Science Reading List: Beginner
An essential reading list of first-time popular science books
This is the second part in my series of recommended reading lists. This series is inspired by members of my non-fiction Facebook group, where such requests for recommendations often come up.
The first part included non-fiction books that read like novels and covered a wide range of topics.
Starting with this list, we will delve into specific topics. For our first topic, we will list some good popular science books for those new to the genre.
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
Bill Bryson is an extremely entertaining writer. His style is relaxed and his humour will keep you engaged.
His early books, like A Walk in the Woods and Notes From a Small Island, were travel memoirs, but many of his more recent books, cover topics in science and history, like One Summer: America, 1927 and The Body.
This book is about the big scientific questions of the universe — the big bang, the origins of life, geology, etc. — but his presentation focuses on many of the historical characters in the story.
What is especially impressive about Bryson is that although his background is as a journalist and not as a scientist, his coverage of the topics is very accurate. But because he’s figuring it out along with his readers, this book does feel a bit like a travel memoir — trough the author, and mankind’s journey to figuring out how the world works.
Stiff by Mary Roach
Mary Roach is uproariously funny, even more so than Bill Bryson. Her style is somewhat snarky and some of her jokes are a bit racy, but I can’t think of an author that made me laugh out loud as much as she did.
Her books are full of interesting facts you probably didn’t know. She also tells her experiences researching her stories, and she likes to get descriptive about her surroundings and the people she interviews.
So for those who are new to science writing, her entertaining style makes her a good place to start. Her other books, like Gulp, Bonk, and Grunt are good too, but this one is her best.
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks
Oliver Sacks deserves a place among the very top echelons of science writers. Many of his books are classics, including this one and Awakenings, which is revolutionary.
Sacks makes his stories very personal. Not only does he really capture the soul of his subjects, but he is also extremely reflective about the nature of mind, his profession and science in general.
The chapters in this book don’t have to be read in order. It makes a good introduction to science writing because it doesn’t require much commitment. You can browse around and read whichever chapter appeals to whatever mood you’re in.
Surely You’re Joking Mr. Feynman by Richard Feynman
Feynman is a truly inspirational character. Even before reading this book, I became a fan of Feynman by listening to many of his interviews and talks on YouTube.
Reading this book, you can almost hear Feynman talking through the pages. That’s not surprising because this book, as well as its sequel What Do You Care What Other People Think? are transcriptions of taped conversations with his drumming partner Ralph Leighton.
The stories in these two books reveal Feynman’s deep curiosity and mischievous personality. James Gleick’s biography of him, titled Genius, gives an even deeper insight into how he thought about the world.
Feynman's scientific books, like Six Easy Pieces and Six Not-So-Easy Pieces, as well as his complete three-volume Feynman Lectures on Physics, are also classics, and suitable for relative beginners, but for those who are more interested in his life with only a sprinkling of the science, these two books are must-reads.
What If? by Randall Munroe
This book is a lot of fun. Those who are aware of Munroe’s web-comic xkcd are familiar with his absurd humour.
But behind the humour are some very educational lessons about basic science. More than that, watching the author work through seemingly ludicrous questions with analytic simplicity is an inspiration to those who were intimidated and discouraged by word problems in high school.
Munroe has since released a few more books, including Thing Explainer and how to, but this one will remain a classic for many years.
Cosmos by Carl Sagan
This book is another classic by one of the great science expositors of recent times.
This book parallels Sagan’s famous PBS Television series. As the title of that series implies, the series and this book are structured as a journey through the universe, starting with the solar system and (roughly) working its way out, along the way exploring ideas such as the origin of the universe, extraterrestrial life, time-travel, and the future of humanity.
Some have compared Sagan to Neil deGrasse Tyson, whose book Astrophysics For People in a Hurry somewhat mirrors this one, but personally I think Sagan captures a sort of magic deGrasse Tyson just falls short of.
Longitude by Dava Sobel
Another book about astronomy and history. Sobel is very good at explaining the scientific concepts clearly and simply, but what makes this book truly amazing is the story and the characters. The tension between the protagonist, John Harrison and the villain, Nevil Maskelyne is palpable.
I highly recommend also watching the 4-part TV miniseries. The costumes, set pieces, and music are really great, and the actors are superb. That series will really give you a feel for the story and the characters.
The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean
Sam Kean has several good introductory-level books on a variety of topics. This one is about the periodic table of elements. The Violinist’s Thumb is about genetics, The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons is about the brain, and Ceasar’s Last Breath is about our atmosphere.
Kean doesn’t go too much into detail — he’s more like a series of short anecdotes just to pique your interest, and if you want to read more, you have to pursue the sources. The nice thing is that he tells you in the notes where to go to get more of the story. But as beginner books, Kean is an excellent way to get familiarized with these topics.
There is also a young readers’ edition that my kids love.
Genome by Matt Ridley
Ridley is a great science writer. This book is only one of several on Genetics and human evolution, including The Agile Gene, The Red Queen, and The Origins of Virtue.
I know of no other science writer who is so detailed and so cutting-edge on the science — the research he uses is all from within two or three years of this book’s publication. Beyond that, he doesn’t stick just to dry science, but he is deeply analytical about the historical and philosophical implications.
Ridley’s books are a real joy to read.
Napoleon’s Buttons by Penny LeCouteur
Penny LeCouteur is a college chemistry teacher, and accordingly, she is skilled at explaining science in a way that is simple and engaging.
What I like about this book is that she doesn’t stick only to the interesting history while avoiding the difficult science — a habit that is unfortunately all-too-common in popular science books. Rather, this book is filled with molecular structure diagrams, and after reading this book, I felt like I actually learned some chemistry, while having fun all the while.
The Demon Under the Microscope by Thomas Hager
This book, along with his other excellent one, The Alchemy of Air, cover episodes in science history that most people have never heard of but have played a huge impact on the course of human history.
This book covers the history of sulfa drugs, which were the first effective treatment against bacterial infections before penicillin became commonplace. The Alchemy of Air is about fixed nitrogen, which made a huge impact on how we grow food and create explosives.
The author spends a lot of time building context just so you appreciate how important these inventions were. This makes for very wide-ranging books that are both enlightening and engaging on both a scientific and a human level.
Why Evolution Is True by Jerry A. Coyne
There are a plethora of books on the Theory of Evolution, but this one is perhaps the best introduction to the subject.
There are others, like Richard Dawkin’s The Greatest Show on Earth, which I found slightly too polemical. This one also purports to be a defence of evolution against critics, but it serves as an excellent introduction to the basics, and I found it less preachy than Dawkins and more mild when talking down to opponents.
The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee is also good, as are Carl Zimmer’s books, but those are a lot more ambitious while this one is the most approachable introduction, followed by Neil Shubin’s Your Inner Fish and Sam Kean’s The Violinist's Thumb.
Conclusion
Science writing is a huge genre. Moreover, it covers a wide range of topics and difficulty levels. It can be hard to find books that are on the right level and are well written. The books I recommend above are all carefully chosen for beginners who are new to popular science books. They are all very approachable yet educational.
Follow me for more lists such as this, and see you for the next one!
