Do you read popular science books?

[Moontanman]

Originally Posted by Reaper

I read quite a bit of popular science books, usually in areas outside my expertise. Though, you do have to be careful to differentiating established ideas from fringe theories, because the lines are often blurred in popular science.

I agree, we have to be careful when reading popular science books, they do tend toward the fringe of science. I have read more than a few that I was all excited about but my natural tendency to be suspicious of anything that sounds to good to be true prompted me to research the author and premise and disappointment often followed. I imagine it's a little easier for those who have science based education to see the fringes, I openly admit to not knowing but I do try to fill the void with as much reality as possible.

[Moontanman]

I'm reading "The World Without Us" by Alan Weisman great book so far, very thought provoking.

[Pyrotex]

Originally Posted by Moontanman

I'm reading "The World Without Us" by Alan Weisman great book so far, very thought provoking.

There's a cable documentary on TV by the same name. Prolly taken from the book. Fascinating and very entertaining.

I'm almost always reading some science book or another. I include serious bios of scientists in this niche.

Right now I'm reading "Charles Darwin; the Tortured Evolutionist", "Salk -- the End of Polio", "Guns, Germs and Steel" (again).

My wife recently gave me "The Edge of Evolution" by M. Behe. The name sounded familiar so I looked him up--he's one of the national leaders in the Creationist movement. But I read the first chapter and a half anyway. I may have to read some more of it, because I want to see EXACTLY how his logic veers off into pretend-space.

Cosmology, astronomy, mind-science and evolution are prolly my favorite reads.

[Galapagos]

I finally got around to cracking "The Ancestors Tale" by Richard Dawkins. I'm doing all kinds of systematics-related stuff in school this semester, so this book should accompany my studies well.


Also, the best popular science book I've read in quite a while was definitely "The Blank Slate" by Steven Pinker. A lot of stuff about evolutionary psychology and behavioral genetics, some parts more contentious than others, but all around it is full of interesting science facts, making it popular-science time well spent.