I usually read fiction as an escape from the long journeys to work, but having just finished my latest Tom Clancy book, I feel I would like to try reading something a bit more rewarding and possibly even learn something!
Can anyone recommend a book to expand my horizons somewhat? Perhaps something on a new theory or exploring what we know of a long forgotten people? I’m after something factual or at least informative. Maybe even something regarding politics, like an unbiased explanation and history of the middle-east troubles?
I was originally thinking something along the lines of Darwin’s “The Origin of Species”, but on second thoughts I feel I may get more from a more modern book. I am interested in history and pretty much anything to do with science, but I would like to try something that may make me think without being too in-depth for a complete novice to comprehend.
What have others on the board enjoyed? I realise I’m not giving people much to go on here, but any suggestions would be appreciated.
An oft-suggested one is Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel. Science, history, and the general question of “How come the Spanish invaded the Aztecs and not vice versa?”
I’d also recommend Carl Sagan’s The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, not only to you, but to everyone on the Straight Dope. Fighting ignorance, and all.
If you haven’t read Sun Tzu’s Art of War, then you need to remedy this. It’s NOT a modern book, but it has some very basic truths in it, which you can apply to all sorts of situations, not just conventional warfare.
Many people re-read this book periodically. You will find new ways of looking and thinking about things.
“A People’s History of the United States” by Howard Zinn - a very rewarding, mind-opening read. You asked for something about history’s “long forgotten people” - this will certainly fulfill that need!
I’ve looked up reviews on each of your suggestions and I have to say they all look great! I’m incredibly impressed that people knew the kind of book I was looking for better than I did!
I’m going to print out a list of all the suggestions and read them one by one. I will start with the first book on the list I find when I visit the book store this afternoon.
If you thought about Origin of Species but would rather read a more modern book, I highly recommend “Almost like a whale” by Steve Jones. It’s a modern book on evolution that follows “Origin’s” structure. Very readable. Also, “Parasite Rex” by Carl Zimmer. An excellent read, full of interesting and occasionally stomach-churning facts like - there are more species of tapeworm than there are of mammals.
For history from different angles, try “The Wealth & Poverty of Nations” by David Landes and/or “The Rise and Fall of Great Powers” by Paul Kennedy.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. The author’s name escapes me, but I trust a more…ahem…enlightened Doper will remember it for me.
The title alone is enough reason to buy it. Seriously, though, it’s a great running thread through the book is on problem-solving and expanding your mind.
Well, I’ve just returned from the bookstore. The first title I saw that’s been mentioned here was Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, so I duly bought it. On my way to the till, however, I managed to literally (pun, pun!) fall over a large pile of what turned out to be Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel. After resisting the embarrassed urge to study it by booting the pile across the room, I decided it was fate and bought that too!
Thanks for you suggestions everyone, I intend to read many of the books mentioned here. These two should keep me busy for a couple of weeks though!
City of God, by E.L. Doctorow. It is a novel, but it is very thought-provoking and was the best book I’ve ever read concerning religion. I loved it, but it is very heavy at times. Read the reviews on Amazon.com. They run hot and cold.
The Lexus and the Olive Tree, by Thomas Friedman. It’s about various facets of globalization. I stayed up all night on the plane to London reading it, and haven’t regretted a moment.
The Lexus and the Olive Tree, by Thomas Friedman. It’s about various facets of globalization. I stayed up all night on the plane to London reading it, and haven’t regretted a moment.
For stateside Dopers reading this thread, I’ll mention that Jones’ Almost Like a Whale was titled Darwin’s Ghost: The Origin of Species Updated in the U.S. edition. And I heartily second the recommendation. Also, while I haven’t read Zimmer’s Parasite Rex, his *At the Water’s Edge: Fish With Fingers, Whales With Legs, and How Life Came Ashore but Then Went Back to Sea * is very good, and makes an excellent companion to another of my favorite books on evolution, The Beak of the Finch, by Jonathan Weiner (though Beak seems to be out of print in the UK).
For short, highly readable introductions to a wide range of topics in the sciences, it’s hard to do much better than the titles in the Science Masters series put together by John Brockman. The roster of authors includes Richard Dawkins, William Calvin, Steven J. Gould, Daniel Dennett, Richard Leakey, Paul Davies, Jared Diamond, and Daniel J. Hillis (plus about that many more). When you run out of stuff there, you won’t find a much better resource for developing your reading list than neuroscientist William Calvin’s Bookshelf page; Calvin’s interests are wide-ranging, and nearly every important book in any of those areas is included in his list. Elsewhere on his site, you’ll find the full texts of most of his books (which are themselves uniformly excellent, though some of the more technical titles are rather heavy going for a layman like myself).
And for thoroughly engrossing fiction from which you’ll learn a lot about early nineteenth-century history, culture, and science while being completely taken in with the characters and laughing out loud often, there’s always Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin novels. Again, William Calvin anticipates me with his Patrick O’Brian appreciation page, which gives more of the flavor of O’Brian’s novels than I could hope to do.
This is the story of the search to find out why the dinosaurs disappeared around 65 million years ago. It’s well written and very readable. It was also made into a documentary and aired last year. Will try to find a link for that
Longitude. Again, science and history. This is the story of the development of a clock that would work accurately at sea in order for longitude to be determined. Sounds boring ? Actually it’s not. There is a paperback version if you don’t want to go to the expense of the hardback version which contains lots of pictures.
One that I have mentioned in another thread is Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee an account of the systematic destruction of the American Indian. Painful to read but difficult to put down.
For stateside Dopers reading this thread, I’ll mention that Jones’ Almost Like a Whale was titled Darwin’s Ghost: The Origin of Species Updated in the U.S. edition. And I heartily second the recommendation. Also, while I haven’t read Zimmer’s Parasite Rex, his *At the Water’s Edge: Fish With Fingers, Whales With Legs, and How Life Came Ashore but Then Went Back to Sea * is very good, and makes an excellent companion to another of my favorite books on evolution, The Beak of the Finch, by Jonathan Weiner (though Beak seems to be out of print in the UK).
For short, highly readable introductions to a wide range of topics in the sciences, it’s hard to do much better than the titles in the Science Masters series put together by John Brockman. The roster of authors includes Richard Dawkins, William Calvin, Steven J. Gould, Daniel Dennett, Richard Leakey, Paul Davies, Jared Diamond, and Daniel J. Hillis (plus about that many more). When you run out of stuff there, you won’t find a much better resource for developing your reading list than neuroscientist William Calvin’s Bookshelf page; Calvin’s interests are wide-ranging, and nearly every important book in any of those areas is included in his list. Elsewhere on his site, you’ll find the full texts of most of his books (which are themselves uniformly excellent, though some of the more technical titles are rather heavy going for a layman like myself).
And for thoroughly engrossing fiction from which you’ll learn a lot about early nineteenth-century history, culture, and science while being completely taken in with the characters and laughing out loud often, there’s always Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin novels. Again, William Calvin anticipates me with his Patrick O’Brian appreciation page, which gives more of the flavor of O’Brian’s novels than I could hope to do.
