I have an insatiable need to learn new things. Has anyone read any mind-blowingly good non-fiction works lately? I need some summer reading ideas, and I trust my fellow Dopers to come through on this. Thanks!
Non-fiction covers a huge range of books. Are there any subject areas you are particularly interested in?
Oops. Sorry. I guess I should added a few preferences. Let’s see…well, I guess I could make a list of some topics I enjoy.
-Biological and Medical Science
-Linguistics
-Sociology and Social Commentary
-Cultural Studies
-Theology
-History
There’s a lot more, of course, but this is just off the top of my head. A great book I just finished was London: A Biography by Peter Ackroyd. I can’t praise or recommend this book enough. Maybe this could give you just a vague idea of my tates? Thanks.
For Theology I would recommend Karen Armstrong’s erudite A History of God. As a History suggestion I am currently enjoying 1688: A Global History by John E Wills. For Biology the books of Richard Dawkins and the late Stephen Jay Gould are always good, as is Darwin’s Dangerous Idea by Daniel C Dennett.
Hello,
I would recommend a book I recently read called “Skull Wars” by David Hurst Thomas. It’s an interesting read - about the history of archaeology in America, and specifically about the excavation of Native American culture over the past decades. I liked it.
i also just read “Guns, Germs and Steel” by Jared Diamond which was fantastic! It covers human evolution from the apes into our present culture - and it’s all understandable and interesting.
Good luck!
nefertari
For History I would recommend Hans Delbruck. He wrote some interesting books on military-political history. Also Dreadnought by Robert K. Massie is a good book about the years leading up to World War I and the naval arms race between Britain and Germany.
Well, I reccommend the ‘Science of Discworld’ books (2 of them) byt Terry Pratchett and two other guys (yes, I’m too lazy to look it up). They both cover fairly big scientific issues, interspersed with a discworld story. The first book covers big bang theory and evolution, the second is more sociological development
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown. To quote from the link “…account of the systematic destruction of the American Indian…”
I found this book both disturbing and compelling.
An oldie but a goodie “And The Band Played On” Randy Shilts book about AIDS. Its history, its culture, and its biology all in one book.
Ifyou are ambitious you can read Shelby Foote’s Civil War: A Narrative. It is three voumes comprising about 3,000 pages, but it is very readable.
Climbing Mount Improbable by Richard Dawkins is an interesting book on evolution, about how complicated structures (like te eye) can evolve from evolutionary means.
Dancing at the Edge of the World, Ursula K. LeGuin. An interesting, eclectic collection of essays on women’s issues, writing, and travel.
Celebrate the Solstice: Honoring the Earth’s Seasonal Rhythms through Festival and Ceremony, Richard Heinberg. Survey of past/present solstice and solstice-derived celebrations around the world.
Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain, Maria Rosa Menocal. Focusses primarily on Muslim Spain (al-Andalus) in the medieval period through a series of cultural topics and highlights.
For a political and cultural survey of Christian and Muslim Spain, try The Medieval Spains by Bernard F. Reilly. Scholarly but still accessible to the general reader.
Creations of Fire: The Lively History of Chemistry from Alchemy to the Atomic Age, Cathy Cobb and Harold Goldwhite. Chronicles the development of chemistry and related disciplines within physics and medicine from ancient to modern times; accessible to non-scientists. The kind of history we should have had in chemistry class but didn’t.
Galileo’s Daughter, Dava Sobel. A study of Galileo drawn from letters he exchanged with his daughter).
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond: Award winning anthropologist tries to determine the reasons why the Western world developed so much faster than the rest of the world.
The Age of Spirtual Machines by Ray Kurzweil: A survey of frontier sciences, A.I., nanotech, biotech, etc. Read it with a grain of salt and an open mind.
The Long Boom by Peter Schwartz: A description of the intended long term outcome of Globalization. (hint: peace and prosperity)
Travels by Michael Crichton: Famed fiction author’s autobiography of sorts. Crichton chronicles his time in medical school and his travels around the world informally but objectively investigating pseudo-sciences (Psychics, homeopathy, auras, etc.).
Evolution: Triumph of an Idea by Carl Zimmer: Companion to the PBS series. Its big, its heavy, and absurdly in-depth.
The Universe in a Nutshell by Stephen Hawking: Expansive, witty and extremely concise (if the title didn’t clue you in already) description of all things physics, with truly stunning diagrams and illustrations.
A few books I just read and ejoyed were The True Believer: Thoughts On The Nature Of Mass Movements, Eric Hoffer
Pilgrim At Tinker Creek, Annie Dillard, and [Amusing Ourselves To Death**, Neil Postman.
Constantine’s Sword by James Carroll. Excellent book on Jewish/Christian relations and how they have developed over history.
ive just finished reading two non fiction books:
“Alpha Beta - how our alphabet shaped the western world” by John Man… very interesting, easy to read and follow. how the alphabet was formed, its social ramifications etc.
“The Seven Daughters of Eve” by Bryan Sykes…a really fasinating look at the genetic history of the worlds population, BUT, the last few chapters where he gets all fantastical and creative in assigning each of these seven women personalities left a great deal to be desired. but still worth a read.
I have no idea of the veracity of these books, but I enjoyed them:
[ul][li]Made In America, Bill Bryson (not a travelogue, but a history of language in the US)[/li][li]Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser (excellent, readable and well-researched book on the fast food industry, from meatpackers to restaurant workers)[/li][li]Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain (biography of a professional chef, plus tips on cooking)[/li][li]The English, Jeremy Paxman (cultural study of the English in an attempt to define an English national identity)[/li][li]Them (Adventures With Extremists), Jon Ronson (disturbing but hilarious interviews with racists, neo-Nazis and conspiracy theorists)[/li][li]Rat Pack Confidential, Shaun Levy (semi-dramatised but detailed history of the good and bad sides of Sinatra and his mates)[/li][li]A Dishonoured Society, John Follain (thorough and readable history of the rise of the Sicilian Mafia)[/li][li]Labyrinths Of Reason, William Poundstone (fun introduction to modern paradoxes)[/li][li]Stalingrad, Anthony Beevor (bestselling gritty history of the World War II battle for Stalingrad)[/li][li]Confessions Of A Cineplex Heckler, Joe Queenan (collection of entertaining movie review articles)[/li][li]The Nation’s Favourite, Simon Garfield (a fly-on-the-wall year in the life of BBC Radio One, with no-holds barred major ego interviews)[/li][li]Stick It Up Your Punter!, Chippendale & Horrie (fascinating history of Britain’s Sun newspaper, the stereotyped tabloid)[/li][li]Letters From London, Julian Barnes (collection of articles on all aspects of British life, from chess to the Lloyd’s collapse)[/li][li]Coercion, Douglas Rushkoff (readable if overblown account of ‘coercive’ marketing and advertising techniques)[/li][li]The Hidden Persuaders, Vance Packard (aging and hysterical, but a bible on the new ‘black art’ of advertising)[/li][li]The Nudist On The Late Shift, Po Bronson (different perspectives on the West Coast internet boom, from a failed IPO to Hotmail’s inventor)[/li][li]Accidental Empires, Robert Cringely (entertaining history of the rise of Microsoft and other IT giants)[/li][li]The Manual, Cauty & Drummond (cult handbook on how to have a guaranteed number one chart hit, by The KLF)[/li][li]Holding The Key, Ted Conover (a year in the life of a US prison guard - possibly released under a different title in the US)[/li][li]High Concept, Charles Fleming (non-holds barred biography of Don Simpson [of Simpson & Bruckheimer fame])[/li][li]Japanese Rules, Sebastian Moffett (history of soccer in Japan and the cultural problems in building a professional league)[/li][li]Left Foot In The Grave, Garry Nelson (the unglamourous end of professional sport - a diary of a season in the life of Britain’s worst professional soccer club)[/li]The Alan Clark Diaries, Alan Clark (brilliant sleazy diary of a British government minister in Thatcher’s era)[/ul]
The Art of Possibility - Ben and Roz Zandler, this is an inspiring story of these two musicians and consultants. Very interesting and uplifting.
Stewardship - Peter Block, this describes the way the corporate world should operate. Discusses leadership issues.
I am reading At The Hands of Persons Unknown - Philip Dray. This is an account of lynching in America. It is interesting and alarming. I had no idea how acceptable this practice was. Thousands and thousands of people were lynched between 1870 and WWII. People actually collected souvenirs…body parts. Hard to imagine that people were capable of such vileness.
The Art of Possibility - Ben and Roz Zandler, this is an inspiring story of these two musicians and consultants. Very interesting and uplifting.
Stewardship - Peter Block, this describes the way the corporate world should operate. Discusses leadership issues.
I am reading At The Hands of Persons Unknown - Philip Dray. This is an account of lynching in America. It is interesting and alarming. I had no idea how acceptable this practice was. Thousands and thousands of people were lynched between 1870 and WWII. People actually collected souvenirs…body parts. Hard to imagine that people were capable of such vileness.
“There Are No Children Here” by Johnathon Kozol is also an oldie/goodie.
Just finished Seabiscuit, which has been previously raved about on these boards.
Not really even close to the interests you list, but well worth reading:
Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! Confessions of a Curious Character, and The Pleasure of Finding Things Out, both by Richard P. Feynman. He was a brilliant theoretical physicist and a very funny man.
Closer to what you mention, and entertaining accounts by those involved, but probably long out of print:
Contemporaries of Marco Polo, Manuel Komroff (Ed.) (1989) (Accounts by other travellers who went to China around the same time.)
They Saw it Happen 1689-1897, by T. Charles-Edwards and B. Richardson (1958) (England only.)
Eyewitness to History, John Carey (Ed.) (1987) (Worldwide, 430 BC to 1986.)