Recomend some 'realistic' science fiction books

[Typo_Knig]

@BrainGlutton

Even better (for the OP’s stated fields of interest): Tomorrow Now: Envisioning the Next 50 Years.

Oooh - thanks! Added to my wish list.

[Chronos]

Quoth md2000:

Beyond This Horizon, 1948 (initially serialized in 1942, and at that time credited to Anson MacDonald)
…
Time for the Stars, 1956 *
…
Methuselah’s Children, 1958 (originally a serialized short story in 1941)
…
Stranger in a Strange Land, 1961 – Hugo Award, 1962 [5], (republished at the original greater length in 1991)
…
Glory Road, 1963—Hugo Award nominee, 1964 [6]
…
The Robots of Dawn (1983), ISBN 0-553-29949-2 (third Elijah Baley SF-crime novel)
Robots and Empire (1985) ISBN 978-0-586-06200-5 (sequel to the Elijah Baley trilogy)
…
Pebble in the Sky (1950), ISBN 0-553-29342-7
The Stars, Like Dust (1951), ISBN 0-553-29343-5
…
Foundation and Empire (1952), ISBN 0-553-29337-0
Second Foundation (1953), ISBN 0-553-29336-2
…
Niven and Pournelle - Most of Nivens known space stuff - a bit smarmy, but a good read. The one I would recommend is “A Gift From Earth”;

All of these contain telepathy or other magic.

[SuntanTigerTamer]

Do the Hyperion book by Dan Simmons not count, somehow, or did I miss their mention? As someone who doesn’t read a lot of sci-fi, I fell completely in love with every one of Simmon’s Hyperion books, as well as Haldeman’s Forever War, Forever Peace, and Forever Free.

I couldn’t recommend all of them enough.

[Damfino]

@Chronos

Quoth md2000:All of these contain telepathy or other magic.

Good catch. I thought you were wrong about The Stars, Like Dust until I remembered the Visi-Sonor.

[foolscap]

Almost any Sector General stories by Doc White.

[Lok]

Lots of telepathy in the Sector General universe. Lots of fun stories though.