Any Book suggestions please.

  • Thread starter Thread starter the rabbit
  • Start date Start date
T

the rabbit

Guest
Just wanted to ask if any one could suggest any good books for a fifteen year old , that covers any of the sciences in an interesting way rather than wanting one to switch off and put the book down never to be read again.

I was thinking along the lines of something like lyall watson who is a marine biologist and wrote "Supernature" . Yes a lot of his stuff was fairly useless but in some instances , for example his description of squid in his "Gift of unknown things" i found quite fascinating and memorable. This I read as a youngster and normally I would not have wanted to know about biology, marine or other in any shape or form at that time , but his books where written in such a way that one wanted to continue on with the book.

So if any one can suggest any books in Math , biology , physics , chemistry that could hold the attention of a fifteen year old would be grateful.

Cheers
 
Edwin Abbot's Flatland, A Romance of Many Dimensions may be of interest. It's a tale of the dimensions of space taking place in 'Flatland,' or the second dimension. All shapes and sizes are given life in Flatland, each belonging to a higher or lower class depending on their shape. They go about business as usual until a sphere from the land of 3D penetrates their society, trying to teach the heresies of the new dimension of 'upwardness.' It's a fun read that gives a better understanding of the dimensions we know of while making a space to think about the dimensions we don't know of.
 
Thanks for this suggestion Shane , its a possability , I should have mentioned in my post that I was thinking more along the lines of material that would help in regards to English school exams in the sciences O Level stuff. Maybe things have changed since I was a wee bin lid (Kid) and questions on dimensions are now on the paper, though with the program being on dumbing down maybe its highly unlikely.Still could buy this book anyway.

cheers
 
Isaac Asimov's "The Intelligent Man's Guide to Science." It's a bit outdated, but it was good reading when I was a kid and kept me up a night or two.

Also: "Shattering the Myths of Darwinism" by Richard Milton.
 
I kinda like Blink (By malcom gladwell) for it's extensive use of examples and "Wow" moments, and The Field by Lynne McTaggert is on my wishlist now, as it has some far-reaching potential. Though both may be a bit up there for a 15 year old, unless he's a science buff by inclination.
 
Tony Rothman's "Instant Physics" might be good, but may be far out there for a 15-year-old. It has some good introduction on the basics of physic, though.

fwiw.
 
Just the other day a science student friend of mine recommended:

"The Evolution of Physics. From Early Concepts to Relativity and Quanta" by Albert Einstein

Sounds heavy but he said it wonderfully explained physics in an understandable way without formulas!!
(Also check out amazon reader reviews.)
 
Anything by Gerald Darrel is hilarious and full of info on zoology and general biology; Ernest Seton-Thompson as well -- animal behavior, zoology, wildlife etc

My other favorites are Ceram: "Gods, Graves and Scholars: the story of archaeology" and Jostein Gaarder: "Sophie's world" -- a primer on philosophy.

also look into biography section of the local library. Anything about Marie Curie, Sophia Kovalevsky etc will have plenty of scientific information as well.
 
Thanks to all for suggestions , ive just picked up the Asimov book rather cheaply on ebay and its now on its way to ,hopefuly an enthusiastic reader.

I want to send a few more books , so all the above suggestions are wonderful very helpful , listed , and possibilities.

My thanks
 
my younger sister will be enrolling in college soon as a psychology major and I wanted to get her a couple of good 'basic' books. She really doesn't read much (although that seems to be changing a little now that she has a boyfriend who reads) so I'd like to give her something that is useful for a beginner and will maintain interest. So far I think Stouts 'Myth of Sanity' and 'The Sociopath Next Door' would be good but I'm wondering if anyone has come across any other books they think might fit?
 
Second the suggestion of "Sophie's World". It's a great overview of the history of philosophy wrapped in a very entertaining story.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Trending content

Back
Top Bottom