I’m currently inspired by a thread I participated in elsewhere on the internet. Yeah, I’m all over the internet. I’m embarrassed.
Moving on.
The thread centered on “The 11th Plague” by John S. Marr and John Baldwin. I hadn’t read it and felt that I should immediately go out and do so. I’ve heard some unfortunate things about the translations available, but the bioterrorism aspect makes me want to read it anyway. I’ll report back.
I’m a huge reader and will happily dive into a book on almost any subject. I will regularly go into bookstores and just wander around until I find something interesting in the most shadow-y corner of untouched books. Since I live in the city, this has occasionally required me to kick out necking teenagers or homeless dudes trying to sleep. (“What is it about a bookstore that makes people think they can just lay on the effing ground? –Dane Cook). I’ve read anything from biographies of Henry VIII to old sea stories (Mutiny on the Bounty trilogy is phenomenal!) to classics like To Kill and Mockingbird. I only eschew romance novels (Nicholas Sparks makes me eyes bleed. So does Emily Giffin, for that matter. Sorry folks!) But, I’ve read my fair share of both nonfiction and fiction books that are based on science and I wanted to recommend some here.
The Hot Zone by Richard Preston
This book scared me half to death. It’s graphic (in illness details) and true. It’s about an outbreak of Ebola in the DC area. I literally stopped halfway through because I was having nightmares about catching Ebola and dying within 24 hours. My friends kept encouraging me to read to the end, but I flat out refused. They did eventually tell me how the book ends, which I won’t reveal here obviously, but I can say that my fears were assuaged. Slightly.
The book discusses the Ebola and Marburg viruses in detail: all the way from origins, to infection details, and to bioterrorism. If you don’t have respect for what a weapon a virus can be, then I highly recommend you read this book. Remember – it’s a true story.
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
I’ve mentioned it before and I’m clearly mentioning it again. Jurassic Park is my all time favorite book. I’m sure most people have seen the movie, but I highly recommend taking a moment and reading the story. Books are usually better and provide so much more detail. In this case, you’ll read more about the idea of messing with nature, science, and the far-reaching implications of scientific advancement.
For those who aren’t familiar (do you live under rocks?), the story tells about scientists who were able to find DNA for many different species of dinosaurs, clone it, and then recreate the living animals. The dinosaurs are set up in a park and, just before opening, paleontologists, lawyers, and a few cheeky kids are invited to see what this new age zoo is all about. The visit has horrible results and brings up several topics worthy of discussion. Far more animals make an appearance in the book than the movie, too – pterodactyls, anyone? Read the book.
The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
This book was a completely accidental find. I’ve never read Sherlock Holmes (I know, I know) and can’t even tell you how I ended up in Doyle’s section anymore. Regardless, I pulled out a book called “The Lost World” and thought that it was much too thin to be Michael Crichton’s sequel to the aforementioned Jurassic Park. Turns out, Doyle wrote a similar story about scientists who travel into the unexplored forests and find a thriving colony of dinosaurs. The adventurers want to report back to share their news, but of course, things don’t go as planned.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is very interesting as a historical figure in science, as well. He was contemporaries with very notable scientists and attended scientific meetings in addition to being a physician in his own right. One day I’ll do a post about him!
Complications by Atul Gawande
My family is entrenched in the medical field while I am more on the cell/protein/drug discovery end of medicine. I have only the most rudimentary understanding of the human body systems and tend to find beating hearts or open surgery disgusting. However, tales of medical mysteries are fascinating. One of my favorite TV shows is Mystery Diagnosis on the Discovery Channel.
In his book, Dr. Gawande tells the stories of five different patients and their odd symptoms. Some have myserious causes (the pregnant woman who could not stop vomiting) and some are terrifying (I had never heard of necrotizing fasciitis before this book. Look it up – it’ll make you cry.) Patient privacy is maintained throughout, but you get a feel for the limits of medical science and have the opportunity to see medicine from the other side: that of the doctor himself.
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
I love Bill Bryson. If you’ve never picked up a book by him, I highly recommend “A Walk in the Woods” and “In a Sunburned Country.” You will laugh out loud at his writing, his misadventures, and his traveling companions. His new book “Home” is currently taunting me from bookshelves at Barnes and Noble.
His primary genre is travel writing (with the Appalachian Trail and Australia being the respective subjects of the books above), but he stepped outside the box to write “A Short History of Nearly Everything.” He spent a tremendous amount of time reading, studying, and learning science to write this book, which covers everything from the Big Bang to evolution. This isn’t dry writing, either. Mr. Bryson tells everything with self-deprecation, humor, wit and true thirst to understand science. My father borrowed this book from me and I haven’t seen it since. I also haven’t seen Complications after lending that to him, either…
Brian Greene’s books: The Elegant Universe, The Fabric of the Cosmos and The Hidden Reality
Most other scientists have a list of PIs (Principal Investigators: those boss people who run labs) that they aspire to be. I have a list of writers. Clearly, I need a career change. But, I digress.
I aspire to have the job of Brian Greene. He writes books about physics in a way that invites everyone to understand. He discusses String Theory, time travel, worm holes, black holes, and so much more. I listed his three most popular books above. I’ve personally read The Fabric of the Cosmos and my husband is reading The Hidden Reality. Give them a shot and with an open mind. He wants regular people (people like you and me who didn’t study physics) to see the potential of physics in answering some really interesting questions. How big is the universe? Can we go back in time?
Honorable Mention: Stiff by Mary Roach
I realized that if I mentioned Bill Bryson I could not skip over Mary Roach. She has a similar style (dry, witty, funny) as Mr. Bryson and writes about varied topics. I picked up “Stiff” from a display of Halloween books. My sister took this one from me and I had to wrestle it back.
Ms. Roach discusses the many varied uses for corpses in “Stiff.” Did you know they are crash test dummies? Laboratory tools to study human decay and help detectives determine how long ago a body died? The uses for a newly dead body are quite long. Who knew??
Links for books listed above:
I, too, found Hot Zone horrifyingly graphic. (Found you through TK, btw) Nice blog- I agree that everyone should be able to understand and appreciate science.
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