10 popular science books to read this winter
We have already discussed what to read this autumn and it is high time to share a few advices on what to read in winter. The top rated science fiction books for your consideration!
How old is the Universe? How did life on Earth appear? How will the cars look like in the future? Popular science books from this selection will give you the answers to these questions and help you become a more knowledgeable person.
1. “The origin of life. From the nebula to the cell” by Mikhail Nikitin.
The book written by Mikhail Nikitin, unlike the majority of popular science books on biology is not just a collection of fun facts, but indeed a deep and detailed analysis of the latest experiments and discoveries in the field of evolution.
During the XXI century, science has learned a lot about the existence of our planet and the origin of life on Earth. This edition contains the most important information about evolution with detailed explanations, so that even readers who are not good at biology can understand it.
2. “13.8: The Quest to Find the True Age of the Universe and the Theory of Everything” by John Gribbin.
How old is the Universe? The answer to this question lies in the book of John Gribbin. It already has a spoiler in the book title – the Universe is 13.8 billion years. This is not just a random number, but a fundamental discovery, which became possible only in our days. The book explains in detail what this discovery gave and how it affected the science. It is a perfect book for people who are interested in space and want to know more about it.
3. “The Selfish Gene” by Richard Dawkins.
Richard Dawkins is known throughout the world not only as a prominent evolutionary biologist and ethologist, but also as a science popularizer, because only a few people know how to explain the most complex issues in such an elegant and comprehensible manner. His book “The Selfish Gene” is devoted to the most interesting problem: Why there are altruists, who risk and sacrifice themselves for the good of others? After all, self-preservation instinct makes a human being to think about their own safety and to save own life in the first place.
Dawkins’s hypothesis is simple, but at the same time, it allows you to take a look at the evolution in a new way. Its goal is not the preservation of a single individual, but a set of genes. Hence, the purpose of human life is to pass on your own genes to future generations.
4. “The Infographic History of the World” by Valentina D’Efilippo, James Ball.
The authors talks about everything: from the creation of the universe and the emergence of our planet to the primitive societies and the birth of civilizations, then to the most important events in the history of nations, and, finally, they give a lot of interesting facts about the modern world.
The publication is got up well; it includes colorful illustrations, charts, graphs. The book is full of interesting stories, not just boring enumeration of facts. Infographics complete the meaning and help the readers to remember the new information.
5. “Follow Your Gut: How the Ecosystem in Your Gut Determines Your Health, Mood, and More” by Rob Knight.
It is time to look at yourself from the inside: you are not only what you seem to be, but also trillions of microscopic creatures that live in your eyes, ears, and stomach. They affect our health, behavior, mood and tastes. Rob Knight, one of the leading microbiologists of our times, tells us how to learn to live in harmony with our micro flora.
6. “What We See When We Read” by Peter Mendelsund.
Peter Mendelsund is an artist who has designed many famous book covers for publishers. His own book is devoted to human perception. What does actually happen in the mind of a person when he is reading a fiction literature? How is it possible to create a unique portrait of a protagonist or an object from a short author’s descriptions and references? Author's illustrations in the book stand on an equal basis with the text. It helps to complete the overall idea of the text and launch the imagination while reading.
7. “Mysterious pages. Entertaining cryptography” by Ivan Efishov.
In order to understand cryptography, we need a deep knowledge of algebra and higher mathematics. Relax, because you won’t need this knowledge to read the book. The purpose of the book is completely different. An author wants to attract the reader’s attention by entertaining stories about ciphers, while he incidentally explains the principles of a simple encryption and decryption in a playful manner.
You will learn the mail principles of cryptography with examples from different areas of art and science, such as linguistics, literature, mathematics, astronomy, politics, music, biology and physics.
8. “Philosophy 101: From Plato and Socrates to Ethics and Metaphysics, an Essential Primer on the History of Thought” by Paul Kleinman.
The second book by Paul Kleinman about the complex sciences in simple language. First, there was a short course in psychology, which became a bestseller. At this time, Kleinman hit at philosophy. If you have not dealt with philosophy yet, you will learn the most important ideas and interesting facts about the great sophists. And you will be able to carry out a cogitative experiment. In general, this book is a real finding for a beginner who wants to pull up his level of erudition.
9. “Economics: The User's Guide” by Ha-Joon Chang.
The book offers a simple and fascinating summary of common facts and knowledge about economy. The author is not limited to the retelling of commonly known truths. Ha-Joon Chang acquaint readers with the diversity of economic theories and approaches to the analysis of the hypotheses, so that the reader can make up his own opinion about it.
Such an approach to presentation of the material helps to achieve two main objectives. First, to remind the reader that the economy, because it is not an abstract thing about boring numbers, but the basis of all human activity. Second, gain useful knowledge from this area, which can be applied practically.
10. “Enchanted Objects: Innovation, Design, and the Future of Technology” by David Rose.
Everyone is interested in the information about how technology will change the world familiar to us in the future. Of course, no one can say it for sure. But, David Rose, who is engaged in the development of devices related to the Internet for many years, decides to take up this challenge.
Based on his own experience and knowledge in the sphere of technology development, the author explains how interfaces affect the design and construction of different things. He is projecting these conclusions for the future, imagining how will look like cars, umbrellas, purses, musical instruments or jobs in a few decades.
We hope that this article will help you to learn more about difficult sciences and change your attitude to such subjects as physics, biology and technology. Just in case you need an expert help with your assignments on biology, physics or IT, keep in mind that we have a cool team of professional writers who can make any type of academic paper or lab for you.