Reythia
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Scientific and Scientific History Books
I'm organizing my bookshelf, so while I'm at it, I thought I'd take a chance to list out my science-related books to a couple of boards that I'm on. Here's the listing. I'd really, really be interested if any other science fan knows of other good non-technical books about science or the history of science.
Anyhow, here's my list, with a short description of each book's topic and my opinion of it. (Obviously, I got rid of the ones I disliked, but some are special favorites!)
Haha! It's too long to post as one link. Well, I guess I got a bit long-winded. Anyhow, here it is briefly, and then later in pieces, with descriptions.
"Perfect Copy" by Nicholas Agar.
"Calendar" by David Ewing Duncan.
“Fatal Attraction” by Patricia Fara.
“Tycho & Kepler” by Kitty Ferguson.
“Measuring Eternity” by Martin Gorst.
“Questioning the Millennium” by Stephen Jay Gould.
“A Brief History of Time” by Stephen Hawking.
“ ‘Black Holes and Baby Universes’ and Other Essays” by Stephen Hawking
“The Dragon Seekers” by Christopher McGowan.
“Broca’s Brain” by Carl Sagan.
“The Demon-Haunted World” by Carl Sagan.
“The Dragons of Eden” by Carl Sagan.
“Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium” by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan
“Longitude” by Dava Sobel
“The Turtle and the Stars” by Arthur Upgren.
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4/16/2009, 12:20 am
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Reythia
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Re: Scientific and Scientific History Books
"Perfect Copy" by Nicholas Agar. It's about cloning, the history of it, the (non-technical) practical issues of his it's done, and a nice discussion of some social effects of our ability to clone animals (and, potentially, people). The book was written in 2002, so it's behind the times now, but it was a nice intro read to the subject. I was actually hoping for something a little more in depth, but so it goes.
"Calendar" by David Ewing Duncan. This is probably my very favorite book on the history of science. It’s about the history of the calendar and time-keeping in general, and covers everything from cavemen making lunar-cycle marks on sticks, to the swap between Gregorian and Julian calendars, to the difficulties inherent in the keeping of GPS time. I’m still astonished that he managed to fit so much in, with so much detail, without getting confusing or long-winded! Amazingly well-written and organized, this is a must-have for any history of science library.
“Fatal Attraction” by Patricia Fara. This book’s all about the history of magnetism, which I knew very little about before reading. There were some surprisingly interesting insights – did YOU know that Halley (of the comet) was an early studier of magnets? How about the origin of the word “mesmerize”? If you’re curious, check out this book. Despite the topic, it’s pleasantly non-technical.
“Tycho & Kepler” by Kitty Ferguson. Another of my favorites. Okay, I admit to being biased, since Kepler more or less originated my whole field of study. And he wrote the first piece of recognizable sci-fi. But even beyond that, this book is a great, entertaining study of two of the most familiar characters of modern astronomy (come on – every good engineer knows about Brahe’s nose and how his bladder did him in, right?). Either Brahe OR Kepler would be worth reading about by himself. This book shows the interaction between the two, as well as some intriguing insights into how doing science at the turn of 1600 was so different – and yet, so the same – as is today.
“Measuring Eternity” by Martin Gorst. Another book about the history of timekeeping. This one deals more with the question of how old the universe is than what calendar we’re using to keep track of it. It starts with Ussher’s date of 4004 BC – and WOW, must that have been a heroic work of research, given the number of sources he used to calculate it and the lack of internet access at the time! – and ends with the Hubble expansion and radioactive dating. If I recall correctly, between those two extremes, there’s a particularly good description of how the approximate age of the Earth was discovered via geologic studies.
“Questioning the Millennium” by Stephen Jay Gould. This was the first of Gould’s books I’ve read, and honestly, I wasn’t that impressed. It was just too simplistic and obvious to me. There were some tidbits that were fascinating and a lot of good ideas, but most of it was just okay. I only hung onto it because of the last few pages, and the last line in particular, which I admit, he drew me in with. I can’t tell you why or it’d give it away, but if you do start this book, make sure to read the last chapter, regardless of what you think of the rest.
“A Brief History of Time” by Stephen Hawking. A classic. This is one of the more technical books on this list, so if you’re not a scientist, you might find yourself too bogged down to enjoy it. But for the scientifically-minded, it’s a keeper. He somehow manages to make some of the most complicated physics comprehensible, with just a few drawings, a lot of metaphors, and only ONE equation. That’s miraculous enough to me. Oh, if you don’t already know (I probably shouldn’t assume everyone does), it’s about black holes, the creation of universes, and the start and end (sort of!) of time.
“ ‘Black Holes and Baby Universes’ and Other Essays” by Stephen Hawking. Like the title says, this one is actually a collection of shorter essays, mostly about purely scientific topics, but also with a few on the interaction between science and social or religious topics. I actually liked this book BETTER than “A Brief History of Time”. I think he was able to put more of himself into it – including his struggle with ALS – and that really made it mean more to me. If you’re scared by the technical nature of “Brief History”, try this one instead. You won’t regret it.
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4/16/2009, 12:20 am
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Reythia
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Re: Scientific and Scientific History Books
“The Dragon Seekers” by Christopher McGowan. Also among my favorites, and another history book. This one starts around 1800 and talks about the initial discovery of dinosaur fossils – what scientists at the time really thought they were and how they got there. McGowan goes into detail on the Usual Suspects in 1800s geology, of course, but he also talks about a number of lesser-known personages. The most fascinating to me was Mary Anning, who was one of the best fossil finders and interpreters of her time, but wasn’t allowed into the geologic society, as she was a woman. The book ends with a brief description of Darwin’s contributions, but is really focused on the era of geologic exploration in the half-century before that. It’s a time period most history/science classes gloss over, so this book was a great find, for me.
“Broca’s Brain” by Carl Sagan. Well, come on. I HAD to have Sagan in here! The next four books are all his (I have “Contact” too, but that’s fiction). I don’t always agree with the man, but can he ever explain science and interpret it in the context of social topics! “Broca” is one of his older books, and thus not particularly accurate anymore, in terms of science. But it’s worth reading for the impressions it gives about science during the 1970s, when it was written (sort of like reading Jules Verne, really). This book is a good collection of a bunch of his essays and shorter pieces. The topics range from astronomy (obviously) to the biology of the brain and its impacts on human nature, to the root of UFO belief. It’s a good book, and I bet it was even better when it was first written.
“The Demon-Haunted World” by Carl Sagan. This one’s hard to review. I really, really liked some of the concepts. There are individual chapters that I would love to pull out and make every high-schooler read. It’s a book about recognizing the difference between true science, pseudo-science, and what Sagan calls “anti-science”. The chapters deal with reports of alien abductions, hallucinations, the use of skepticism and wonder in society, and religion. The topics are interesting and the explanations are thoughtful. Unfortunately, the book is also redundant to an extreme. My suggestion is to rent it from the library and skip the chapters that are repetitive. Reading the concepts once is a great thing.
“The Dragons of Eden” by Carl Sagan. This is another older book, and since it’s about the science of the human brain – a subject that has changed significantly in the ~30 years since the book was written – I would never suggest reading it for accurate information. And yet, again, reading it to gain a glimpse into the history of the time is invaluable. Better yet is reading it to gain a glimpse into Sagan’s logical processes.
“Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium” by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan (Sagan’s wife). The other Sagan books are good, but old. This one is relevant to today’s world as well. It’s about a series of mostly social topics, which Sagan applies his own brand of scientific logic to. My personal favorite was the essay about abortion in the US, where I learned a whole bunch of new facts that are NOT widely known. (The book is currently on loan to a friend, specifically because of this chapter.) He talks about everything from SETI (the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Life, one of Sagan’s babies) to atheism. I don’t agree with all of what he decides for himself, but the way he writes it, that’s okay – he knows he might be wrong, too. Even on those topics I disagree with him on, I learned something new. This should be required reading for anyone participating in any debate forum.
“Longitude” by Dava Sobel. A short book that is very well-written, this one is about the centuries-long search for a method to accurately determine longitude at sea. The story pinpoints one of the saddest points in scientific history, in terms of giving an inventor or a scientist his due. The book is about Harrison, who invented the first truly accurate clocks – including ship-board ones. (It was not a trivial task, but it correctly answered the Royal Observatory’s prized question of determining longitude. However, they scientists in charge of the Observatory didn’t want to hear Harrison’s answer, so they treated him very shamefully. It’s a topic not mentioned in most classes, but a very poignant one. I’m glad that GPS has proved Harrison’s concept correct and valuable in the end.) *ahem* Sorry. As you might guess, I rather liked the book and definitely recommend it to students of scientific history.
And last but not least:
“The Turtle and the Stars” by Arthur Upgren. I can’t help it. The way this author writes just reminds me of an old professor of mine. I’m biased toward the book because of it. It’s about science, the basics of mostly-modern astronomy in particular, and is a sort of rambling tale about a bunch of subjects the professor... err... author is obviously interested in. It’s probably not the best book, but it’s a good one, and it was really fun to read it, just because of the personality of the author.
Okay, that’s it. Please, please, if you know of any good SciHist books, post the titles and a brief description here! As you may have noticed, I have mostly astronomy-related books, but I’d love to expand!
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4/16/2009, 12:21 am
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QS2
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Re: Scientific and Scientific History Books
That's a quite interesting list, I used to have 1 or 2 sci history books as well, but after moving a few times I seem to have misplaced them. 
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4/16/2009, 10:34 am
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Reythia
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Re: Scientific and Scientific History Books
Sadness!!
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4/16/2009, 3:38 pm
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Firlefanz
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Re: Scientific and Scientific History Books
Hmm. I remember one of my favorite books by Isaac Asimov - a non-fiction book about massive errors in scientific history, and how they influenced science. I'll try to find the English title.
After much searching, it seems to be a collection of essays taken from diverse books published in English. I'll see what I can do in finding out more.
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4/16/2009, 5:21 pm
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David Meadows
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Re: Scientific and Scientific History Books
Nice list, Reythia 
Mine will have some overlap with yours...
"The Strangest Star" by John Gribbin
"In Search of Schrodinger's Cat" by John Gribbin
"A Tour of the Calculus" by David Berlinski
"The Demon-Haunted World" by Carl Sagan
"Gunpowder" by Jack Kelly (this is more history than science, I suppose)
"Soul Made Flesh" by Carl Zimmer
"Greek Science - It's Meaning for Us (Thales to Aristotle)" by Benjamin Farrington
"The Emperor's New Mind" by Roger Penrose
"The Magical Maze" by Ian Stewart
"The Interpretation of Drreams" by Sigmund Freud (I am listing this for completeness but it is NOT science, it's poppy**** and twaddle)
"Superstrings and the Search for the Theory of Everything" by F. David Peat (it says on the cover, A better book than A Brief History of Time  )
"Parallel Universes" by Fred Allan Wolf
"The Arrow of Time" by Peter Coveney and Roger Highfield
"Feynman's Lost Lecture - The Motion of the Planets Around the Sun" by Richard P. Feynman, David L. Goodstein and Judith R. Goodstein
"Surely You're Joking, Mr Feynman" by Richard P. Feynman (more autobiography than science, but still the best book by a scientist I've ever read)
"The Origin of Species" by Charles Darwin (If you only ever read ONE book about science, it should be this one. This may be the most perfect work of non-fiction ever written.)
"Bully for Brontosaurus" by Stephen Jay Gould
"Life's Grandeur" by Stephen Jay Gould
"Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms" by Stephen Jay Gould
"Dinosaur in a Haystack" by Stephen Jay Gould
"The Hedgehog, the Fox and the Magister's Pox" by Stephen Jay Gould
"The Mismeasure of Man" by Stephen Jay Gould
"What we Believe but Cannot Prove" by various, edited by John Brockman (more philosophy than hard science, I suppose)
"The Reckoning of Time" by the Venerable Bede, translated with commentary by Faith Wallis
"Time Journeys" by Paul Halpern
"Asimov on Astronomy" by Isaac Asimov
"Extraterrestrial Civilizations" by Isaac Asimov
"Report on Planet Three and Other Speculations" by Arthur C. Clarke
"Architects of Eternity" by Richard Corfield
"The Road to Reality - A Complete Guide to the Physical Universe" by Roger Penrose
Some of those I haven't read for over 20 years so I would have to think a bit before attempting to describe them!
Actually some are missing and I'm trying to work out if I've misplaced them or if I never owned them to begin with (just borrowed them to read)!
Last edited by David Meadows, 4/16/2009, 6:59 pm
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4/16/2009, 6:52 pm
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Reythia
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Re: Scientific and Scientific History Books
*hugs* I knew you wouldn't let me down, Meadows!!
I've actually got "Origin of Species" and I think one other book sitting on my shelf right now, waiting their turn in line. Oh -- and I didn't list the books on the space program that I have (or have borrowed from my friend), and I guess I should have. "The Right Stuff" is without a doubt the best of them -- very entertaining.
I'll have to borrow Feynman's from my physicist friend -- I know she has at least one of his, if not both on your list.
quote:
Actually some are missing and I'm trying to work out if I've misplaced them or if I never owned them to begin with (just borrowed them to read)!
Hahaha! I understand completely! I actually thought I had more, but I guess they were just passed around. And I had to look up the title of one of Sagan's, since it's out on loan right now.
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4/16/2009, 8:06 pm
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Firlefanz
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Re: Scientific and Scientific History Books
Hmm. I know I have:
Unser Kosmos - Carl Sagan (German Edition)
Little Blue Dot - Carl Sagan (German Edition)
Entering Space - Robert Zubrin
Life - Beck, Liam & Simpson
Probably more, but I'd have to dig around my shelves.
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4/17/2009, 9:41 pm
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David Meadows
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Re: Scientific and Scientific History Books
Sorry, I was going to write about these but ran out of time 
I'll pick a random one... ok, not not quite random, because it ties in to something Firlefanz mentioned...
"Asimov on Astronomy" by Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov wrote about fifty-six million science essays for a monthly SF magazine, and after a while started collecting them into books. I don't know how many collections there were, I've probably read about half-a-dozen. Most of them were random collections, but some were themed.
Asimov on Astronomy was, as you may guess, themed 
He covers things like how tides work, how satellites orbit, what it would be like to live on a planet with two suns, how close you can be to a supernova and survive, how you can measure the size of the universe... actually some pretty complex topics (with a bit of colourful speculation thrown in), but he describes them all clearly and simply enough for me to understand when I was 12 or so.
"Extraterrestrial Civilizations" by Isaac Asimov
This one isn't an essay collection, it's a single-topic book. The premise is, "how many alien civilizations are out there?" To answer this question, he leads you painlessly through some astronomy and planetology, which stars might have planets, how planets form, which planets are likely to support life and why, etc. The answer he gets is pretty meaningless ("3", I seem to remember ) but it's not the destination it's the journey that counts.
Again it's all really simply and clearly explained, suitable for a younger/novice reader.
Its technical details may be a bit dated now, in light of recent extra-solar planet discoveries.
I know I have his book about black holes, too, but I can't find it...
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4/17/2009, 10:02 pm
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Reythia
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Re: Scientific and Scientific History Books
quote:
Firlefanz wrote:
Little Blue Dot - Carl Sagan (German Edition)
Huh. You know, I've got that one (in English) somewhere... I wonder where!?! I think I lent it out to a friend at some point...
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4/18/2009, 6:51 pm
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Re: Scientific and Scientific History Books
With all the mention of Carl Sagan, I'm surprised nobody has mentioned COSMOS. Probably the most successful science-popularization book to date, the PBS series was one of the biggest influences on my childhood. It presented huge ideas in a way that even I could understand.
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4/18/2009, 9:32 pm
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Reythia
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You know, Corvus, I've heard great things about "Cosmos", but I've never actually SEEN it! I keep thinking about hunting it down, online maybe (since it's not at my library), but haven't gotten around to it.
Having read so much by Sagan in the last 10 years, I'm really jealous of you for having been able to listen to him, too!
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4/20/2009, 2:51 am
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David Meadows
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Re: Scientific and Scientific History Books
Cosmos is a book I have always wanted to own, and I'm not sure why I never have. I watched the series when the BBC showed it (I think the late 70s) and I agree that it was one of the biggest influences on my childhood.
And now for a few more books:
"Gunpowder" by Jack Kelly (this is more history than science, I suppose)
It's the history of gunpowder and how it affected civilization. More of a social history that a scientific history, but still interesting.
"Soul Made Flesh" by Carl Zimmer
The story of the 17th-century scientists and surgeons who figured out what the brain was for and disproved such theories as the heart being the seat of intelligence. Along the way they figured out what the nervous system was, what blood did, and invented blood transfusions and innoculations.
It's fascinating stuff.
"Greek Science - It's Meaning for Us (Thales to Aristotle)" by Benjamin Farrington
Does exactly what is says on the cover. It's quite an old book and written in a heavy-going style, so although the subject is interesting there are probably better books to get.
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4/20/2009, 10:07 am
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