# X-mas gift tips: Books about trivia, language, science etc. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 13, 2003, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-mas-gift-tips-books-about-trivia-language-science-etc/218815 "2003-12-13T20:19:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gentle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eb8c5e/32.png) [@gentle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gentle)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-mas-gift-tips-books-about-trivia-language-science-etc/218815/1 "2003-12-13T20:19:16Z")
My father enjoys interesting non-fiction books that are a little off-beat and different. Tips? Bill Bryson, for example, is his favourite author in this genre. He also found “How to Build a Time Machine” by Paul Davies last year interesting, though a little too technical. The Straight Dope and Word Detective books would have been excellent candidates if they were in print and available in time for Christmas. But they aren’t. “The Order of Things” by Barbara Ann Kipfer also looks like something he would appreciate, but again it’s not something [Amazon.co.uk](http://Amazon.co.uk) would ship in time. Tips? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-mas-gift-tips-books-about-trivia-language-science-etc/218815/2 "2003-12-13T20:49:03Z")
I’m another person who enjoys books about language – the evolution thereof especially. How and why did the early hominids start communicating through spoken language. In [this book](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0674363361/qid=1071347762/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-3646478-9417416?v=glance&s=books), Robin Dunbar argues that it started as gossip, as something to take the place of actual physical primate grooming as groups got larger. Fascinating, and not too technical. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-mas-gift-tips-books-about-trivia-language-science-etc/218815/3 "2003-12-13T20:54:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gentle \* > \*\* > The Straight Dope and Word Detective books would have been excellent candidates if they were in print and available in time for Christmas. But they aren’t. > \*\* Hello? [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) has several volumes of The Straight Dope available listed “usually ships within 24 hours.” Should be there in time for Xmas if you order in the next few days. ---
**Author:** ![shannablu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8baadc/32.png) [@shannablu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shannablu)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-mas-gift-tips-books-about-trivia-language-science-etc/218815/4 "2003-12-13T20:54:45Z")
I would have to recommend the “Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader” series. It’s full of crazy, interesting facts that you would never think of. I have given my SO several of them and we both enjoy them a lot. They are always good for a laugh anyway. ---
**Author:** ![gentle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eb8c5e/32.png) [@gentle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gentle)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-mas-gift-tips-books-about-trivia-language-science-etc/218815/5 "2003-12-13T21:03:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by voguevixen \* > \*\*Hello? [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) has several volumes of The Straight Dope available listed “usually ships within 24 hours.” Should be there in time for Xmas if you order in the next few days. \*\* Hello. I am in Europe. This is the Internet, please leave your US-centric mindset at the door. I don’t trust Amazon US to ship anything to me by Christmas, and I certainly don’t want (or can afford) to pay for expedited/priority shipping. In fact, [it’s too late](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/4114681) for me to order from Amazon US. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-mas-gift-tips-books-about-trivia-language-science-etc/218815/6 "2003-12-13T22:09:10Z")
No need to be snippy about it. Amazon is hardly limited to the US. Fortunately, [Amazon UK](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/026-0005103-1263616) has Straight Dope books in stock as well. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-mas-gift-tips-books-about-trivia-language-science-etc/218815/7 "2003-12-13T22:24:32Z")
My list has a 2 book gift set on it. _The Evolution of Useful Things_ and _To Engineer is Human_ they are in the Signals catalog (public television) .They have overnight delivery the phone # is 800.669.9696 the web site is [http://signals.com](http://signals.com) ---
**Author:** ![Tanaqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Tanaqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanaqui)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2003, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-mas-gift-tips-books-about-trivia-language-science-etc/218815/8 "2003-12-14T01:39:58Z")
[“The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language”](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0716744732/104-9731484-4619100?v=glance) by John McWhorter was absolutely fascinating. He’s one of those science authors who is a genuinely good writer, but also a good scientist. It was an very interesting read. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2003, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-mas-gift-tips-books-about-trivia-language-science-etc/218815/9 "2003-12-14T01:50:14Z")
Thanks for TCB, big **E**. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kellner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c2a13f/32.png) [@kellner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellner)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2003, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-mas-gift-tips-books-about-trivia-language-science-etc/218815/10 "2003-12-14T01:54:55Z")
You mentioned language. As a student of computational linguistics I have to recommend _The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language_. by David Crystal. This book covers many aspect of human language and linguitics. The title may sound intimidating but this book is really entertaining and requires no prior knowledge. I got my copy from German Amazon (in English) but I have seen it here in several places. So it should be possible to find it outside the UK. Btw. there is a different book called _The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the **English** Language_ by the same author, but I know nothing about that one. ---
**Author:** ![gentle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eb8c5e/32.png) [@gentle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gentle)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2003, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-mas-gift-tips-books-about-trivia-language-science-etc/218815/11 "2003-12-14T17:36:10Z")
Thanks, people. I will check these out. Are there any authors that write in the style of Bill Bryson’s travel books? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2003, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-mas-gift-tips-books-about-trivia-language-science-etc/218815/12 "2003-12-14T17:56:08Z")
Bill Bryson has written some language books, but they’re not particularly reliable, factually speaking. I know there have been threads on them fairly regularly. The main one is “Made in America,” which is about American English. ---
**Author:** ![gentle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eb8c5e/32.png) [@gentle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gentle)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2003, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-mas-gift-tips-books-about-trivia-language-science-etc/218815/13 "2003-12-14T17:58:21Z")
For the record, we have all of Bryson’s books, so I am not asking about them. (And yes, his books on language are full of factual errors.) ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2003, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-mas-gift-tips-books-about-trivia-language-science-etc/218815/14 "2003-12-14T21:43:00Z")
There was a great review of a book recommended by _The Economist_ in the most recent issue, available on [Amazon.uk](http://Amazon.uk)…I’d order one myself, but the shipping to the U.S. would be more expensive than the book, and somehow that just seems wrong… Anyway, it’s a humor book on the dangers of bad punctuation, and it’s titled _Eats, Shoots and Leaves._ I’d type out the review, but I can’t fnd my copy of the magazine right now. You can find it online at [www.economist.com](http://www.economist.com). If you buy it, tell me how it is! Maybe I will spring for the postal charges… ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-mas-gift-tips-books-about-trivia-language-science-etc/218815/15 "2003-12-15T00:16:42Z")
One Christmas, my mother asked what I wanted for Christmas. I told her to get me the then new book Tolkien’s Bestiary. On Christmas day, she told me of the look on the booksellers’ face after she had asked them for that new book on beastiality. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-mas-gift-tips-books-about-trivia-language-science-etc/218815/16 "2003-12-15T01:39:43Z")
The _American Slang, 2nd Edition_ by Robert Chapman is a dogeared favorite of mine. Comprehensive, too. Ditto for the _Oxford Essential Dictionary of Foreign Terms in English_ Any of the _Howdunit_ series of writer’s reference books, like _Scene of the Crime; Cause of Death; Body Trauma,_ etc. are nice. Lots’o’gory details, too. _Letters From Hell_ is a collection of _all_ the letters claiming to be from Jack the Ripper. All of the “major” ones are photographed, in full color slides. Most of the several dozen _other_ letters (!), ones that were received up until 1949 (!!) are transcribed. _Case Closed_ is, from what I hear, a fairly exhaustive study of the Kennedy assassination…that still comes to the conclusion that Oswald acted alone.