When I was in school I didn't really like science, except to watch some of the other kids do experiments. (I never did them properly, so they didn't work the way they should have.) When I left school I never wanted to read non-fiction books about science, since I figured it would be just like reading a long boring lecture. Thank goodness I got over my prejudice and started reading authors like Mary Roach and Oliver Sacks. Now I can't recommend science books enough since they make subjects I once thought dull seem like fun.
With kids and adults heading back to school, and so many of us giving up our summer reading to pursue more scholarly literature, here is a list of books that make science subjects a little more fun. These titles read like adventure stories, or mystery novels that keep you turning the pages to find out what happens next. Most of these would be appropriate reading for high school age or above.
Medusa's Gaze and Vampire's Bite: The Science of Monsters by Matt Kaplan
This is Your Brain On Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel J. Levitin
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
The Hot Zone by Richard Preston
Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer
Elephants on Acid: And Other Bizarre Experiments by Alex Boese
The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of Elements by Sam Kean
Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel by Michio Kaku
The Science of Harry Potter : How Magic Really Works by Roger Highfield
Science Ink: Tattoos of the Science Obsessed by Karl Zimmer
Happy scientific exploration!
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