Science Non-Fiction
Biology
 At the Water’s Edge: Fish with Fingers, Whales with Legs, and How Life Came Ashore but Then Went Back
to Sea
o by Carl Zimmer
o Summary: The awesome journey of life's transformation from the first microbes 4 billion years ago to
Homo sapiens today. Magnificent and bizarre, it is the story of how we got here, what we left behind, and
what we brought with us.
 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
o by Rebecca Skloot
o Summary: Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. Her cells—taken without her
knowledge in 1951—became one of the most important tools in medicine. This phenomenal New York Times
bestseller tells a riveting story of the collision between ethics, race, and medicine; of scientific discovery and
faith healing; and of a daughter consumed with questions about the mother she never knew.
 Hot Zone
o by Richard Preston
o Summary: A highly infectious, deadly virus from the central African rain forest suddenly appears in the
suburbs of Washington, D.C. The Hot Zone tells this dramatic story, giving a hair-raising account of the
appearance of rare and lethal viruses and their "crashes" into the human race.
 The Demon in the Freezer
o by Richard Preston
o Summary: In The Demon in the Freezer, Richard Preston takes us into the heart of Usamriid, the United
States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Maryland, the epicenter of
national biodefense.
 Virus X: Tracking the New Killer Plagues
o by Frank Ryan
o Summary: The author, a renowned authority on diseases, presents a radical theory about the origin of
deadly microbes in a book that takes us into the "hot zones" of today's most dangerous viral outbreaks, then
into the research labs & hospitals where doctors & scientists are risking their lives trying to control them.
 Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
o by Mary Roach
o Summary: Stiff is an oddly compelling, often hilarious exploration of the strange lives of our bodies
postmortem. In this fascinating account, Mary Roach visits the good deeds of cadavers over the centuries
and tells the engrossing story of our bodies when we are no longer with them.
 The Violinist's Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code
o by Sam Kean
o Summary: In The Violinist’s Thumb, he explores the wonders of the magical building block of life: DNA.
There are genes to explain crazy cat ladies, why other people have no fingerprints, and why some people
survive nuclear bombs.
 Mother Nature Is Trying to Kill You: A Lively Tour Through the Dark Side of the Natural World
o by Dan Riskin
o Summary: It may be a wonderful world, but as Dan Riskin, it’s also a dangerous, disturbing, and disgusting
one. At every turn, it seems, living things are trying to eat us, poison us, use our bodies as their homes, or
have us spread their eggs. In Mother Nature Is Trying to Kill You, Riskin is our guide through the natural
world at its most gloriously ruthless.
 The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance
o by David Epstein
o Summary: The debate is as old as physical competition. Are stars like Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, and
Serena Williams genetic freaks put on Earth to dominate their respective sports? Or are they simply normal
people who overcame their biological limits through sheer force of will and obsessive training?
 Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body
o by Neil Shubin
o Summary: Why do we look the way we do? Neil Shubin tells the story of our bodies as you've never heard it
before. By examining fossils and DNA, he shows us that our hands actually resemble fish fins, our heads are
organized like long-extinct jawless fish, and major parts of our genomes look and function like those of
worms and bacteria.
 The Coming Plague: Newly emerging disease in a world out of balance
o By Laurie Garrett
o Summary: Unpurified drinking water. Improper use of antibiotics. Local warfare. Massive refugee migration.
Changing social and environmental conditions around the world have fostered the spread of new and
potentially devastating viruses and diseases. Laurie Garrett takes you on a fifty-year journey through the
world's battles with microbes and examines the worldwide conditions that have culminated in recurrent
outbreaks of newly discovered diseases and epidemics.
 Eating the Sun: How Plants Power the Planet
o By Oliver Morton
o Summary: Eating the Sun, a fascinating, lively, profound look at photosynthesis, nature's greatest miracle.
From the physics, chemistry, and cellular biology that make photosynthesis possible, to the quirky and
competitive scientists who first discovered the beautifully honed mechanisms of photosynthesis, to the
modern energy crisis we face today,Eating the Sun offers a complete biography of the earth through the lens
of this common but crucial process.
Chemistry
 The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the
Periodic Table of the Elements
o by Sam Kean
o Summary: The Disappearing Spoon masterfully fuses science with the classic lore of invention,
investigation, and discovery--from the Big Bang through the end of time.
 Napoleon's Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History
o by Penny Le Couteur
o Summary: Napoleon's Buttons is the fascinating account of seventeen groups of molecules that have greatly
influenced the course of history. These molecules provided the impetus for early exploration, and made
possible the voyages of discovery that ensued.
 The Girls of Atomic City
o by Denise Kiernan
o Summary: The New York Times bestseller, incredible true story of the top-secret World War II town of Oak
Ridge, Tennessee, and the young women brought there unknowingly to help build the atomic bomb
 Tuxedo Park: Robert Oppenheimer and the Secret City of Los Alamos
o by Jennet Conant
o Summary: The Untold Story of the American Entrepreneur Who Helped Build the Atomic Bomb and Defeat
the Nazis.
 Oxygen: The molecule that made the world
o By Nick Lane
o Summary: In Oxygen, Nick Lane takes the reader on an enthralling journey as he unravels the unexpected
ways in which oxygen spurred the evolution of life and death.
 The 13th Element: The sordid Tale of Murder, Fire & Phosphorus
o By John Emsley
o Summary: Discovered by alchemists, prescribed by apothecaries, exploited by ninth-century industrialists,
and abused by twentieth-century combatants, the chemical element phosphorus has fascinated us for more
than three centuries. It may even be the cause of will-o'-the wisps and spontaneous human combustion!
 The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments
o By George Johnson
o Summary: With the attention to detail of a historian and the story-telling ability of a novelist, New York
Times science writer George Johnson celebrates these groundbreaking experiments and re-creates a time
when the world seemed filled with mysterious forces and scientists were in awe of light, electricity, and the
human body.
 Plutonium: A history of the world’s most dangerous element
o By Jeremy Bernstein
o Summary: In his history of this complex and dangerous element, noted physicist Jeremy Bernstein describes
the steps that were taken to transform plutonium from a laboratory novelty into the nuclear weapon that
destroyed Nagasaki. This is the first book to weave together the many strands of plutonium's story,
explaining not only the science but also the people involved.
 Mendeleyev’s Dream
o By Paul Strathern
o Summary: In this elegant, erudite, but entertaining book, Paul Strathern, the award-winning novelist and
expositor of complex ideas, unravels the dramatic history of chemistry through the quest for the elements.
 Periodic Tales: The curious lives of the elements
o By Hugh Aldersey-Williams
o Summary: Award-winning science writer Hugh Andersey-Williams offers readers a captivating look at the
elements—and the amazing, little-known stories behind their discoveries.
Earth Science
 Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space
o by Carl Sagan
o Summary: In Pale Blue Dot Sagan traces the spellbinding history of our launch into the cosmos and assesses
the future that looms before us as we move out into our own solar system and on to distant galaxies
beyond.
 Death from the Skies!: These are the ways the world will end…
o By Philip Plait
o Summary: With wit, humor, and an infectious love of astronomy that could win over even the sciencephobic, this fun and fascinating book reminds us that outer space is anything but remote.
 The Universe Within: Discovering the common origins of rocks, planets & our bodies
o By Neil Shubin
o Summary: In The Universe Within, Neil Shubin reveals the connection between the evolution of the cosmos
and the evolution of the human body.
 Silent Spring
o By Rachel Carson
o Summary: Carson’s passionate concern for the future of our planet reverberated powerfully throughout the
world, and her eloquent book was instrumental in launching the environmental movement.
 Cosmos
o By Carl Sagan
o Summary: Cosmos is one of the bestselling science books of all time. In clear-eyed prose, Sagan reveals a
jewel-like blue world inhabited by a life form that is just beginning to discover its own identity and to
venture into the vast ocean of space.
 The Planet in a Pebble
o By Jan Zalasiewicz
o Summary: This is a narrative of the Earth's long and dramatic history, as gleaned from a single pebble. It
begins as the pebble-particles form amid unimaginable violence in distal realms of the Universe, in the Big
Bang and in supernova explosions and continues amid the construction of the Solar System.
 Washed Away: How the great flood of 1913, America’s most widespread natural disaster terrorized a
nation and changed it forever
o By Geoff Williams
o Summary: The incredible story of a flood of near-biblical proportions—its destruction, its heroes and
victims, and how it shaped America's natural-disaster policies for the next century.
 Floods, Famines & Emperors: El Nino and the fate of civilizations
o By Brian Fagan
o Summary: Floods, Famines and Emperors remains the definitive account of how the world’s best-known
climate event had an indelible impact on history
 The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth
o By Tim Flannery
o Summary: The Weather Makers reminds readers of the distinct weather changes we have seen, the
increased severity of storms only one small example, and the projection that we are set on a tipping point
for global climate. He offers suggestions for individuals and lawmakers including the increased use of
renewable resources. The natural factors involved in the climate change are not negated or ignored, but in
this century man's effects on the world will outpace all other factors.
 The World Without Us
o By Alan Weisman
o Summary: The World Without Us is a book combining great readability with a close look at how our every
action has an impact on the planet. Weisman uses this narrative to show how our huge infrastructures
would fall apart and finally disappear without our interference. It describes how quickly nature would
overcome our cities and homes as well as how wildlife would flourish. Weisman makes readers understand
the Earth's enormous capacity for self-healing. He also shows us that our mistakes will be some of the first
things for the world to erase. It would be some examples of humanity's highest art and culture that endure
longest.
 Earth: An Intimate History
o By Richard Fortey
o Summary: Earth is a geological journey into our planet's history. Earth is covered with a crisscross of scarlike mountain ranges and features that have changed over billions of years. Those features are a testament
of the remote past that surrounds us. Fortey gives readers the knowledge base that will allow them to read
the Earth's character and how even human culture is rooted in the geological past. Reading Earth can change
the way you look at the world, the past and the ground beneath your feet.
General Science
 Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
o by Carl Sagan
o Summary: Casting a wide net through history and culture, Sagan examines and authoritatively debunks
such celebrated fallacies of the past as witchcraft, faith healing, demons, and UFOs.
 A Short History of Nearly Everything
o by Bill Bryson
o Summary: Taking as territory everything from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization, Bryson seeks to
understand how we got from there being nothing at all to there being us. A Short History of Nearly
Everything is the record of this quest, and it is a sometimes profound, sometimes funny, and always
supremely clear and entertaining.
 Nonsense on Stilts: How to tell science from Bunk
o By Massimo Pigliucci
o Summary: In the end, Nonsense on Stilts is a timely reminder of the need to maintain a line between
expertise and assumption. Broad in scope and implication, it is also ultimately a captivating guide for the
intelligent citizen who wishes to make up her own mind.