enjoyable.
I've found all of his books quite good, especially for beginners in the field. His newest, The Universe in a Nutshell, is especially good.
(Unfortunately, it wasn't released by the O'Reilly books. See, I wanted the Linux Kernel in a Nutshell, MacOS in a Nutshell, and the Universe in a Nutshell next to each other, but that's just me).
-- Political fascism requires a Fuhrer.
The latter presents a very readable summary of what is perhaps the first rigorous application of the scientific method to history. Since it's the first, he started by answering the big questions of the past thirteen thousand years. Essentially: how did Eurasians come to own the world? He knows, and now I do.
The former is a tour de force covering all aspects of northern experience, from early exploration to detailed descriptions of the critters who survive there, and how. I just open it anywhere, now, and start reading, and am always captivated. The maps alone bring delight.
Yes, Brain Greene's the Elegant Universe was a good read. Well off the top of my head I can only remember one good book I've read lately. The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins, it's an old book with the 1st edition published in the 70's, but still a fantastic read, it has some wonderful insights to evolution. In this book he recomends The Extended Phenotype, it's apparently an excellent read too, he says it's the pride and joy of his professional career
There is Carl Sagan's TV series and book called Cosmos, videos may be viewable in your local library. This too is an old series, but still very good. It's the real basics, great for lay persons, Carl Sagan has this knack for explaining and story telling.
Psi
Well, looking at my shelf now, I think pretty much anything by Stephen Jay Gould is a sure bet. His collections of essays (eg The Panda's Thumb, Ever Since Darwin) are the best evolutionary discussions I have come across, if that is what you're interested in.
Another good book is The Whole Shebang, by Timothy Ferris. It's a good introduction to various aspects of cosmology and astrophysics. I haven't read it for over a year, so I really can't go into more specifics. Definitely worth a look.
Hawking is good, but I'm sure everyone else will tell you that too. I've read a couple books by Carl Sagan, but I can't remember much about them, including the titles. They were definitely a good read, though.
No other titles are coming to mind, for some reason. Hope this helps!
Not terribly technical, but interesting, especially for anyone interested in "social software", FOAFs, viral marketing, etc.
There are no trolls. There are no trees out here.
Godel Escher Bach - Not really science. It's about patterns, number theory and such. I get the sense that Niel Stephensen read it before he wrote Cryptonomicon excellent read
Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman - Excellent book on Physics and Quantum Mechanics. Outstanding really.
The Ambidextrous Universe - Really interesting read on symetry and asymetry in nature. Looks at symetry in various biology, physics of the small, physics of the large, physics of the every day. Really good coffee shop science book. (Older title, hard to find.)
Origin of the Species - Worth reading just to see what all the fuss is about.
Also, check out 2thing.org. Basically, it's fairly good site devoted to exactly this topic - good books on a variety of subjects - and most of their recommends are decent. They even have a popular science section.
There was even just a review of it not so long ago: Nanotechnology Review. It's definitely aimed at the "popular science" realm. Cheers, -Geoff
Why did you add fadingsunshoppa to the URL? Amazon referral fee? I guess it's a nice way to make a few bucks off your Slashdot post.
There aren't many, but a good read on Neural Networks and Quantum Mechanics is
The Quantum Brain: The Search for Freedom and the Next Generation of Man
A good popsci read on Quantum Computing is The Bit and the Pendulum: From Quantum Computing to M Theory-The New Physics of Information
Also, often ignored, are books on mathematics. An interesting read on Paul Erdos is The Man Who Loved Only Numbers: The Story of Paul Erdos and the Search for Mathematical Truth
"This statement is false."
Godel, Escher, Bach by D. R. Hofstadter was already mentioned here as an excellent introduction to cognitive research: no to the research itself, but rather to the motivations of the researchers. My review of the 20th anniversary edition was also published on Slashdot.
Darwin's Origin of Species is old, but not dated, and (due to different standards in scientific writing at the time?) it reads almost like a popular-science book.
Mathematics (a historian's view): try Fermat's Last Theorem by S. Singh or the older and less-known, but excellent, A History of Pi by Beckmann.
Artificial life research (introduction): Levy's Artificial Life. Somewhat related (but more on the AI side of things) is G. B. Dyson's Darwin Among the Machines.
- Tal Cohen
The Algorithmic Beauty Of Sea Shells by Hans MeinHardt
heavily illustrated book of computer models to generate shell patterning mostly 2D but some 3D models also. Comes with a 3.5" disk YAY!
bit of nature, bit of comp sci, eye candy, good stuff
amor, paz, esperanza, muelle
Before adopting WHATWG, read the moonlight.NET EULA [http://www.microsoft.com/interop/msnovellcollab/moonlight.mspx]
Six Easy Pieces- Richard Feynman
Six Not-So-Easy Pieces- Richard Feynman
Both are from a two year series of lectures he gave at CalTech to freshmen/sophmores after he was essentially begged to by administrators. Feynman is quite a character (as seen in Surely Your Joking Mr. Feynman which should be every geeks BIBLE. This man alone holds the key to getting every geek laid. READ THIS BOOK AT SOME POINT IN YOUR LIFE, hopefully early)
Anyhow, the six easy and six not-so-easy are a bunch of different lectures on all the fudementals of physics. Great stuff, he explains most things in what i consider a more natural way. In the easy lectures, math doesn't really even play into it. In the not so easy, he hits on some parts that he is forced to use math to show what's so cool
QED The Strange Theory of Light and Matter is another amazing book by Feynman. This book basically tells the story of light, and by doing so, explains how everything (except gravity and strong nuclear force) works. Actually, towards the end, their is some theories that speculate strong nuclear force, and the unique rules that govern light are similiar, but with different particles (photons to muons or something). The way light works is really mind bending. Something as simply as a partial reflection off a pane of glass, is some unintuitive, and when you see the tricks behind the scene that mother nature pulls, you'll beleive in a type of magic again. Excellent book.
The Future of Spacetime which is a collection of essays from Hawking, Kip Thorne, Igor Novikov, Tim Ferris and Alan Lightman. It deals primarily with spacetime, and talks a lot about TimeTravel. After you read it, your pretty certain Time Travel isn't going to happen, but it's mainly because the odds of it are so remote (1/10^100^100^100^100 or something). Still, they hit on all the cool topics, and bring it down to earth so to speak. Kips essay is the best, he talks about what's happening now and what to expect by 2008, 2010, 2015, and 2030. All these very powerfully gravity wave dectators are coming online, and the future is a gold mine for physics.
Universe in a Nutshell by Hawking is nice. Illustrations are good. But it's more a coffe table book. Good for conversations. After reading the above list of books, you find this one elementary. Which is a neat feeling.
And after reading all that, and seeing all the complex ways that math is twisted to make the model fit the physics, and you hear all the stories about the abitrary constants that get put in things we have no idea why, then, and only then, read Wolframs A New Kind of Science and wonder... wonder what if science bet on the wrong horse in the math we use to extend our theories. Wonder if there isn't a better, more simpler way.... wonder if you'll ever read the entire 800 pages of text......
-Malakai
-Malakai
A Dragon Lives in my Garage
I don't know if this says anything about the crowd reading Slashdot, but I noticed that most of the post here are in regards to physics or genetics texts. Anyone know of any good books in other fields? I noticed a sore lack of texts in chemistry being thrown out, and to be honest, I'm embarrassed that I can't think of any to recommend other than textbooks. The only consolation I can offer is to point Slashdot readers to a gentleman I had the opportunity to hear speak today on the subject of forming nano and mesoscale structures via self assembly. These techniques could be used for all manner of things, but most interestingly, as a means of creating 3D circuitry without complex fabrication. The circuits would literally assemble themselves. Very cool stuff and possibly the next great revolution that scientists will hand over to engineers. I'm rather proud after having heard this man speak that I am doing work in the same field.
Steven Pinker, The Language Instinct. A great introduction to what modern linguistics is about.
(And I second the recommendations by others for Jared Diamond (Gun, Germs and Steel) and Richard Dawkins.)
JP
"Darwin's Dangerous Idea" (Daniel Dennett). Excellent in-depth description of modern evolutionary theory. Very readable but goes deep. It also does a great job going through the history and explaining how evolution progressed through difficult steps, without glossing over areas where details are in dispute or unknown.
The best I have read in a long time was: The SONG OF THE DODO: ISLAND BIOGEOGRAPHY IN AN AGE OF EXTINCTIONS
A book about Biogeography and Evolution.
James Burke: The Day the Universe Changed & Connections (History of Science/Technology).
John Gribbin: In Search of Schrodinger's Cat (Quantum Physics), In Search of the Big Bang, & The Omega Point (Universe/Space-Time)
Gary Zukav: The Dancing Wu Li Masters (QP)
And of course, the grand daddies of them all, Asimov and Clarke. (Too many titles to list here!).
cheers- raga
Not exactly popular science, but The infamous "X for dummies" company is going to publish a new book in 2 months: Calculus for dummies.
I always laughed about this series when it came to programming books, but Calculus (aka Infinitesimal math) can be an evil and tricky subject, and maybe this book can help me - especially if it's going to be as interesting as Fermat's Last Theorem. What do you think?
All hail the 8 that fell on its side.
hemi
The Physics of Star Trek and The Physics of Star Wars.
What? Those weren't Popular Science books?
Go here to create your own Slashdot dis
Even if life didn't start on *THIS* planet, it had to start somewhere, Seven Clues to the Origin of Life by A.G Cairns-Smith is an excellent overview of all of the current theories about how life started.
Very good read, though can be a little dry in places - it will expand your mind man!
Several people already mentioned Hofstadter's Godel Escher Bach. If you liked that, you'll also like The Mind's I, by Hofstadter and Dennett. It's a collection of thoughts and essays by the authors and various other big thinkers pursuing the nature of consciousness.
Siggy Wiggy Figgy Tiggy a bana bo Biggy!
Some of the books that I have found very influential are: Godel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter - The parts on Godel were a little difficult for a non-mathematician, but an otherwise mind-blowing book. Truly one of the greatest books ever, science or otherwise. Chaos by James Gleick - A history of the field of Chaos and its big players. By one of the most talented writers I have ever encountered (Faster is also a good book). There are ideas in this book that can be used in almost any field of research/science. Information Theory and Molecular Biology by Hubert P. Yockey - While not explicitly stated this book really helped with the concepts of creationg ageing at the level of DNA. It also helped me to realize how many striking parallels can be drawn between computer science and molecular biological processes (i.e. ribosomes as compilers (or more acurately reverse compilers), catalytic RNA as interpreters, the interconversion of information between high-level and low-level formats). Genome by Matt Ridley - Not as in depth as I would have liked, but he presents an interesting story for each human chromosome. The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins - Discussed ad nauseum on this site, specifically memes. Anything by Richard Dawkins is worth reading. However, I think that it is important to not be carried away with his ideas, they are most definitely not perfect. Sociobiology by Edward O. Wilson - The title is self explanatory. This was and still is a very controversial book, especially the last chapter on genetic control of human behaviour. It sparked of a thirty year war between Stephen Jay Gould and E.O. Wilson. Ants by Edward O. Wilson and Bert Somebody? - While not popular science per se. It is one of the few science related books to have won the pulitzer prize.
... check out the relevant sections in Stephen Wolfram's "A New Kind of Science". He has a couple of interesting remarks about shells (in an algorithmic context). The first is that a certain set of simple 1D cellular automata are enumerated over all of a certain kind of shell (that is, several different shells show different 1D CA patterns over their surfaces). The second is his demonstration of the "derivation" of actual shells under generalized substitution systems. He also puts this in the context of all computation. There's quite a bit more to it than that but it's something that should be read by all Computer Science folks. He's also got a collection of papers published in the book "Cellular Automata and Complexity" that are very interesting (especially for those of you who'll want to look into Rule 30 for random number generation and some of the early applications of cellular automata to physical modelling). Also check out digitalphysics.com for more on discrete models of physics.
Other interesting books I've read fairly recently are "Never at Rest" (the definitive biography of Isaac Newton), "Top Stoppard: Plays" (although really you should see these plays performed -- Stoppard is brilliant), "The Pythagorean Sourcebook" (the man was crazy, but he was one of the most important founding fathers of Western Civilization), "Disobedience" by Jane Hamilton (it mirrors some unfortunate circumstances in my life), and assorted math books (it's always a good idea to leaf through math books in search of new ideas -- you'll often find that an approach that some mathematician takes to a problem causes a lot of latent analytical ideas to come to the surface).
___
The ends are ape-chosen, only the means are man's. -- Aldous Huxley
Martin Gardner edited this collection of essays which contains essays from a number of scientific bright lights. Big names include Einstein, Steven jay Gould, Sagan, Darwin. But some of the authors I hadn't heard of, like Lewis Thomas, were the real revelation for me. This collection of essays led me to purchase longer works by a number of the authors.
The collection is a bit dated, originally published in 1984, but really quite accesible. There is also a bio of each author preceding their essay.
However another book by Gardner on pseudoscience Did Adam and Eve Have Navels? was a real dissapointment. I'd have to say he is a much better editor than author.
Laugh while you can, monkey boy!
On The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin Climbing mount Improbable, Richard Dawkins Unweaving the rainbow, Richard Dawkins The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins The Extended Phenotype, Richard Dawkins Billions & Billions, Carl Sagan The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams http://www.wikipedia.org Six Easy Pieces, Feynman Figments of Reality
Science as a way of life.
Anything by Edward Tufte. He's published four gorgeous books about presenting information - in fact, he more-or-less created the field of scientific analysis of graphical presentation. Start with The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. They aren't cheap, but you'll treasure them for a lifetime.
I also second the suggestions for Guns, Germs, and Steel and Elegant Universe.
The infamous "X for dummies" company is going to publish a new book in 2 months: Calculus for dummies.
Sounds like something Cliffs Notes would publish.
But guess what? The company that publishes the For Dummies series bought Cliffs.
Will I retire or break 10K?
I know people swear by Godel Escher and Bach, but I got bored and couldn't read the whole thing. This coming from a guy whose spent years studying mathematics and read many a dry text (and actually enjoyed it) on mathematical logic.
For a popular science account on logic and computability:
Godel's Proof
by Ernest Nagel, James Roy Newman
The Universal Computer: The Road from Leibniz to Turing
by Martin Davis
anything by Raymond Smullyan
Incidently, I believe Godel's Proof is the book that Hofstadler initially read. Martin Davis and Raymond Smullyan are two well respected mathematical logicians in there own right.
A couple of physics books I liked were:
Mr Tompkins in Paperback : Comprising 'Mr Tompkins in Wonderland' and 'Mr Tompkins Explores the Atom'
by George Gamow
Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy
by Kip S. Thorne
anything by Richard Feynman
I also liked:
New Turing Omnibus (New Turning Omnibus: 66 Excursions in Computer Science)
by A. K. Dewdney
(it isn't quite a textbook, but too too rigorous to be popular science)
also take a look at Rudy Rucker's books (another logician who deals with Hyperspace and geometry in several of his books) also a sci-fi author to boot
What do you mean my sig is repetitive? What do you mean my sig is repetitive? What do you mean....
try "the tao of phoo" it is a satirical yet informative look in to zen and karma. i dont think it would have been recommended by popular science, but it is definitely a good read. on another note. do you think they will ever have books on disposable dvds. i know disposable dvds are out for movies right now.