What are some recommendations for introductory science books?

[_Mayday_]

I think it would be a great idea to have a thread somewhere on this site devoted to books related to the sciences. The thread could be divided into different subject, and sub categories. The thread itself could consist of books that are mainly an introduction to say Physics, Biology, Chemistry and possibly psychology that would really let the reader immerse themselves in the subject. I say all this because a lot of my interests are outside of classroom physics, but I struggle to find books that...

a) I would understand and would not be too complex.
b) Is not not too hard to read. Preferably just an intorduction to the subject.

The thread could just be one massive locked thread that consists of one list, and to put a book up you would need to PM a mod. (Wether that would just cause an overflow in the mods Inbox I do not know)

Below I will show you an example of what I mean. *'s represent how advanced the book it, with '*****' being the hardest.

Biological Books (Main Category)
Evolution (Sub Category)

The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins (**)
http://educ.queensu.ca/~science/main/profdev/books/PDBRCT.htm"

Y: The descent of men - Steve Jones (**)
http://www.surefish.co.uk/culture/features/1102_y.htm"

Psychology Books
General Psychology

Opening Skinner's Box - Lauren Slater (*)
http://www.cs.brown.edu/~sk/Personal/Books/Slater-Opening-Skinner-Box/


I think it would also be important to possibly rate the book in terms of how difficult it is to read, and also maybe leave a link or two to a review of the book. This idea is very much raw, and if similar things have been suggested or the PF staff do not think it is a great idea then I guess I will have to look for these books from other sources. I learn best from reading, and satisfy my interests in the same way.

Thanks

 

[Kurdt]

There's a whole forum dedicated to books.

https://www.physicsforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=21

 

[_Mayday_]

That Forum looks so messy, would it not be nice to have a single well set out thread that could show books that might interest them? I know it would be very difficult to satisfy everyones needs but I know I have bought a few books that have been to hard to read, and have only got around to reading them now.

 

[cristo]

That Forum looks so messy, would it not be nice to have a single well set out thread that could show books that might interest them? I know it would be very difficult to satisfy everyones needs but I know I have bought a few books that have been to hard to read, and have only got around to reading them now.

I agree the forum is a bit messy, but normally if one wants a book on a certain topic then they can search for the keywords and return threads.

Another idea would be to have a few stickied threads, one for each major topic, each listing the names of books in each topic, and providing links to the thread for each book. This may stop many duplicate posts by people. I might look into doing that, if anyone thinks it's useful, now I've got a little more time on my hands!

 

[cristo]

I agree the forum is a bit messy, but normally if one wants a book on a certain topic then they can search for the keywords and return threads.

Another idea would be to have a few stickied threads, one for each major topic, each listing the names of books in each topic, and providing links to the thread for each book. This may stop many duplicate posts by people. I might look into doing that, if anyone thinks it's useful, now I've got a little more time on my hands!

In retrospect, this probably wouldn't work, since most of the threads in there are set as questions "what is a good book on such and such" rather than reviews "this is a good book on such and such."

 

[_Mayday_]

I think my idea was more in trying to find books for people who are quite new to a subject, so the focus is actually on how easily the book can be read and understood. The idea of the review was an extra feature, but the main focus was on finding books that a person with a limited knowledge on a subject can pick up and read.

 

[Astronuc]

I think my idea was more in trying to find books for people who are quite new to a subject, so the focus is actually on how easily the book can be read and understood. The idea of the review was an extra feature, but the main focus was on finding books that a person with a limited knowledge on a subject can pick up and read.

Well, our forum on Science Book Reviews could be that if people would respond with an assessement of the book(s) being discussed. I usually post the table of contents or link to the TOC so folks can see the content (although it's been a while since I've posted in there).

We're looking at the Math & Science Tutorials and Science Book Review sections with respect to improvement.