i am in the mood for some brain candy! as the title suggests, i would love to learn about stuff not commonly taught in the american public school system. topics could range from science, historical events or different perspectives, sociology, or quite literally anything as i’m not picky. i would definitely appreciate any titles/short synopses of books that helped you learn something new!
by dogwearingawig
5 Comments
I highly recommend Bill Bryson’s *A Short History of Nearly Everything*. He talks about a ton of fascinating things in the most engaging and funny way I can imagine.
The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes
The Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes – history of science in the 18th century
Raw Dog by Jamie Loftus explores American history through the lens of the hot dog
Boomtown by Sam Anderson is about the founding of Oklahoma City, and it’s fascinating
The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward Tufte.
It’s a guide to presenting data better, and recognizing misleading charts. If you don’t already hate PowerPoint, you will by the end of the book.
Mary Roach writes really entertaining books that are deep dives into unusual areas of science. For example:
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, which is about all ways corpses are used for testing and advancing science. It’s not as distasteful or disrespectful as you might worry.
Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, which is about various research efforts into the possibilities of an afterlife
Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void, which is about what happens to humans living in space
She has many others that are all really good.
Recently I really enjoyed Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Carolyn Criado Perez. It’s an incredibly interesting book on the dangers of data bias and how that has real impacts on the world.