Anybody got any suggestions for an interesting non-fiction book?

Disease Ridden

I'm interested in:

biology (in particular evolution, genetics and embryology)

politics (analysis of political ideas, political histories and biographies of very noteworthy politicians/ political thinkers)

psychology (only works that discuss the subject from an evolutionary standpoint- human nature is a topic that interests me)

physics- have only a sparse knowledge base on the subject but wold like to read a bit into it

Thanks!

Denerick

If your interested in reading political books, I'd reccomend working your way up. Start off with a couple of immensely readable political memoirs, like Nelson Mandela's 'long walk to freedom'.

randomguy

Guns Germs and Steel (Jared Diamond) is a great read, if you want to look at broad-stroke history and human development.

af_thefragile

Currently reading "Confessions of an Economic Hitman" by John Perkins.
Its a pretty small book with highly explosive content!!
Its a very interesting read. Now if you wanna believe the stuff in it or not is upto you.


For Physics you can have a go at Stephen Hawkins "A brief History on Time". Though by the time you reach somewhere around chapter 4 your mind will be completely screwed over!!

eclectichoney

randomguy wrote: »

Guns Germs and Steel (Jared Diamond) is a great read, if you want to look at broad-stroke history and human development.

That's a good one alright (was disappointed by Collapse though!)

Maybe Chaos Theory by James Gleick? very readable and not too technical.

budgemook

I think a good non fiction book is Killing Pablo by Mark Bowden which should fit into the political genre. It's about the life and death of Pablo Escobar, the famous Colombian drug baron and how the CIA made many attempts on his life.

adox

The Time Traveller by Ronald L. Mallet is a fantastic and interesting read.

Manach

Based purely on your username may I recommend
" The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague In History " by John Barry.
Good mix of medical drama and politics.

Disease Ridden

Thanks for the replies! Going to start by reading Guns, Germs and Steel!

nitrogen

OP, for Physics, try Six Easy Pieces: Fundamentals of Physics Explained by Richard P Feynman. It's a very enjoyable book. While I also love Stephen Hawkings, he's more theoretical Astrophysics.

For evolutionary psychology (I agree with you, if it doesn't deal with it from an evolutionary view, it's nonsense), I recommend How the mind works by Steven Pinker.

Guns, Germs and Steel is also fantastic.

monellia

William Manchester's biography of Winston Churchill - an enthralling read, even if you're not terribly interested in history or politics.

Denerick

monellia wrote: »

William Manchester's biography of Winston Churchill - an enthralling read, even if you're not terribly interested in history or politics.

Martin Gilbert's multi volume set is by far the best. Though by all means start with a single volume on Churchill - Gilbert gets a bit long winded after a while

DapperGent

Africa: A Biography of the Continent by John Reader is an amazing piece of work.

gaf1983

If you're interested in science and (very broad) political history, I would strongly second the recommendation for Jared Diamond's Guns Germs and Steel.

I just finisehd Dan Gardner's Risk: the Science and Politics of Fear. Highly recommend it. Uses elements of psychology and marketing theory to explain why, despite living longer and healthier lives than our ancestors, today's generation are cowering under their beds.

briano.de.rhino

all quiet on the western front - i think its slightly based on the writers experience.fantastic look into the realness of german young men during the great war.

god wants you dead. completely changing my mind.

the god delusion-richard dawkins.

musashi-eiji yoshikawa. life story of the greatest samurai ever.

not bakunin

for the politics, anything by Robert Fisk should satisfy you.

if you fancy a more crazed glance into the subject, that manic and amazing serving of Gonzo journalism "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail" by hunter s thompson might do the trick.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

http://www.amazon.com/Universal-History-Numbers-Prehistory-Invention/dp/0471393401

georges ifrah - universal history of numbers

goes into the history of well, numbers and counting systems used all around the planet. How we got the ones we have, ones we lost and general history of counting and the things we count with.

Mathematics is far superior to biology or phyiscs, so you should love this

Dozen Wicked Words

Politics: A great book or books are the Tony Benn diaries. A man with principals and different points of view from the mainstream, whether you agree with them or not, are always written in an interesting way.

The later diaries after his wife died are also touching and gives small insights into the grief people feel after losing a long term partner.

Fluffybums

Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner, some really interesting takes on social issues eg. the economics of drug dealing, the role of abortion in crime reduction.

And for all irish men and women and the offspring of the irish diaspora:
Preventing the Future by Tom Garvin.

There is also a really interesting book discussing measuring intelligence, intelligence and artificial intelligence and its future, sadly it must be in my loft. Thought provoking, if it tickles your fancy I'll dig it out of the loft (its up there because of moving and decorating).:o

Linguo

An Evil Cradling by Brian Keenan is one of my favourite books, very gripping and his writing is wonderful