Suggested Reading List for Understanding Basic Science

[Notta_skeptic]

As suggested by a recent thread on reading resources, I'm creating this thread for regular E&O posters (and any other interested bystanders) to compile a suggested reading list.

When adding to the list, please include following:

• List title and author
• Provide a link to a place where it can be purchased (if possible)
• Cost
• Subject (if it's not clear from the title)
• General level of difficulty (is it for the expert in the field, a layperson, someone with a Bachelor's degree)
• One paragraph or less description

[Notta_skeptic]

Initial texts recommended by Steviepinhead:


1. Grand Canyon Geology, by Beus and Morales. The customer reviews at Amazon.com suggest that this book could use better pictures, but apparently the text is quite authoritative. Perhaps others will suggest more “coffee table”-worthy numbers.

Cost is $64.95 new. The reviews suggest the text is written by practicing geologists, so this might be heavy going for someone who has no geology background whatsoever.

2. Dogs: Their Fossil Relatives and Evolutionary History, by Wang and Tedford.

Cost is $19.97 new.

" Dogs: Their Fossil Relatives and Evolutionary History is an extremely valuable and interesting book with text and illustrations by the best in the business. The volume is an original contribution to the field, bringing together all known information about canid evolution into one readily accessible text." -- Lars Werdelin, Swedish Museum of Natural History

3. Bursting the Limits of Time: The Reconstruction of Geohistory in the Age of Revolution , by Martin J.S. Rudwick.

Cost $28.34 new.

"Bursting the Limits of Time is a massive work and is quite simply a master-piece of science history.... The book should be obligatory for every geology and history of science library, and is a highly recommended companion for every civilized geologist who can carry an extra 2.4 kg in his rucksack." - Stephen Moorbath, Nature "To describe Rudwick as 'scholarly' is rather like describing Mozart as 'musically talented.' He is omniscient, and it's greatly to be wished that this book becomes known beyond the ranks of historians of the recondite." - Richard Fortey, London Review of Books"

4. The Rise of Animals: Evolution and Diversification of the Kingdom Animalia, by Fedonkin and several co-authors. Both the text and illustrations are reputedly excellent.

Cost: $60 new.

Among the major events in evolutionary history, few rival in importance the appearance of animals. The Rise of Animals -- a significant reference providing a comprehensive synthesis of the early radiation of the animal kingdom -- fully captures this moment in geologic time.

Five of the world's leading paleontologists take us on a journey to the most important fossil sites that serve as unique windows to the earliest animal life -- including the Ediacara Hills of Australia, the Russian taiga and tundra, the deserts of southwest Africa, and the rugged coasts of Newfoundland. Each of these places holds a rich fossil record that reveals how the animal form came into existence and why some groups succeeded while others failed. The authors describe the diversification of the Kingdom Animalia into the familiar body plans of today: from simple animals such as sponges to complex groups like mollusks, arthropods, echinoderms, and chordates that appear explosively in the Cambrian.

This exquisitely illustrated book reveals the early moments of an evolutionary process that eventually resulted in our own species. An essential resource for paleontologists, biologists, geologists, and teachers, The Rise of Animals is the best single reference on one of earth's most significant events.

5. On the Origin of Phyla, by James Valentine.

A personal favorite, and a steal at $22.22 used in pb! Many of the phyla that “explosively” originated in and around Cambrian times are “just” one or another variety of soft-bodied worm.

"A magisterial compendium.... Valentine offers a judicious evaluation of an astonishing array of evidence." - Richard Fortey, New Scientist "Truly a magnum opus, On the Origin of Phyla has already taken its place as one of the classic scientific texts of the twentieth century, affecting the work of paleontologists, morphologists, and developmental, molecular, and evolutionary biologists for decades to come." - Ethology, Ecology & Evolution "Valentine is one of the Renaissance minds of our time.... Darwin wisely called his best-known work On the Origin of Species; the origin of the phyla is an even stickier problem, and Valentine deserves credit for tackling it at such breadth.... A magnificent book." - Stefan Bengtson, Nature"

6. Annals of the Former World, by John McPhee. A highly-readable introduction to plate tectonics.

Cost is $12.89 new.

McPhee's great virtue as a journalist covering the sciences--and any other of the countless subjects he has taken on, for that matter--is his ability to distill and explain complex matters: here, for example, the processes of mineral deposition or of plate tectonics. He does so by allowing geologists to speak for themselves and an entertaining lot they are, those sometimes odd men and women who puzzle out the landscape for clues to its most ancient past. Annals of the Former World is a magisterial work of popular science for which geologists--and devotees of good writing--will be grateful. --Gregory McNamee

7. Motif Index of Folk Literature, by Stith Thompson. Maybe next time we get cited the "worldwide" dispersal of flood myths as evidence for a worldwide flood, we'll actually get a representative sample.

Currently out-of-stock at Amazon.com, but maybe available at used book stores or other outlets.

[Notta_skeptic]

Originally Posted by ericmurphy

I'd also recommend Assembling California, also by McPhee. Aside from being eminently readable (McPhee has a very poetic style, without being florid), it has the salient virtue (at least for Dave) of being short. It gives some insight into how geologists actually figure stuff out, which would be of immense use to Dave, since he apparently believes that geologists don't actually ever figure stuff out, but just memorize Lyell.

Assembling California by John McPhee.

Cost $10.20 new

In his usual clean, graceful prose, McPhee takes readers on an intensive geological tour of California, from the Sierra Nevada through wine country to the San Andreas fault system, a 50-mile-wide swath of parallel fault lines. Through talks with his traveling companion, geologist Eldridge Moores, McPhee introduces the reader to current geological controversies, and surveys global plate tectonics--the collision and rearrangement of land masses ever since the breakup of the supercontinent of Pangaea eons ago. The duo also travel to Arizona, where Moores grew up pushing ore carts in his family's gold mine, and to Cyprus and Greece, where rock from the ocean floor has been tossed up to form continents. McPhee looks at the conjectural science of earthquake prediction and gives an account of a recent San Francisco quake. His leisurely excavation meanders from Mexican explorer Juan Bautista de Anza's settlement of San Francisco in 1776 to 1850s gold-mining camps to the summit of Mount Everest, made of marine limestone lifted from a shelf that once divided India and Tibet. With this volume McPhee concludes his Annals of the Former World series, which he began with Basin and Range (1980). Illustrated.

[Notta_skeptic]

Originally Posted by Martin B

The Map that Changed the World by Simon Winchester is a good one, too.

Cost $11.86 new

Once upon a time there lived a man who discovered the secrets of the earth. He traveled far and wide, learning about the world below the surface. After years of toil, he created a great map of the underworld and expected to live happily ever after. But did he? Simon Winchester (The Professor and the Madman) tells the fossil-friendly fairy tale life of William Smith in The Map That Changed the World.

Born to humble parents, Smith was also a child of the Industrial Revolution (the year of his birth, 1769, also saw Josiah Wedgwood open his great factory, Etruria, Richard Arkwright create his first water-powered cotton-spinning frame, and James Watt receive the patent for the first condensing steam engine). While working as surveyor in a coal mine, Smith noticed the abrupt changes in the layers of rock as he was lowered into the depths. He came to understand that the different layers--in part as revealed by the fossils they contained--always appeared in the same order, no matter where they were found. He also realized that geology required a three-dimensional approach. Smith spent the next 20 some years traveling throughout Britain, observing the land, gathering data, and chattering away about his theories to those he met along the way, thus acquiring the nickname "Strata Smith." In 1815 he published his masterpiece: an 8.5- by 6-foot, hand-tinted map revealing "A Delineation of the Strata of England and Wales."

Despite this triumph, Smith's road remained more rocky than smooth. Snubbed by the gentlemanly Geological Society, Smith complained that "the theory of geology is in the possession of one class of men, the practice in another." Indeed, some members of the society went further than mere ostracism--they stole Smith's work. These cartographic plagiarists produced their own map, remarkably similar to Smith's, in 1819. Meanwhile the chronically cash-strapped Smith had been forced to sell his prized fossil collection and was eventually consigned to debtor's prison.

In the end, the villains are foiled, our hero restored, and science triumphs. Winchester clearly relishes his happy ending, and his honey-tinged prose ("that most attractively lovable losterlike Paleozoic arthropod known as the trilobite") injects a lot of life into what seems, on the surface, a rather dry tale. Like Smith, however, Winchester delves into the strata beneath the surface and reveals a remarkable world. --Sunny Delaney

[Notta_skeptic]

Originally Posted by umop apisdn w,I

While he's doing his Christmas list, he could do a lot worse than educating himself from these too:

Who Wrote The Bible by Richard Elliot Friedman

The Bible with Sources Revealed by Richard Elliot Friedman

The Bible Unearthed by Neil Asher Silberman and Israel Finkelstein

-and, since our Dave has expressed an interest in the supposed "evidence" for Solomon's great kingdom -

David and Solomon: In Search of the Bible's Sacred Kings and the Roots of the Western Tradition by Neil Asher Silberman and Israel Finkelstein

Who Wrote The Bible by Richard Elliot Friedman

Cost $10.85

"J," "P," "E," and "D" are the names scholars have given to some authors of the Bible, and, as such, they are very important letters to a lot of people. Churches have died and been born, and millions of people have lost faith or found it, because of the last two centuries of debate about who, exactly, wrote the canonical texts of Christianity and Judaism. Richard Elliott Friedman's survey of this debate, in Who Wrote the Bible?, may be the best written popular book about this question. Without condescension or high-flown academic language, Friedman carefully describes the history of textual criticism of the Bible--a subject on which his authority is unparalleled (Friedman has contributed voluminously to the authoritative Anchor Bible Dictionary). But this book is not just smart. Perhaps even more impressive than Friedman's erudition is his sensitivity to the power of textual criticism to influence faith. --Michael Joseph Gross

The Bible with Sources Revealed by Richard Elliot Friedman

Cost $16.76

One of the World's Foremost Bible Experts Offers a Groundbreaking Presentation of the Five Books of Moses

In The Bible with Sources Revealed, Richard Elliott Friedman offers a new, visual presentation of the Five Books of Moses -- Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy -- unlocking the complex and fascinating tapestry of their origins. Different colors and type styles allow readers to easily identify each of the distinct sources, showcasing Friedman's highly acclaimed and dynamic translation.

The Bible Unearthed by Neil Asher Silberman and Israel Finkelstein

Cost $10.95

The Bible Unearthed is a balanced, thoughtful, bold reconsideration of the historical period that produced the Hebrew Bible. The headline news in this book is easy to pick out: there is no evidence for the existence of Abraham, or any of the Patriarchs; ditto for Moses and the Exodus; and the same goes for the whole period of Judges and the united monarchy of David and Solomon. In fact, the authors argue that it is impossible to say much of anything about ancient Israel until the seventh century B.C., around the time of the reign of King Josiah. In that period, "the narrative of the Bible was uniquely suited to further the religious reform and territorial ambitions of Judah." Yet the authors deny that their arguments should be construed as compromising the Bible's power. Only in the 18th century--"when the Hebrew Bible began to be dissected and studied in isolation from its powerful function in community life"--did readers begin to view the Bible as a source of empirically verifiable history. For most of its life, the Bible has been what Finkelstein and Silberman reveal it once more to be: an eloquent expression of "the deeply rooted sense of shared origins, experiences, and destiny that every human community needs in order to survive," written in such a way as to encompass "the men, women, and children, the rich, the poor, and the destitute of an entire community." --Michael Joseph Gross

David and Solomon: In Search of the Bible's Sacred Kings and the Roots of the Western Tradition by Neil Asher Silberman and Israel Finkelstein

Cost $12.13

Lacking clear archeological evidence or extrabiblical testimony, biblical scholars are often challenged in persuading a skeptical world that the Bible's characters really existed and that their stories are actual historical records. The task of separating myth from history can be a daunting one. Finkelstein and Silberman, both renowned archaeologists (Finkelstein chairs the archaeology department [at Tel Aviv University; Silberman is a contributing editor to Archaeology magazine), take a different approach: integrating ancient heroic and warrior archetypes into the lives of the kings of Israel, thus synthesizing history and myth in support of the religious endeavor. The authors are careful to note that the absence of contemporary confirmation outside the Bible is no reason to believe that the characters did not actually exist. Rather, the biblical stories form the basis for a legend tradition in which the Davidic legacy gradually transforms "from a down-to-earth political program into the symbols of a transcendent religious faith that would spread throughout the world." Finkelstein and Silberman, who also had a winner with The Bible Unearthed, tell their story in a clear and easily understood manner, never boring but always challenging. Discovery Club main selection, BOMC, QPB and History book clubs alternate selection. (Feb. 8)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Notta_skeptic]

Originally Posted by deadman_932

Geology of the American Southwest: A Journey Through Two Billion Years of Plate-Tectonic History by W. Scott Baldridge

Physical Geology, by Charles C. Plummer, David McGeary, Diane H. Carlson

Introduction to Logic [STUDENT EDITION] by Irving M. Copi

Exploring Earth and Life Through Time (Paperback) by Steven M. Stanley

Geology of the American Southwest: A Journey Through Two Billion Years of Plate-Tectonic History by W. Scott Baldridge

Cost $39.00

'This well-written and well-illustrated book ... provides an accessible account of the evolution of the region from the Palaeoproterozoic onwards.' Progress in Physical Geography 'This is a very approachable book, and could be enjoyed by anyone with an interest in geology ... this is a good read and sets out what was intended ...'. The Open University Geological Society Journal '... the plot moves along briskly, unburdened by superfluous detail ... clear analysis ... this is an informative and entertaining book to buy the next time you take your family to see Carlsbad Caverns, Monument Valley or the Grand Canyon, or they take you to Phoenix or Las Vegas.' Geological Magazine 'The level of the writing is appealing because it provides significant discussion concerning the subjects presented without requiring detailed knowledge of current research. ... The book rises above a simple geologic guidebook without becoming a research book. It can be enjoyed by many seeking more in depth information about the exciting geology of the American Southwest.' The leading edge 'A nice feature in the inclusion of "boxes" that explain terminology in reasonable detail ... One doesn't have to be specifically interested in the Southwest to find this book interesting. ... The text is not confined to only the Southwest of the United States, as it explains how the geology is revealed by the lithology, texture, and sequence of rock units. It's also especially interesting because the accretion of many of the terraines that expanded North America are in this area.' The Leading Edge

Physical Geology, by Charles C. Plummer, David McGeary, Diane H. Carlson

Cost $104.60

A college-level introductory textbook to basic geology

"Physical Geology, 10/e" is the latest refinement of a classic introductory text that has helped countless students learn basic physical geology concepts for over 20 years. Students taking introductory physical geology to fulfill a science elective as well as those contemplating a career in geology will appreciate the accessible writing style and depth of coverage in "Physical Geology, 10/e". Hundreds of carefully rendered illustrations and accompanying photographs correlate perfectly with the chapter descriptions to help the reader quickly grasp new geologic concepts.

Introduction to Logic [STUDENT EDITION] by Irving M. Copi

Cost $100

A college-level introductory text to logic.

Exploring Earth and Life Through Time (Paperback) by Steven M. Stanley

Cost $51.00

(No other information is available about this text)

[Notta_skeptic]

Originally Posted by ericmurphy

And, of course, The Ancestor's Tale.

The Ancestor's Tale by Richard Dawkins.

Cost $10.91

The Ancestor's Tale takes us from our immediate human ancestors back through what he calls ‘concestors,’ those shared with the apes, monkeys and other mammals and other vertebrates and beyond to the dim and distant microbial beginnings of life some 4 billion years ago. It is a remarkable story which is still very much in the process of being uncovered. And, of course from a scientist of Dawkins stature and reputation we get an insider's knowledge of the most up-to-date science and many of those involved in the research. And, as we have come to expect of Dawkins, it is told with a passionate commitment to scientific veracity and a nose for a good story. Dawkins's knowledge of the vast and wonderful sweep of life's diversity is admirable. Not only does it encompass the most interesting living representatives of so many groups of organisms but also the important and informative fossil ones, many of which have only been found in recent years.

Dawkins sees his journey with its reverse chronology as ‘cast in the form of an epic pilgrimage from the present to the past [and] all roads lead to the origin of life.’ It is, to my mind, a sensible and perfectly acceptable approach although some might complain about going against the grain of evolution. The great benefit for the general reader is that it begins with the more familiar present and the animals nearest and dearest to us—our immediate human ancestors. And then it delves back into the more remote and less familiar past with its droves of lesser known and extinct fossil forms. The whole pilgrimage is divided into 40 tales, each based around a group of organisms and discusses their role in the overall story. Genetic, morphological and fossil evidence is all taken into account and illustrated with a wealth of photos and drawings of living and fossils forms, evolutionary and distributional charts and maps through time, providing a visual compliment and complement to the text. The design also allows Dawkins to make numerous running comments and characteristic asides. There are also numerous references and a good index.-- Douglas Palmer

[Notta_skeptic]

Originally Posted by SteveF

The best plate tectonics intro is: Global Tectonics (Paperback)
by Philip Kearey and Frederick Vine

the best sedimentology textbook (by far) is:

Sedimentology and Sedimentary Basins: From Turbulence to Tectonics (Paperback) by Mike Leeder

Global Tectonics (Paperback) by Philip Kearey and Frederick Vine

Cost $93.10 new

"...Global Tectonics is a fine book. It is excellent as a text for courses, as an overview for graduate students preparing for qualifier or preliminary exams, and as a review for active researchers. In short, it should be on every geoscientist's bookshelf". Journal of Geological Education

Sedimentology and Sedimentary Basins: From Turbulence to Tectonics (Paperback) by Mike Leeder

Cost $107 new

Addresses the principles of Sedimentology, emphasizing the advantages of a general science approach and the importance of understanding modern processes.

[Notta_skeptic]

Science, Evolution, and Creationism by the National Academies of Science and Medicine.

A bargain at $11.95, written for the average high school graduate to understand, and wonderful photos and explanations. Just published this fall.

It's even free in its entirety at the site I've linked.

[Notta_skeptic]

Originally Posted by Oolon Colluphid

Richard Fortey: The Earth: An Intimate History.

The Earth: An Intimate History by Richard Fortey

Cost $12.95 (US)

From Scientific American

"Geology underlies everything: it founds the landscape, dictates the agriculture, determines the character of villages." Fortey, senior paleontologist at the Natural History Museum in London, set out to explore those connections. "My solution has been to visit particular places, to explore their natural and human history in an intimate way, thence to move to the deeper motor of the earth--to show how the lie of the land responds to a deeper beat, a slow and fundamental pulse." His stops as he takes the reader on a journey around the world include Mount Vesuvius, the Alps, Newfoundland, Los Angeles and the Deccan Traps in India. He is an eloquent guide.

[Febble]

The Berkeley website Evolution 101 is good, and an easy read.

[Matty]

i'd take it back to the very underpinning thought and recommend Demon Haunted World by Sagan before all else. How do we know what is a true effect and how do we weed out the intellectual wheat from the chaff. More a manual for clear critical and scientific thought than a science information book per se, but it applies to all and every realms of science as well as critical assessment of other kinds. . This book should be mandatory reading fro all science 101 students IMO.

Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson is a great foundation for further reading on a broad range of science from evolutionary biology to geology and astronomy . I would recommend getting the fully illustrated version ,it is a thing of beauty. A very easy read considering it cites the work of so many great scientists if varying fields. This to my mind is the epitome of a popular science book, the facts are beautifully melded with a rambling thought procession and humorous take on the varying field. Bryson as always manages to inject excellent humour into the very driest of subjects and make it unputdownably absorbing.

and much as it might sound a bit dulll The World Treasury of Physics, Astronomy, and Mathematics: is a fine collections of keynote papers and lectures from the core thinkers of modern physical science such as Feynman, Einstein, Dyson et al. The papers that underpin our knowledge of modern physics and chemistry.

then of course a Brief History of Time is a modern physics classic, describing the basis of modern astrophysics in an approachable fashion. there is even a "Shorter" version aailable but i havent read it. As well as which i would always reccomend the Selfish Gene and Extended Phenotype by Dawkins for a better idea of what drives natural selection.

Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape The Universe by astronomer royal Martin Rees is a nice expansion on exactly that.

Sagans posthumously published collection of Gifford lecture transcripts the varieties of scientific experience is also a beautiful and absorbing read, musings on science and religion by the phenomenal guy and edited and collated with significant warmth by his wife Ann Druyan.


i will add that any of the physics books recommended above are pretty approachable, i'm no physicist and i found them all very readable.

[Jet Black]

The Theory of Evolution, by John Maynard Smith

[cmoon]

The Making of the Fittest by Sean Carroll

Cost $11.53 (US)

Originally Posted by booklist

Sensing that many people misunderstand evolution or don't believe it, geneticist Carroll here hopes to teach the interested and convince the doubters. He uses popular interest in animals as his lure and selects specific creatures, beginning with bloodless fishes of the Antarctic seas, as stages for his substantive points about evolution. More particularly, Carroll focuses on specific genes carried by his cast of animals to demonstrate natural selection. Carroll considers the animals' most favorable adaptations, preserved in what he calls "immortal genes"; several hundred are common to all domains of life. Carroll then scales up to the macroscopic and considers traits such as color vision in monkeys; the vision and anatomy of fish, including the famous coelacanth; and the sickle-cell trait in humans. In each case, Carroll explains how the DNA code of the gene responsible for the trait is inferred to be the result of natural selection working on mutations, which occur at a steady rate. Here is evolution clearly explained and stoutly defended.

emphasis mine.

[d0t]

Big Bang, by Simon Singh.
Not just about the big bang, more like a history of astronomy and the scientific method in the context of astronomy for the past 3000 years. A quite easy read, but never boring.

[VoxRat]

What Evolution Is, by Ernst Mayr.

Paperback: $11.53 at Amazon.

A very lucid, straightforward explanation written for the intelligent layman with close to no background in biology. (Click that first link for an extensive preview.)

[Ray Moscow]

Here are a couple that I found very helpful:

Asimov's New Guide to Science, which is just £11.19 in the UK. I think only the UK edition is still in print.

It got a major update by another editor about 10 years ago, which is of course what Asimov would have expected. Scientific knowledge moves on.

I also liked Almost Like a Whale: The 'Origin of Species' Updated, by Steve Jones. It's a good, up-to-date discussion of the same topics as Darwin's landmark Origin.

Just about any of Richard Dawkins' books are interesting, but The Selfish Gene is probably the best place to start (and revisit).

[DrLight]

Febble's link appears to go to a parked domain.

[Gojira]

Originally Posted by DrLight

Febble's link appears to go to a parked domain.

'Tis but a glitch - the link has two sets of http:// at the beginning, delete one and all is wonderful!

[Notta_skeptic]

Originally Posted by DrLight

Febble's link appears to go to a parked domain.

Fixed it.

[DrLight]

Thanks - my paypal account is taking a huge hit from all these book recommendations - I really enjoyed Nottas link to Science, Evolution, and Creationism by the National Academies of Science and Medicine.

Thanks for all the great reading ideas guys.

[UnrepentantSinner]

Bad Astronomy: Misconceptions and Misuses revealed from Astrology to the Moon "Hoax"

Not only a full debunking of many space woo claims, but a great example of applying skepticism and the scientific method to such claims.

[Notta_skeptic]

Originally Posted by DrLight

Thanks - my paypal account is taking a huge hit from all these book recommendations - I really enjoyed Nottas link to Science, Evolution, and Creationism by the National Academies of Science and Medicine.

Thanks for all the great reading ideas guys.

Thanks! An organization I belong to sent me a copy, and it's extremely readable and understandable from a layperson point of view. Plus, the National Academies puts a lot of its publications online so you don't have to shell out any money if you don't want to.

[BWE]

This is a textbook I have used when I teach Earth/physical sciences units. It's 20 bucks used and I know/knew the author.

Actually though, the reason I recommend it isn't just to shill an acquaintance's book, it's because it walks you easily through almost the entire set of field sciences from just learned to say "phase transition" to how to go about applying math and statistics to natural phenomena. It's like a jack of all science book. It's got geology biology archaeology geography and etc. and how they relate to each other.

If you aren't a science type, this one will translate a lot of things into english.
.

[Notta_skeptic]

From a post in the "Dave's Christmas Reading List" thread:

Originally Posted by Occam's Aftershave

How about this one?



It's a real book too.

It's available at the For Dummies online site for $19.99

Evolution For Dummies

Here is a description and the TOC

Seriously though, does anyone think there's a snowball's chance in hell that Dave would actually read the thing?