Elusive by Frank Close
Category: Popular Science
The story of the Higgs boson - the so-called 'God particle' - and the man who thought of it In the summer of 1964, a reclusive young professor at the University of Edinburgh wrote two scientific papers which have come to change our understanding of the most fundamental building blocks of matter and the ...Show more
Fire and Ice: The Volcanoes of the Solar System by Natalie Starkey
Category: Popular Science
A fascinating look at extraterrestrial volcanoes in our Solar System.The volcano - among the most familiar and perhaps the most terrifying of all geological phenomena. However, Earth isn't the only planet to harbour volcanoes. In fact, the Solar System, and probably the entire Universe, is littered with ...Show more
Einstein in Time and Space: A Life in 99 Particles by Samuel Graydon
Category: Popular Science
DROPOUT. PACIFIST. PHYSICIST. CASANOVA. REFUGEE. REBEL. GENIUS.THINK YOU KNOW EINSTEIN? THINK AGAIN. His face is instantly recognisable. His name is shorthand for genius. Today, he's a figurehead as much as a man, symbolic of things larger than himself: of scientific progress, of the human mind, even o ...Show more
Our Final Invention: Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era by James Barrat
Category: Popular Science
'I wish it was science fiction, but I know it's not.' Jaan Tallinn, co-founder of Skype'If you read just one book that makes you confront scary high-tech realities that we'll soon have no choice but to address, make it this one.' Washington PostCorporations and government agencies around the world have ...Show more
The Theory of Everything Else: A Voyage into the World of the Weird by Dan Schreiber
Category: Popular Science
This is not a book of facts; it's a book of 'facts'. Should you finish it believing we became the planet's dominant species because predators found us too smelly to eat; or that the living bloodline of Christ is a family of Japanese garlic farmers - well, that's on you. Why are we here? Do ghosts exist ...Show more
The Basis of Everything: Before Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project there was the Cavendish Laboratory by Andrew Ramsey
Category: Popular Science
Before the Manhattan Project, before nuclear warfare and the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there was the twentieth century's great scientific quest to fathom the secrets of the atom.The unlikely story of an Antipodean friendship that changed the world forever. Before the Manhattan Project, before n ...Show more
Many Things Under a Rock The Mysteries of Octopuses by David Scheel
Category: Popular Science
"Fascinating... the deepest of octopus books.' Peter Godfrey-Smith 'Mind-blowing and soul-expanding' Sy Montgomery Of all the creatures of the deep blue, none captivates us quite like the octopus. This highly intelligent master of disguise is one of our planet's most intriguing and enigmatic creatures ...Show more
A Hunter-Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century: Evolution and the Challenges of Modern Life by Bret Weinstein, Heather Heying
Category: Popular Science
A bold, provocative exploration of the tension between our evolutionary history and our modern woes - and what we can do about it.
Pegasus: How a Spy in Our Pocket Threatens the End of Privacy, Dignity and Democracy by Laurent Richard, Sandrine Rigaud
Category: Popular Science
Pegasus is almost certainly the most powerful piece of spyware ever developed. Installed by as little as a missed WhatsApp call, once on your phone it can record your calls, copy your messages, steal your photos and secretly film you. Those that control it can find out your daily movements: exactly wher ...Show more
The Curious World of Science: A visual miscelllany of stories, theories, discoveries & curiosities by Simon Flynn
Category: Popular Science
To some, science is simply a means to an end; to others it is an almost spiritual meditation on theories and formulae. The Curious World of Science embraces both views and much more besides. Focusing onthe human endeavours at the heart of science, it presents a miscellany of essentialclassifications, in ...Show more
This Is Your Mind On Plants: Opium-Caffeine-Mescaline by Michael Pollan
Category: Popular Science
The instant New York Times bestseller A Washington Post Notable Book One of NPR's Best Books of the Year "Expert storytelling . . . [Pollan] masterfully elevates a series of big questions about drugs, plants and humans that are likely to leave readers thinking in new ways."--New York Times Book Review. ...Show more
Sticky - The Secret Science of Surfaces by Laurie Winkless
Category: Popular Science | Reading Level: near fine
You are surrounded by stickiness. With every step you take, air molecules cling to you and slow you down; the effect is harder to ignore in water. When you hit the road, whether powered by pedal or engine, you rely on grip to keep you safe. The Post-it note and glue in your desk drawer. The non-stick pa ...Show more