I second The Blind Watchmaker. I also like The God Delusion, and think it’s an important book.
I disagree with Stephen Jay Gould and Bill Bryson. Gould is too populistic for my tastes, and is wrong too often. (species selection, no basis for IQ, etc.) Bryson is just plain misinformed.
Seconded. Shadows is wonderful, and if she’s really looking for one of the people who brought the subject into the public interest, I would recommend anything by Sagan. I’m a bit surprised nobody else has mentioned Sagan, or ‘Cosmos’ in particular. The book is wonderful, and I consider the remastered television series from 1980 on to one of the best additions to my DVD collection. Well worth the investment if you’ve got even a passing interest in what’s out there beyond us. Sagan had a wonderful vision of our place in the universe, and an incredible talent for sharing it with the world.
FWIW, I think the ‘Universe’ series on History Channel sucked. Watch Cosmos and you’ll see where they took their inspiration. ‘The Universe’ tries hard to be like Cosmos, though outside of delivering a few new theories on given subjects, it fails miserably in terms of connecting with the viewer spiritually. I knew they were trying to appeal to some sort of demographic when they were comparing the Earth’s evolution to the rigors of a Porsche going around a track. I mean, I love cars and racing and all that, but please … what is this, Spike TV? :rolleyes:
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Stranger,
i have a huge crush on anything to do with science in general, and quantum mechanics in specific, and now, based on all your recommendations in this thread, i think you are my new favorite person in the whole wide world.
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i can second the recomendation for quantum: a guide to the complex
love
yams!!
“A Brief History of Time” is the right one, I read it before