Non-Fiction Book Suggestions

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Replies

  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
    Anything by Richard Preston. The guy writes about stuff like the quest to eradicate smallpox (Demon in the Freezer) and while it's non-fiction, he makes it read like medical thrillers.

    Only read The Hot Zone, if you work in science skip this guy. He is frustratingly unaware of scientific technique for someone who writes about it all the time.
  • KosmosKitten
    KosmosKitten Posts: 10,476 Member
    Anything by Richard Preston. The guy writes about stuff like the quest to eradicate smallpox (Demon in the Freezer) and while it's non-fiction, he makes it read like medical thrillers.

    Only read The Hot Zone, if you work in science skip this guy. He is frustratingly unaware of scientific technique for someone who writes about it all the time.

    I like a lot of Michael Crichton's stuff (maybe that's why it was suggested)? Got any suggestions?
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
    If you like the bioweapons biology type stuff Biohazard by Ken Alibek is pretty good. Doesnt read quite as story like as Preston but more accurate IMO.
  • Motorsheen
    Motorsheen Posts: 20,493 Member
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  • Motorsheen
    Motorsheen Posts: 20,493 Member
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  • KosmosKitten
    KosmosKitten Posts: 10,476 Member
    Motorsheen wrote: »
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    An interesting choice. :)
  • beagletracks
    beagletracks Posts: 6,035 Member
    Re-reading. Highly recommend.

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  • KosmosKitten
    KosmosKitten Posts: 10,476 Member
    Re-reading. Highly recommend.

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    I'll have to look into it, thanks!
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    I mostly read Tech books.
  • MostlyWater
    MostlyWater Posts: 4,294 Member
    I'm on Goodreads if anyone wants to join me there.
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    Any book by Erik Larson. Love them all
  • SueSueDio
    SueSueDio Posts: 4,796 Member
    edited February 2018
    I read this one recently - for anyone who has even a passing interest in computing, it's a fascinating look into what was involved in designing and building a new computer in the late 70s/early 80s. These days I imagine every circuit is designed by another computer, but back then it was done by engineers physically designing and soldering every piece and working through long days and nights of testing and redesigning.

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    This one is not strictly non-fiction, but it's sort of part novel and part history lesson. At its heart it's a fictional story of four families' involvement in America's space program, but there's a lot of real history and science in it. I found it very enjoyable - although at the start I did wonder when the "space" bit was going to come in! (It begins in WWII, due to covering the main characters' early years and the involvement of German rocket scientists.)

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    Another one I finished last year, which I don't have a worthwhile photo of, is called "Flight into Space: the Facts, Fancies and Philosophy" by Jonathan Norton Leonard. I have to say it's quite sexist, but it was published in 1953 and times were different then - clearly the idea of a woman going into space was so far-fetched as to be ridiculous, and if one did it would only be to do the housekeeping or provide for certain male needs. ;) If you can look past that, it's an interesting account of the ideas and technology of that time period. A lot of information is very vague, due to constraints on the author caused by the Cold War and the risk of potential sharing of secrets, but reading what thoughts people had back then, before even Sputnik was launched, was fun.


    EDIT: Considering you had another astronaut's biography in your OP (I'll have to look for that one!), Chris Hadfield's "An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth" was very enjoyable too. :)
  • gophermatt
    gophermatt Posts: 129 Member
    Anything by Bill Bryson is great, particularly liked:

    https://www.amazon.com/Short-History-Nearly-Everything/dp/076790818X

    Not quite non-fiction, but worth the really quick read, funky, different, and thought provoking:

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Einsteinsdreams.jpg

  • denversillygoose
    denversillygoose Posts: 708 Member
    Jon Krakauer is my favorite non-fiction author. I really love everything he writes. Where Men Win Glory is my favorite.
  • amyteacake
    amyteacake Posts: 768 Member
    Reasons To Stay Alive by Matt Haig is absolutely amazing. Had me nearly crying a few times
  • princess7955
    princess7955 Posts: 1,277 Member
    edited March 2018
    Was gifted this book. Excellent read.
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  • gophermatt
    gophermatt Posts: 129 Member
    Adding anything by Jon Ronson to the list. Great in-depth looks at peculiar subjects, with honest, humor, and sometimes startling sensitivity to his subjects’ uniqueness (some of them are horrible people, but he studies them well which lets him gain an insight that isn’t available to most). He wrote the book from which the bad movie The Men Who Stare at Goats was adapted. Book is great, pretend the movie didn’t happen.

    My favorites are “Them” and “The Psychopath Test.”

  • TheRoadDog
    TheRoadDog Posts: 11,793 Member
    Anything by Carl Sagan