Popular science or high school related or just yk. Idk how to explain. Something that would happen me academically but it doesn’t feel like “studying”. I’m not very fond of reading, just started. Currently reading “10 myths about Israel” by Pappé and “Sapiens”. I’ve tried reading in past too but never finished anything 🙁
by Plantagenct
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**The Eye of the Shoal, by Helen Scales**. It’s about fish, but I found it so fascinating. These fish are clever and unique and beautiful, they communicate, they learn…
*The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself* –Sean Carroll
*How the World Really Works: The Science Behind How We Got Here and Where We’re Going* –Vaclav Smil
Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!
Great book by and about a celebrated theoretical physicist. His enthusiasm for learning and science will inspire you.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Or
The Radium Girls
If you like novels Peter Weir’s The Martian and Project Hail Mary might do the trick.
I am going to offer you a small detour here and suggest that perhaps a fun, science-based novel might help build both an enjoyment of reading and some further interest in science?
Initially, I am thinking either The Martian, or Project Hail Mary as great places to start.
I love non-fiction books and learning, and I try to sprinkle them generously between other types of books. I personally didn’t start reading nonfiction heavily for years into my love of reading, as I imagined they would feel more “work” than “fun”.
Are there specific areas of science that interest you? Animals, space, geology, the ocean, astronomy?
Cosmos by Carl Sagan
A Brief History of Time by Steven Hawkings
—
You have two problems.
One is to encourage your motivation to read.
Second is to encourage your motivation to read a specific interest, in this case science.
1. You don’t need to finish these books in one sitting.
2. Find a fiction novel that is unputdownable and then swap to a subject that you find boring.
3. The alternation is to maintain the desire to read.
I highly recommend looking up Mary Roach and seeing if any of her books appeal to you. She’s got a great sense of humor and explains things in a way that’s accessible to people without a background in science. My personal favorite by her is Packing For Mars.
If you like animals, try An Immense World by Ed Yong, it is all about the incredible senses animals have and the scientists who study them
Ok, fun pop-sci across many disciplines and in no particular order (almost all of these are available on audio, if that’s better for you!):
The Violinist’s Thumb by Sam Kean
The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean
The Song of the Cell by Siddhartha Mukherjee
What an Owl Knows by Jennifer Ackerman
The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson
A Brief History of Time by Steven Hawking
The Weather Machine by Andrew Blum
The Brother Gardeners by Andrea Wulf
I Contain Multitudes by Ed Yong
Because Internet by Gretchen McCulloch
Lost Moon by Jeffrey Kluger and Jim Lovell
Longitude by Dava Sobel
Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake
This is Your Mind on Plants by Michael Pollan
A Man on the Moon by Andrew Chaiken
Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly
Brilliant by Jane Brox
The Butchering Art by Lindsey Fitzharris
Stuff Matters by Mark Miadownik
I can elaborate on any of these, if you like. Probably the most entertaining read here is Because Internet, which is about linguistics.