<p>So which non-fiction books do you like the most?</p>
<p>(if you'd like to list textbooks, include them, but I prefer non-textbooks in this thread):</p>
<p>Me:
The Bell Curve (Herrnstein and Murray)
Selfish Gene (Dawkins)
Extended Phenotype (Dawkins)
Consilience (E.O. Wilson)
Heaven in a Chip (Kosko)
The Blank Slate (Pinker)
Origins of Genius (Simonton)
Scientific Genius: A Psychology of Science (Simonton)
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Kuhn)
Darwin's Dangerous Idea (Dennett)
Deschooling Society (Illich)
The Nurture Assumption (Judith Rich Harris)
The Psychology of Science and the Origins of the Scientific Mind (Feist)
Origins of Wealth (Beinhocker)</p>
<p>So 7 are Evolutionary Psychology/Behavioral Genetics (or authors who are in such fields: namely, Pinker and E.O. Wilson), 4 are Psychology of Science, and 3 odd ones out. =P</p>
<p>Wow, not a neuroscience book in there (yet).. Someday, sometime I'll finish those Crick & Koch books. They don't denounce any old societal/academic beliefs or values (like many of the above books do). Someday, a neuroscience book will come out that attacks free will. </p>
<p>It sounds like you're really into cognitive science. That's really awesome. My professor was talking about Steven Pinker and recommended reading The Blank Slate. It's actually sitting on my shelf right now and I will read it over the summer. But I mentioned this in another thread, if you want the other side, you should read Lewontin's book Triple Helix. Pinker is pretty controversial. </p>
<p>If you're a high school student, I'm very surprised you are reading these types of books. You should definitely take a cognitive psychology course in college (if you aren't a college student yet).</p>
<p>So my list is:
Triple Helix by Lewontin
The Myth of Repressed Memory
The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat
Structure of Scientific Revolutions</p>
<p>I am looking forward to reading some of the books you mentioned and I will ask my professor for some recommendations also. :)</p>
<p>Quantum by Jim Al-Khalili The Road To Reality by Roger Penrose The Universe in a Nutshell by Stephen Hawking A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking A Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking Simply Einstein by Richard Wolf Six Easy Pieces by Richard P. Feynman Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard P. Feynman The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene A Passion For Mathematics by Clifford A. Pickover The Solar System by Giovanni Caprara</p>
<p>and countless others that I am forgetting at the moment. :D</p>
<p>Just about any book about the psychologics (is that even the right word??) of shopping/marketing. I will read about just about anything though. (I have been known to leave the library with a book on the history of ice cream, a book on design principles/what makes good design, a book on university admissions processes, a book on the use of brain scanning in advertising, and a book about Google all in one trip. I will also make the attempt to read all of them!)</p>
<p>too bad i dont think it counts as a "well respected peace of literature" so i dont think i can write about it for AP Lit, but definately an awesome book</p>
<p>Hey ChaosTheory, have you read the entire Penrose "The Road to Reality" book yet? I checked it out, but I still kinda think that Griffiths books are more useful.</p>
<p>==</p>
<p>
[quote]
It sounds like you're really into cognitive science. That's really awesome. My professor was talking about Steven Pinker and recommended reading The Blank Slate. It's actually sitting on my shelf right now and I will read it over the summer. But I mentioned this in another thread, if you want the other side, you should read Lewontin's book Triple Helix. Pinker is pretty controversial.</p>
<p>If you're a high school student, I'm very surprised you are reading these types of books. You should definitely take a cognitive psychology course in college (if you aren't a college student yet).</p>
<p>So my list is:
Triple Helix by Lewontin
The Myth of Repressed Memory
The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat
Structure of Scientific Revolutions</p>
<p>I am looking forward to reading some of the books you mentioned and I will ask my professor for some recommendations also.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Ah, nice. Yeah, I read the Blank Slate. Thanks for the recommendation. Lol, I kind of have a bias against Lewontin since many scientists have accused him of using political means to distort science (and since the program that Lewontin attacked in the past seems to now be the most widely accepted one). But I really should see what the other side has to say - and how the other side structures its arguments. </p>
<p>I'm really into cognitive science, and the connections that can be made between neurobiology and cognitive science. I'm somewhat partial towards reductionism. I kind of want to see what research is like in that field - but I think that I need to study stochastic processes first (since that is quite important for reading one of Koch's books, as it is for both genetics and neuroscience). Math biology is the future! =)</p>
<p>Anyways, I'm in college, though of high school age.</p>
<p>A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn
Orientalism by Edward Said</p>
<p>I find more comfort in fiction. I learn all my social sciences in my classes, non-******** history channel programming, and countless hours spent reading essays and articles on the internet (of scholarly nature).</p>
<p>The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by... oh lord, I can't remember. It's about a Hmong girl who has epilepsy (Hmong is a Laotion ethnic group, I believe) and how her family deals with the medical system... it's seriously amazing. </p>
<p>Running With Scissors, Dry, Magical Thinking, and Possible Side Effects, all by Augusten Burroughs. I want to marry this man, despite the fact that he's at least twice my age and gay. hahaha</p>
<p>
[quote]
Hey ChaosTheory, have you read the entire Penrose "The Road to Reality" book yet? I checked it out, but I still kinda think that Griffiths books are more useful.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I checked it out a few days ago. I'm making progress, but from what I can see, the second half of the book is amazing --> it relates the math into the physics. The first half gives you the math and sets you up for the second half. It's going to be quite an accomplishment if I finish it. :D</p>
<p>Haha, nice. I so want to read the book sometime. I also find it interesting how you barely started yet listed it among your favorite books (I do that too)</p>
<p>I agree with Chaos Theory about the Feynman books. One of my tops, too.</p>
<p>The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes (Pulitzer Prize-winning story that's fascinating)</p>
<p>Bodyguard of Lies by Anthony Cave Brown (the story behind D-Day...totally suspenseful; will have you wondering to the very end if the mission will be successful)</p>
<p>To Absent Friends, a collection of obituary columns by Red Smith</p>
<p>Surviving Treblinka by Samuel Willenberg </p>
<p>These are just a few of the narrative non-fiction books that I keep close at hand and refuse to part with each time I clear out used books.</p>