Ask HN: Looking for an Engaging Science Book

Posted by roryisok on Monday August 14, 2023 @05:59PM
from the ask-hn dept.

I want to learn more about the natural sciences, and I'm looking for a great book that'll give me the basics and keep me interested. I have a terrible attention span for reading so I want something designed to keep an idiot like me engaged.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

( 6 comments | on HN )

Re:Ask HN: Looking for an Engaging Science Book by fuzzfactor on Monday August 14, 2023 @07:02PM (#37127925)

Depends on what you call engaging, there's always Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asimov%27s_Biographical_Encycl...

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Looking for an Engaging Science Book by gsatic on Monday August 14, 2023 @07:12PM (#37128029)

Sync by Steven Strogatz

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Looking for an Engaging Science Book by meristohm on Monday August 14, 2023 @07:15PM (#37128063)

A brief list, without the links to library aggregator worldcat.org in the interest of time:

An Immense World, by Ed Yong; grabbed my attention right away

Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are, by Frans de Waal; got here from dog training and Temple Grandin and animal behaviorist Patricia McConnell

How Far the Light Reaches, by Sabrina Imbler; looks fascinating

Feral, by George Monbiot; Iteland used to be a rainforest, and salmon used to choke the rivers out here in the Pacific Northwest

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Looking for an Engaging Science Book by bediger4000 on Monday August 14, 2023 @07:39PM (#37128246)

When Life Almost Die, Michael Benton

Nominally about the Permian-Triassic extinction, but more about history of geology and how science recognizes catastrophic events.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Looking for an Engaging Science Book by sn9 on Monday August 14, 2023 @07:49PM (#37128324)

Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything is great.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Looking for an Engaging Science Book by akasakahakada on Monday August 14, 2023 @08:44PM (#37128721)

This one is for babies. But I think it will suit any curious adult.

https://www.dk.com/uk/book/9781465491022-the-physics-book/

[ Parent | on HN ]