Recommend some books, please. I wanna be smart and entertained. Entertained more than anything.

12/17/2008 1:23:09 PM

hm. maybe you should have put this in entertainment then. just a thought.

[Edited on December 17, 2008 at 1:25 PM. Reason : in fact i'm pretty sure they have a long "what are you reading" topic that would work]

12/17/2008 1:25:23 PM

I would recommend Freakonomics by Steven Levitt given your admitted shortcomings on understanding economic theory. It's not exactly 'science-y' though and you might find it boring. Fareed Zakaria and Thomas Friedman are 2 other popular authors who are up to date on scientific issues as they relate to public policy, although their writings can only be described as 'entertaining' by a political science geek.

For pop science you might want to check in with the Tech Talk crowd.

12/17/2008 1:31:18 PM

Richard Dawkins or Jared Diamond for science-y pop current books. Stephen Gould for more science and less current. Those are mostly evolution/biology authors of course, but all three have a great selection of books. Diamond is probably the easiest to read, then Dawkins, then Gould.

12/17/2008 1:39:35 PM

http://www.gladwell.com/index.html

12/17/2008 2:20:11 PM

Brian Greene is a good combination of good and easy reading.

12/17/2008 2:20:41 PM

Freakonomics is a good one.

http://www.amazon.com/Freakonomics-Revised-Expanded-Economist-Everything/dp/0061234001/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229541883&sr=1-1

In the area of entertainment Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! is a good read

http://www.amazon.com/Surely-Feynman-Adventures-Curious-Character/dp/0393316041

I also enjoyed THE MAN WHO LOVED ONLY NUMBERS: THE STORY OF PAUL ERDOS AND THE SEARCH FOR MATHEMATICAL TRUTH

http://www.amazon.com/MAN-WHO-LOVED-ONLY-NUMBERS/dp/0786884061

[Edited on December 17, 2008 at 2:25 PM. Reason : .]

12/17/2008 2:24:38 PM

"The Science of Superheroes"

"The Elegant Universe"

12/17/2008 2:31:01 PM

I'm on amazon, and some of these recommendations are pretty good. That Brian Greene guy's book jackets are beautiful, and Elegant Universe looks badass. I'm digging on Mr. Feynman! too.

12/17/2008 2:41:18 PM

some of the Skeptical-genre of books would be good. They ues a lot of science, but also get into a lot of superstitions and myths.

Anything by Michael Shermer:
"Why People believe weird things"
"How we believe"
"Why Darwin matters"

James Randi:
"Flim-Flam"
"Amazing..... but false"
"The faith healers"

Carl Sagan:
"The Demon Haunted world"
"Cosmos"

Phil Plait
"Bad Astronomy"
"Death from the skies"

12/17/2008 2:48:45 PM

Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear.

actually, its pretty hard science, but presented in a fiction adventure story. good stuff.

12/17/2008 3:41:46 PM

Richard Feynman was basically the biggest badass in the history of the planet.

12/17/2008 4:52:28 PM

Brian Greene's books are so overrated.

12/17/2008 5:16:43 PM

^^ Yes.

Greene is an okay author, although Elegant Universe gets a little dense after the first few chapters.

If you're looking for a quick and easy physics education, you couldn't do better than Feynman's, "Six Easy Pieces."

12/17/2008 8:17:27 PM

http://nowscape.com/godsdebris.pdf
God's Debris

If you've not read this, it's very neat, and written by the guy that draws Dilbert (Scott Adams).

12/18/2008 12:20:11 AM

Thanks for the suggestions by the way. My books are coming in the mail hopefully starting tomorrow. I'll keep y'all updated. AHA

12/22/2008 10:20:03 PM

Brain Rules
Geography of Bliss

12/22/2008 10:42:52 PM