Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Sam Kean's six favorite surprising books

Sam Kean's books The Disappearing Spoon and The Violinist’s Thumb were national bestsellers, and both were named an Amazon “Top 5” science books of the year. The Disappearing Spoon was nominated by the Royal Society for one of the top science books of 2010, while both The Violinist’s Thumb and The Dueling Neurosurgeons were nominated for PEN’s literary science writing award.

Kean's new book is Caesar’s Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us.

One of the author's six favorite surprising books, as shared at The Week magazine:
Darwin's Dangerous Idea by Daniel C. Dennett

I was like Kant reading Hume when I opened this book, because it woke me from small-minded slumber. Before Darwin's Dangerous Idea, I thought biology was basically just memorizing different parts of cells. Dennett opened my mind to the intricacies of evolutionary theory, and did so with wit and elegance.
Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue