Book recommendations
Clever books for clever fish
There are so many popular science books — and most of them are just terrible.
It’s like they were written by robots? Even if you keep reading, they’ll drown you in details, rather than give you a glimpse of the big picture.
And that’s the books for adults — the ones for kids are even worse!
But not all of them. And we love sharing book ideas with families! So I’ve pulled together a list of some of my very favorite science books.
In one way, they’re diverse: some are for preschoolers, others for college students.
What they all have in common is that they’re wonderful books that expose huge, game-changing ideas. They grab you by the emotions. And they’ve changed each changed the way I think about something in the world.
Feel free to grab all of these from the library, or use them for birthday ideas.
Let us help you fill your home with books
We want to get help your kid fall in love with the world — and with reading.
How much? So much, we recommend at least one great book after each science lesson.
Each book is a joy to read, scientifically accurate, and helps kids extends what they just learned.
But maybe you’d like some of our very favorite book titles right now? You got it!
Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match…
Absorbed by Animals?
The Lion in the Living Room: How House Cats Tamed Us and Took Over the World, Abigail Tucker
Feathers: The Evolution of a Natural Miracle, Thor Hanson
How to Talk to a Tiger and Other Animals: How Critters Communicate in the Wild, Jason Bittel
Passionate about Plants?
The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World, Michael Pollan
What a Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses, Daniel Chamovitz
Hooked on the Human Body?
The Body: A Guide for Occupants, Bill Bryson
The Gene: An Intimate History, Siddhartha Mukherjee
Enticed by Evolution?
Grandmother Fish: A Child’s First Book of Evolution, Jonathan Tweet
Why Evolution is True, Jerry A. Coyne
The Ancestor’s Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution, Richard Dawkins and Yan Wong
Engrossed in the Environment?
The Wizard and the Prophet: Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow’s World, Charles C. Mann
Physics for Future Presidents: The Science behind the Headlines, Richard A. Muller
Mad about Minds?
Brainscapes: The Warped, Wondrous Maps Written in Your Brain — and How They Guide You, Rebecca Schwarzlose
Kluge: The Haphazard Evolution of the Human Mind, Gary Marcus
The Moral Animal: Why We Are the Way We Are… The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology, Robert Wright
Excited about the Earth?
A Sideways Look at Clouds, Maria Mudd Ruth
A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson
Sympathetic to Space?
Moonbound: Apollo 11 and the Dream of Spaceflight, Jonathan Fetter-Vorm
We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe, Jorge Cham & Daniel Whiteson
Enraptured by Engineering?
Zapped: From Infrared to X-rays, the Curious History of Invisible Light, Bob Berman
Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words, Randall Munroe
What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, Randall Munroe
How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Real-World Problems, Randall Munroe
Phired up by Philosophy?
(okay sorry about that one)
Metazoa: Animal Life and the Birth of the Mind, Peter Godfrey-Smith
Plato at the Googolplex: Why Philosophy Won’t Go Away, Rebecca Newberger Goldstein
And, I hasted to add, any book in the Science Comics series. They’re not all equally good (the ones by Andy Hirsch are my personal faves), but they’re all worthy of your time!