[Tiresias]

Whether you enjoy fiction book A or B depends on your tastes; but it seems that a good non-fiction book is more likely to cut across genres and appeal to almost everyone if it appeals to anyone.

Which one non-fiction book do you consider a must-read?

I'd probably say either A Brief History of Time by S. Hawking or The Singularity is Near by Ray Kurzweil. But I've ordered The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide by Jamison and Phantoms in the Brain by Ramachandran, which I suspect are going to be a great reads. The 21-st Century Brain by Stephen Rose was fabulous, and, in the art history section, nothing touches The Shock of the New by Robert Hughes.

Help me enrich my shopping list.

I especially like books about: Hell, the brain, memory, religion, art, lit, poetry, dreams, astronomy, and macabre stuff like torture, suicide, hell, Satan, and most things on the occult (don't ask why).

[- - e r i k - -]

What We Believe But Cannot Prove


What Is Your Dangerous Idea?

Two fantastic books based on the Edge yearly question. It is answered by over a 100 leading thinkers and scientists in small essays, on topics ranging from neuroscience to philosophy to religion to space exploration. Mostly fascinating, sometimes irritating, but always thought provoking. I'm almost done with Dangerous Idea, and it's great. I suggest you start with the first one though, some amazing insight there - especially on consciousness.

[Randman]

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell is a great read. Fascinating stuff. His Tipping Point is also good.


Progress Paradox by Gregg Easterbrook is also a nice read, in the same vein.


And to get away from that genre, any of Michael Palin's travel books are a delight. And Anthony Bourdain as well.

[greenG4]

Sounds like you might like this one:

Amazon.com: Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy (Commonwealth Fund Book Program): Books: Kip S. Thorne,Stephen Hawking

[SirCastor]

Flesh and Machines: How Robots Will Change Us
by Rodney A. Brooks
At least the first half. Good discussion about robots and how we think.

[OldManMac]

Speaking of The God Delusion, I'm currently reading god is not Great (how religion poisons everything), by Christopher Hitchens. I have The God Delusion, and that's next on my list. I got Hitchens' book from the library, so I'm reading it first. He's obviously a dedicated atheist, but he does make some excellent points as to how religion has done a great deal of harm to humanity.

[Rev-O]

Only a few must reads here, but I've tossed in a few fvorites just because.
Hughes' Shock of the New is great stuff. Always reminded me of James Burke's Connections (which is equally good stuff, if a bit dated). Both of those are even better if you can sit down and watch the shows in conjunction with the books.

1776 by McCollough is flat out brilliant.

Black Hawk Down is a page turner. I was afraid it was going to be really agenda driven, but I found it fairly apolitical. Summer nonfiction reading, to be sure.

The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance by Garrett was a frightening read. It was released a bit over a decade ago and I don't think that it has a revised edition so some of the topics are a bit old, but still good stuff. Hanta, Marburg, antibiotic resistant bacteria, HIV, etc. Fairly long, and really not always a page turner, but does a fine job of filling you with despair.

The writings of Chaung Tzu are fantastic. A beautiful expression of Tao. For an easier introduction to Tao, The Tao of Pooh (by Hoff) is a good read. Didn't enjoy the Te of Piglet as much. Zen Flesh, Zen Bones is a good once over of Zen (never really like Merton's Zen and the Birds of Appetite) For something heavier, Problems of Suffering in the Religions of the World by Bowker is fantastic. Looks at how a dozenish religions deal with the one of religion's toughies; the notion of suffering.

For lighter stuff you can't beat The 60 Greatest Conspiracies of all time by Vankin (tho I read it when there were only 50 greatest conspiracies). Really just touches the surface of a bunch of conspiracies, but fun to consume a chapter at a time. What If? and What If? 2 by Crowley are interesting (if sometimes dry). Historians postulate different outcomes from historical tiping points. Any of the urban legend stuff (like Curses! Broiled Again!) by Brunvand is fun as well.

Anything by Graham Hancock (Fingerprints of the Gods, The Mars Mystery, Underworld) is fun if you have time to kill and you don't have to pay for the books. These silly things are listed as non fiction, so that's why I include 'em here!

[Ozmodiar]

I just finished reading A Short History of Nearly Everything, and before that Possible Side Effects.

[- - e r i k - -]

Originally Posted by Tiresias 

The Singularity is Near by Ray Kurzweil.

Oh, Ray Kurzweil contributes in both books. His entry in What We Believe But Cannot Prove is …interesting. His entry in What Is Your Dangerous Idea is a pretty good summary of why his ideas are somewhat plausible. He's a definite technodeterminist though.

[BadKosh]

Not out of Africa by Lefkowitz (research and history vs revisionist teachings)

Last Steam Railroad in America - O. Winston Link (best black n white nighttime photography of the end of an era in America)

The Greedy Hand - Amity Shlaes (Taxes and what to do about them)

Of Monocoupes and Men - Underwood (really hard to find though)(Clayton Folkerts/Don Luscombe Golden Age of Air Racing story)

[Graviton]

A few off the top of my head:

The Consolations Of Philosophy by Alain De Botton

No Logo by Naomi Cline

A Devils Chaplain by Richard Dawkins

The Philosopher at the End of the Universe by Mark Rowlands

Existentialism is a Humanism by Jean Paul Satre

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

[- - e r i k - -]

Originally Posted by Graviton 

No Logo by Naomi Cline

Naomi Klein. Interesting read, but a tad too preachy at times.

[- - e r i k - -]

Originally Posted by Graviton 

A Devils Chaplain by Richard Dawkins[/URL]

A great book. Good to read before or after The God Delusion.

The God Delusion was written as an expansions of some of the ideas brought forward in A Devil's Chaplain.

I also suggest watching The Root Of All Evil. It's a bit of a heavy handed summary of both.

[wallinbl]

Originally Posted by OldManMac 

Speaking of The God Delusion, I'm currently reading god is not Great (how religion poisons everything), by Christopher Hitchens. I have The God Delusion, and that's next on my list. I got Hitchens' book from the library, so I'm reading it first. He's obviously a dedicated atheist, but he does make some excellent points as to how religion has done a great deal of harm to humanity.

No one really refutes that religious nuts[1] have done many terrible things. Hitchens' problem is that he seems to think that the Bible really says the things that the nuts believe. He, like the nuts, don't really understand Christianity and therefore fail to speak to it with any value. The problem isn't with Judaism or Christianity, it's with people. The fact that some people have historically co-opted Christianity in order to influence others into supporting their grab for power doesn't say anything about Christianity. It says that some people are evil and many people are suckers.

I don't quite understand why otherwise intelligent people seem so unable to separate evil people from the means they use to obtain power. Is Democracy bad because it allowed George Bush to be elected? Are diamonds bad because they help to fund genocide? Is a hammer bad because I can use it to smash your head in?

[1] When I say "nuts", that includes many popes, leaders, etc.

[- - e r i k - -]

That brings me to an appropriate quote:

"Without [religion] you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, it takes religion.' - Physicist and Nobel prizewinner Stephen Weinberg

[Graviton]

Originally Posted by - - e r i k - - 

Naomi Klein. Interesting read, but a tad too preachy at times.

I felt she over-laboured a lot of points. I would have edited the book down by half.

Still a "must read' though.

Originally Posted by - - e r i k - - 

A great book. Good to read before or after The God Delusion.

I read A Devils Chaplain before The God Delusion and in many ways I prefer it. Mainly because he's just an excellent science writer and in some of the essays he communicates evolution in quite a profound way.

Incidentally, I'd recommend Sagans 'Demon Haunted World' also. If you haven't already read it. It's another 'Must read'.

[- - e r i k - -]

Originally Posted by Graviton 

I read A Devils Chaplain before The God Delusion and in many ways I prefer it. Mainly because he's just an excellent science writer and in some of the essays he communicates evolution in quite a profound way.

So did I. Incidentally, The God Delusion came across as a bit laborious for me as he was indeed preaching to the choir. Still a good read I would recommend to anyone though.

Originally Posted by Graviton 

Incidentally, I'd recommend Sagans 'Demon Haunted World' also. If you haven't already read it. It's another 'Must read'.

Oh, believe me. It's on my "to read" list. I just haven't come across it yet - as most my library or bookshop acquirements are spontaneous.

I have read the introduction somewhere though, and it really set me up for a great read later on.

[OldManMac]

Originally Posted by wallinbl 

No one really refutes that religious nuts[1] have done many terrible things. Hitchens' problem is that he seems to think that the Bible really says the things that the nuts believe. He, like the nuts, don't really understand Christianity and therefore fail to speak to it with any value. The problem isn't with Judaism or Christianity, it's with people. The fact that some people have historically co-opted Christianity in order to influence others into supporting their grab for power doesn't say anything about Christianity. It says that some people are evil and many people are suckers.

I don't quite understand why otherwise intelligent people seem so unable to separate evil people from the means they use to obtain power. Is Democracy bad because it allowed George Bush to be elected? Are diamonds bad because they help to fund genocide? Is a hammer bad because I can use it to smash your head in?

[1] When I say "nuts", that includes many popes, leaders, etc.

I don't quite understand how otherwise intelligent people seem so unable to separate fantasy from reality. Seeing as how people are what we have to deal with, maybe it's time to start educating them to stop believing in fantasy. There is indeed something wrong with Christianity; it's based on fantasy, and that unfortunately apparently causes some to do great harm in its name.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by - - e r i k - - 

That brings me to an appropriate quote:

"Without [religion] you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, it takes religion.' - Physicist and Nobel prizewinner Stephen Weinberg

I think we should at least keep this in the context of books or we're in the wrong forum.

[Tiresias]

Originally Posted by Ozmodiar 

I just finished reading A Short History of Nearly Everything, and before that Possible Side Effects.

What do you make of this (customer) review?

I read an interview with Bryson in New Scientist not long ago in which he admitted that he really didn't understand a lot of what all these scientists were telling him, and unfortunately that's all too clear in reading this book. As a consequence Bryson gives you a good deal of infomation peppered with some really horrid misunderstandings and errors. ... All too often we get the beginning of an explanation that trails off into a "and anyways it's all very complicated but it's it just fascinating" sort of gee-whiz summary. One suspect that we've just reached the point where Bryson has either lost the thread of understanding or perhaps just decided that he doesn't care to understand something any further.

[Tiresias]

Originally Posted by - - e r i k - - 

What Is Your Dangerous Idea?

This looks interesting.

[Graviton]

Originally Posted by Tiresias 

What do you make of this (customer) review?

It's a light hearted look at the history of science, by a layman, not an in-depth explanation of precisely how the universe works. It covers a lot of science ground, but It's more about how we have come to know certain things, how they were discovered, and it's explained in an amusing way to get you inspired. It's not supposed to replace a genuine science textbook.

He's a witty writer and maybe the reviewer just didn't get that.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by Randman 

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell is a great read. Fascinating stuff.

Seconded...I really liked that book.

[His Dudeness]

I love Navy history and one the best books I've read about that was "...To Shing Sea" by Stephen Howarth. Fantastic book.

[MindFad]

Another for The God Delusion.

Also:

[Sörnäinen]

Douglas Adams: Last Chance to see

Well, and this one is great, but it has a minor problem:
People who are interested in Violence Prevention for Schools will find a lot of interesting facts. The sad thing: it´s German.

[- - e r i k - -]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

I think we should at least keep this in the context of books or we're in the wrong forum.

That was indeed a quote from one of the books mentioned

[SpaceMonkey]

Paul Hoffman, The Man Who Loved Only Numbers
Ernesto Che Guevara, The Motorcycle Diaries

[- - e r i k - -]

Originally Posted by Sörnäinen 

Douglas Adams: Last Chance to see

Seconded

[goMac]

Amazon.com: The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World: Books: A. J. Jacobs

[- - e r i k - -]

Originally Posted by goMac 

Amazon.com: The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World: Books: A. J. Jacobs

Dang. I was just reading about this the other day.

Definitely on my to-read list.

[k squared]

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan and for a current affairs/foreign policy book: The Pentagon's New Map by Thomas Barnett

[moonmonkey]

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

My favorate.

[abe]

Originally Posted by OldManMac 

I don't quite understand how otherwise intelligent people seem so unable to separate fantasy from reality. Seeing as how people are what we have to deal with, maybe it's time to start educating them to stop believing in fantasy. There is indeed something wrong with Christianity; it's based on fantasy, and that unfortunately apparently causes some to do great harm in its name.

I really don't think you want to go there, old man.

[lpkmckenna]

Originally Posted by Graviton 

No Logo by Naomi Cline

I flipped thru it in the book store. When I saw her pointlessly attack Apple, I decided not to buy. Not because she attacked Apple, but because she attacked them without understanding any of the key issues. I concluded the book was probably loaded with similar, pointless attacks.

Some non-fiction I enjoyed:
1001 Things Everyone Should Know About the Universe.
Shake Hands With The Devil
Getting Things Done
The Power of Rational Thinking

[SpaceMonkey]

(But only for the cover)

(And I suspect it is mostly fiction)

[Ozmodiar]

Originally Posted by Tiresias 

What do you make of this (customer) review?

Graviton is right.

If you've read any Bryson before (I also recommend I'm a Stranger Here Myself), you know he is indeed witty and his distinctive voice makes even the boring stuff seem interesting. The best parts of the book are the detailed histories he gives of the scientists who figured everything out, and how they (often times accidentally) did it.

I highly recommend it. There were several times when I actually laughed out loud, and when I finished it I was only disappointed because I wanted more.

[Graviton]

Originally Posted by lpkmckenna 

I flipped thru it in the book store. When I saw her pointlessly attack Apple, I decided not to buy. Not because she attacked Apple, but because she attacked them without understanding any of the key issues. I concluded the book was probably loaded with similar, pointless attacks.

I thought her comments were quite valid and I think since the book was written she would have a lot more to say about Apple (and other brands that have become semi-religious icons for some people).

But, like you said, you only flipped though it. I'm sure if you just flipped through 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra' then that would seem equally pointless as well.

[Ozmodiar]

I picked up The World Without Us yesterday. Pretty good so far.

[loki74]

I think Ron Fedkiw's paper's are fun. The parts I can understand anyway.
http://graphics.stanford.edu/~fedkiw/

But I guess that's probably too cut and dry and not philosophical enough for this thread so I'll toss this out too:
C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity.

[Tiresias]

Originally Posted by Ozmodiar 

I picked up The World Without Us yesterday. Pretty good so far.

I'm going to order that.

[memento]

Amazon.com: Fingerprints of the Gods: Books: Graham Hancock

This book is more of a launching point for researching civilizations that existed "prehistory". It covers many topics with the focus being that there are many assumptions in current science that are not based on facts and that hinders us from researching beyond that.

[RobOnTheCape]

Not earth shattering, but I think nonetheless important, is a book by Russ Parsons, entitled "How To Pick A Peach". Entertaining, enlightening, and important in that the author explains to the reader how our country has gone from eating foods grown at local farms to the point where some fruits and veggies are grown almost exclusivily in California, and have been modified through the years with the emphasis on surviving the cross country trip rather than taste, thus resulting in bland food which many just assume is the way things ought to taste. He offers insight into what to look for in choosing foods, how to store them, and recipes as well.

Since reading the book I have certainly appreciated biting into a "Gold Bud" brand peach over any peach offered at the local supermarket. The appreciation is not only the terrific taste, but perhaps moreover, what it takes to get great tasting fruit to the local farmstands, and the thin margins these farmers live by.