Science ebook recommendations

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by eeenmachine

Didn't see this one mentioned, one of my favorite books of all time:
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

http://www.amazon.com/Short-History-...0039400&sr=1-3

Yep that was mentioned earlier. Looks like a good one.

[seagull]

Has anyone here read The Quantum Zoo/Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You by Marcus Chown? Looks interesting and I'm looking for a good title on quantum mechanics.

[zerospinboson]

http://www.amazon.com/Darwins-Lost-W...tag=inkmesh-20

It greatly puzzled Darwin that the most ancient rocks, those dating before the Cambrian period, seemed to be barren of fossils when he would expect them to be teeming with life. Decades of work by modern paleontologists have indeed brought us amazing fossils from far beyond the Cambrian, from the depths of the Precambrian. Yet hidden in these depths is a great mystery--something happened around the Cambrian to dramatically speed up evolution and produce many of the early forms of animals we know today--and scientists don't really know what provided that spark.
In this vibrantly written book, Martin Brasier, a leading paleontologist working on early life, takes us into the deep, dark ages of the Precambrian to explore Darwin's Lost World. Brasier is a master storyteller. As he explains what we now know of the strange creatures of these truly ancient times--540 million years ago--he takes readers to many far flung places around the globe, interweaving an engaging account of cutting-edge science with colorful and amusing anecdotes from his expeditions to Siberia, Outer Mongolia, and other remote places. As he shows, decoding the evidence in these ancient rocks--piecing together the puzzle of the Cambrian Explosion--is very challenging work. What they have discovered is that, just at the beginning of the Cambrian period, animals (mostly worms) began burrowing into the mud. Why they suddenly began burrowing, and how this might have changed the atmosphere, may be important clues to the mystery. Brasier gives his own take on the emerging answers, as one of the leading players in the field.
A richly readable account of far-flung expeditions and leading-edge science, Darwin's Lost World is a must-have book for all natural history buffs.

[seagull]

Oh! Almost forgot, this is without a doubt one of the best science books I've ever read, it was a surprise pageturner!
Microcosm: E. coli and the New Science of Life by Carl Zimmer

[ardeegee]

Any Zimmer is good, but not all are available as ebooks. I see that Parasite Rex is, though:

http://www.amazon.com/Parasite-Rex-B...dp/074320011X/

In it, you can meet the tongue-eater.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/lo...-tongue-eater/

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/lo...reams-forever/

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by seagull

Has anyone here read The Quantum Zoo/Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You by Marcus Chown? Looks interesting and I'm looking for a good title on quantum mechanics.

I've read 'Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You' (have it in ePub version for my 505).

I like 'accessible to the layman' science books and this was a pretty good one IMHO - well written without too much jargon, but enough 'hard science' to make it slightly challenging and therefore, for me, interesting.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by ardeegee

Any Zimmer is good, but not all are available as ebooks. ...

[kennyc]

Just got this email from Amazon so thought I'd post the link for those that didn't

Amazon's selection of the Top 10 Science books of 2009:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.htm...cId=1000446551

[ardeegee]

This deserved a bump (if I do say so myself) so I'll mention a book I just finished:

http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/b59275/?si=0

This is one I was looking at during the Fictionwise sale of last month, but even with discounts the price was nothing like competitive with the 1 cent plus shipping for some used hardbacks on Amazon, so I bought one of those (the first deadtreer I've read since getting my PRS-300 back in September):

http://www.amazon.com/Grave-Secrets-...dp/1426203845/

[kennyc]

Thanks for the bump!

[prodygi]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

In addition to the books that have been posted here, I'd like to recommend the following websites:

Nature
http://www.nature.com/nature/index.html

This, the BMOC of them all, is of limited use to laypersons like me because so many of it's best features are subscription-only, and subscribing to Nature is not cheap! ($199.00 per year for USA residents.)

The fact that all articles in Nature are peer-reviewed sets it apart from most other sites.

The following are all available as calibre newsfeeds for your e-reader:

Discover
http://discovermagazine.com/

New Scientist
http://www.newscientist.com/news.ns

This is one of my favorite sites. Rarely does a week go by that I haven't visited this site at least once.

ScienceDaily
http://www.sciencedaily.com/

There's an article on today's newspage about how hardening of the arteries has been detected in 3,500 years old Egyptian mummies, which doesn't surprise me. When you're that old, you're bound to have a few health problems!

ScienceNews
http://www.sciencenews.org/

Scientific American
http://www.sciam.com/

I would recommend "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson. I just finished reading it and thought it was very good.

But I have a question. I have a Sony PRS-505. How do I get newsfeeds from the sites listed above onto my reader? Could someone please tell me? Thanks

[bigtymer]

I like to read physics and some of my favorites are Hyperspace from Michio Kaku, The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos both from Brian Greene.
For those more inclined to biology On the Origin of Species is surprisingly easy to read.

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by bigtymer

I like to read physics and some of my favorites are Hyperspace from Michio Kaku, The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos both from Brian Greene.
For those more inclined to biology On the Origin of Species is surprisingly easy to read.

I have not read Fabric though I loved his other...a favourite. How does it compare?

Cheers,
Marc

[kennyc]

I don't think I can ever read anything by Michio Kaku again. BBC America has him on frequently as a commenter on anything even resembling physics and he is so DRAMATIC and ROBOTIC-LECTURE-STAGE-TALKING that I just can't take him seriously any more.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by bigtymer

I like to read physics and some of my favorites are Hyperspace from Michio Kaku, The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos both from Brian Greene.
For those more inclined to biology On the Origin of Species is surprisingly easy to read.

Originally Posted by montsnmags

I have not read Fabric though I loved his other...a favourite. How does it compare?

Cheers,
Marc

Originally Posted by kennyc

I don't think I can ever read anything by Michio Kaku again. BBC America has him on frequently as a commenter on anything even resembling physics and he is so DRAMATIC and ROBOTIC-LECTURE-STAGE-TALKING that I just can't take him seriously any more.

Michio Kaku and Brian Greene are two of my favorite science authors. Kenny, I don't recall if I've seen Kaku on TV. For all I know he may indeed come across as some sort of mechanical dramatist in person, but he sure has a flowing and engaging writing style.

Speaking of TV, did anyone see The Elegant Universe? I thought it was great, although it has to be kept in mind while watching it that string theory, however elegant, is still in the realm of theoretical speculation.