recommended books

I'm looking for some book ideas for a book/s on: a scientific temper/ worldview; on critical thinking; or just on science. Something fun, for a 10-year-old. Ideally what I'd be looking for is something like Dawkins's The Magic of Reality. Except I think that book's more suitable for someone...

Are there any fans of "whodunit" murder mysteries here? Can you recommend some good authors? Let me explain. I'm looking for books in the mold of some of Agatha Christie's best works. There is a clear list of suspects, because everyone is on a boat, or plane, or whatever. The puzzle pieces...

A friend is asking, and I don't specialize in that area, and any books I recommend will likely be too technical. What is prompting their request is a visit to the Uboat exhibit at the Chicago Museum (??). She says, and I quote, "Doug and I had no idea any of that happened." Thanks ETA: I...

I'm going to request this be a sticky for this forum. Please add your top books AND some commentary and review, what you found AWESOME! ;) ....not just a laundry list please. •••• This guy is flat out fun...not just for science readers.... a total delightful triology - you'll find yourself...

This is a continuation thread from the original here. The Strangest Man (Farmelo)

I just read The Guns of August. Great WWI book covering the leadup to the war, and the first month. I want to know more. What I'd really like to read is Hew Strachan's 3-volume work on it. But he's only finished the first one as of 2003. What I'm looking for is something with historical detail...

I have a friend that enjoyed reading Josephine Tey's "Daughter of Time". This person needs more skepticism, and he's not interested in non fiction... but he did actually learn a lot from the mystery novel. Any suggestions for a good list of FICTION books that help pass on the skeptic message...

I've been doing a fair amount of travelling recently and reading a lot of ebooks. I've read and re-read a lot of stuff, mysteries, scifi and fantasy along with non-fiction and a lot of althist. So, as there don't seem to be any threads devoted to favourite and recommended mysteries I decided to...

Where history is concerned, I am a Marxist. I believe that history is about class war and that the historical dialectic is the best explanation of the past. I reject as facile and bourgeois the idea that history is just a bunch of famous people doing things. Unfortunately, I have found very...

Do you have any suggestions on any books I should read to improve my critical thinking skills?

In 'honour' of the Fall of Jonah Lehrer (he of the fake Bob Dylan quotes) Sam Harris has released his book on deceit, 'Lying' as a free ebook; PDF and mobi formats. Link.

My friend Dan works with an actual "out of the closet" creationist. They generally respect each others views since it doesn't involve their work. But they do sometimes talk and the creationist might agree to read a pro-evolution book if my friend reads a pro-creationist book. So which one...

We have a permanent sticky thread in the science section for book recommendations, how about a similar idea being used in the politics section? I've just finished "Descent into Chaos" by Ahmed Rashid which documents the various agents involved in the war on terror in Afghanistan, Pakistan and...

Yesterday I picked up "Maybe Yes, Maybe No: A Guide For Young Skeptics" by Dan Barker. I must say that I am very pleased! This book is short and to the point. It begins in cartoonish way telling the story of a skeptical child who is confronted with friends who make claims about a haunted...

Thanks Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed By: Jared Diamond Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors By: Nicholas Wade The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals By: Michael Pollan Galileo By: James Reston, Jr. The Borderlands of Science...

Hiya everybody, I'm looking to read up on some areas of history which I know less than I would like. Specifically, I'd like to know more about Pre-Columbian American civilizations and European history before about 1200 AD, excluding the Greco-Roman empires. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks...

The purpose of my question is twofold...the balance of "books to read" has been so great, along with increasing time commitments for family and oh, WORK...that I can't remember the last time I re-read a book. There have been several occasions where I've checked in for a reference, or bet...

Hello, all. I've entered one of my least favorite periods - that awful time between novels when I try to decide what to read next. (Funny thing - when I was a child, I never had this problem; I just devoured the next available thing. But now I can spend more time trying to find the "right" book...

I'm going on vacation in about a week. It's a family reunion type thing. Anyway, it will probably be stretches of boredom punctuated by mildly fun activities. So, I'm looking for a book to read. I'm interested in religion from a psychological/evolutionary standpoint. Evolution, too. I'm not...

So, I have some free time coming up because I'm switching jobs (yay) and I was wanting to find a good book to relax with. I've decided that I want to read a "classic" of lierature, and was hoping to get recommendations from the forum. My arbitrary requirement is that it needs to have been...