Ask HN: Looking for an Engaging Science Book

2 points·roryisok··6 comments

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?

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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

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...

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

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

When Life Almost Die, Michael Benton

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

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

Sync by Steven Strogatz

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