Humble Pi : When Math Goes Wrong in the Real World

Humble Pi : When Math Goes Wrong in the Real World 

By Matt Parker 

Riverhead Books, 2020. 314 pages. Nonfiction 

Our whole world is built on math, from the code running a website to the equations enabling the design of skyscrapers and bridges. Most of the time this math works quietly behind the scenes . . . until it doesn’t. Exploring and explaining a litany of glitches, near misses, and mathematical mishaps involving the internet, big data, elections, street signs, lotteries, the Roman Empire, and an Olympic team, Matt Parker uncovers the bizarre ways math trips us up, and what this reveals about its essential place in our world. Getting it wrong has never been more fun! 

You might not think that comedy and mathematics are topics that work well together, but this book pulls it off! Parker has a very dry sense of humor, one that I found delightfully entertaining even when discussing topics like standardized calendaring systems and financial algorithms. In addition to this, while largely an entertaining read, it is very technical at times! This may be a plus for any reader eager to learn obscure specifics about the functions of coding, mathematics, mechanics, and more. There were some segments that I found difficult to follow the logic of, but this book is formatted as a series of short stories and segments, so if one segment is too challenging (or perhaps simply not in the interest of the reader) it is easy to skip to the next without any impact on the reading experience.

If you like Humble Pi, you might also like: 

What If? : Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions 

By Randall Munroe 

Boston, 2014. 303 pages. Nonfiction

What if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90 percent the speed of light? How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? If there was a robot apocalypse, how long would humanity last? What if everyone only had one soulmate? What would happen if the moon went away? In pursuit of answers, Munroe runs computer simulations, pours over stacks of declassified military research memos, solves differential equations, and consults with nuclear reactor operators in masterpieces of clarity and hilarity complimented by his signature xkcd comics. 

Here's Looking at Euclid: A surprising Excursion Through the Astonishing World of Math 

By Alex Bellos 

New York, 2010. 319 pages. Nonfiction

Too often math gets a bad rap, characterized as dry and difficult. On a crusade to counter this belief, Bellos has travelled around the globe and plunged into history to uncover fascinating stories of mathematical achievement. Taking us into the wilds of the Amazon, he tells the story of a tribe there who can count only to five and reports on the latest findings about the math instinct—including the revelation that ants can actually count how many steps they’ve taken. Exploring the mysteries of randomness, he explains why it is impossible for our iPods to truly randomly select songs. Throughout, the journey is enhanced with a wealth of intriguing illustrations, such as of the clever puzzles known as tangrams and the crochet creation of an American math professor who suddenly realized one day that she could knit a representation of higher dimensional space that no one had been able to visualize. Here’s Looking at Euclid is a rare gem that brings the beauty of math to life.

-MD

Sisters in Science

Sisters in Science: How Four Women Physicists Escape Nazi Germany and Made Scientific History
by Olivia Campbell
Park Row Books, 2024. 384 pages. Nonfiction

In the 1930s, Germany was a hotbed of scientific thought. But after the Nazis took power, Jewish and female citizens were forced out of their academic positions. Hedwig Kohn, Lise Meitner, Hertha Sponer, and Hildegard Stücklen were eminent in their fields, but they had no choice but to flee due to their Jewish ancestry or anti-Nazi sentiments. Their harrowing journey out of Germany became a life-and-death situation that required herculean efforts of friends and other prominent scientists. No matter their destination, each woman revolutionized the field of physics when all odds were stacked against them, galvanizing young women to do the same.

This book was a fascinating combination of some of my favorite types of nonfiction: it's a history book, an approachable science book, and the stories of real-life people all rolled into one. The combination of subjects gave me a new perspective on European history of the 1930s and 1940s, and helped me see how the rise of Nazism affected both the lives of real-life people, and the fate of scientific study. Those who enjoy well-told histories and biographies will find a lot to appreciate in this book.

If you like Sisters in Science you might also like:

The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science
by Dava Sobel
Atlantic Monthly Press, 2024. 318 pages. Nonfiction

A luminous chronicle of the most famous woman in the history of science, and the untold story of the many remarkable young women trained in her laboratory who were launched into stellar scientific careers of their own.

The Six: The Untold Story of America's First Women Astronauts
by Loren Grush
Scribner, 2023. 422 pages. Nonfiction

When NASA sent astronauts to the moon in the 1960s and 1970s the agency excluded women from the corps, arguing that only military test pilots--a group then made up exclusively of men--had the right stuff. Eventually, though, NASA recognized its blunder and opened the application process to a wider array of hopefuls, regardless of race or gender. From a candidate pool of 8,000 six elite women were selected in 1978--Sally Ride, Judy Resnik, Anna Fisher, Kathy Sullivan, Shannon Lucid, and Rhea Seddon.

MB

The Milky Way

The Milky Way: An autobiography of our galaxy 
By Moiya McTier
Grand Central Publishing, 2022. 244 pages. Nonfiction

After a few billion years of bearing witness to life on Earth, of watching one hundred billion humans go about their day-to-day lives, of feeling unbelievably lonely, and of hearing its own story told by others, the Milky Way would like a chance to speak for itself. All one hundred billion stars and fifty undecillion tons of gas of it. It all began some thirteen billion years ago, when clouds of gas scattered through the universe's primordial plasma just could not keep their metaphorical hands off each other. They succumbed to their gravitational attraction, and the galaxy we know as the Milky Way was born. Since then, the galaxy has watched as dark energy pushed away its first friends, as humans mythologized its name and purpose, and as galactic archaeologists have worked to determine its true age (rude). The Milky Way has absorbed supermassive (an actual technical term) black holes, made enemies of a few galactic neighbors, and mourned the deaths of countless stars. After all this time, the Milky Way finally feels that it's amassed enough experience for the juicy tell-all we've all been waiting for.

I have two very bad habits. First, I buy nonfiction books about science and lose the motivation to read them. Second, when I happen to read anything science related I just skip right over the numbers regardless of how important they are. This book fixed both problems. McTier presents scientific concepts in an accessible voice that allows even the most inexperienced science-lovers to engage with new concepts and ideas. I love the blend of artful storytelling and hard science. The voice of the Milky Way is unique, funny, and extremely endearing. I would recommend this book to anybody that's new to astronomy and everyone that supports STEAM over STEM.        

If you like The Milky Way, you might also like: 

Eat, Poop, Die: How animals make our world
By Joe Roman

Little, Brown Spark, 2023. 277 pages. Nonfiction

If forests are the lungs of the planet, then animals migrating across oceans, streams, and mountains—eating, pooping, and dying along the way—are its heart and arteries, pumping nitrogen and phosphorus from deep-sea gorges up to mountain peaks, from the Arctic to the Caribbean. Without this conveyor belt of crucial, life-sustaining nutrients, the world would look very different. Eat, Poop, Die takes readers on an exhilarating global adventure, revealing the remarkable ways in which the most basic biological activities of animals make and remake the world—and how a deeper understanding of these cycles provides us with opportunities to undo the damage humanity has wrought on the planet.

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?

By Caitlin Doughty

W.W. Norton & Company, 2019. 222 pages. Nonfiction

Licensed mortician Caitlin Doughty answers real questions from kids about death, dead bodies, and decomposition. Every day, funeral director Caitlin Doughty receives dozens of questions about death. What would happen to an astronaut's body if it were pushed out of a space shuttle? Do people poop when they die? Can Grandma have a Viking funeral? In the tradition of Randall Munroe's What If?, Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?, blends scientific understanding of the body and the intriguing history behind common misconceptions about corpses to offer factual, hilarious, and candid answers to thirty-five urgent questions.

The Stuff of Life
By Mark Shultz
Hill and Wang, 2009. 150 pages. Graphic Novels, Nonfiction

Let's face it: From adenines to zygotes, from cytokinesis to parthenogenesis, even the basics of genetics can sound utterly alien. So who better than an alien to explain it all? Enter Bloort 183, a scientist from an asexual alien race threatened by disease, who's been charged with researching the fundamentals of human DNA and evolution and laying it all out in clear, simple language so that even his slow-to-grasp-the-point leader can get it. In the hands of the award-winning writer Mark Schultz, Bloort's predicament becomes the means of giving even the most science-phobic reader a complete introduction to the history and science of genetics that's as easy to understand as it is entertaining to read.

KJ

What's Gotten Into You?

What's Gotten Into You?: The Story of Your Body's Atoms, from the Big Bang through Last Night's Dinner

by Dan Levitt

Harper, 2023. 385 pages. Nonfiction

 

From the Big Bang to the creation of our Earth, and through the gradual evolution of organic matter to the state of our planet today, Dan Levitt writes an accessible history of how the building blocks that make us came to be. In the process, Levitt discusses ideas from astrophysics, geology, chemistry, botany, biology, and more.

This book takes on the big task of summarizing a variety of ideas ranging across a variety of scientific pursuits, all to answer the question: What are our foundational elements, and how do they work together? This is also one of the most accessible versions of this type of book that I've read. What I especially appreciated was that Levitt tackles the questions of not just how the elements that make up our bodies were formed (which many popular astrophysics books tackle), but also how they combined and evolved over time to create sustainable life. For that reason, the chapters on the discovery of photosynthesis, and how cells came to be, were the most interesting chapters to me. I also appreciated the stories of the scientists whose work led to what we understand about our world today. This is a great introduction to scientific principles that will appeal to anyone curious about the science behind the origin of life.

If You Like What's Gotten Into You? you might also like: 

How to Make and Apple Pie from Scratch: In Search of the Recipe for our Universe, from the Origins of Atoms to the Big Bang

by Harry Cliff

Doubleday, 2021. 385 pages. Nonfiction

Another accessible astrophysics book, particle physicist Harry Cliff parses the discovery of the various pieces of fundamental matter that create our universe by examining Carl Sagan's famous statement: "If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe." In order to do that, Cliff visits some of the most famous labs across the earth that focus on this research.

The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human

by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Scribner, 2022. 473 pages. Nonfiction

The discovery of cells—and the reframing of the human body as a cellular ecosystem—announced the birth of a new kind of medicine based on the therapeutic manipulations of cells. A hip fracture, a cardiac arrest, Alzheimer's, dementia, AIDS, pneumonia, lung cancer, kidney failure, arthritis, COVID—all could be viewed as the results of cells, or systems of cells, functioning abnormally. And all could be perceived as loci of cellular therapies. In The Song of the Cell, Mukherjee tells the story of how scientists discovered cells, began to understand them, and are now using that knowledge to create new treatments and new humans.

The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life

by David Quammen

Simon & Schuster, 2018. 461 pages. Nonfiction

Nonpareil science writer David Quammen explains how recent discoveries in molecular biology can change our understanding of evolution and life's history, with powerful implications for human health and even our own human nature.

MB

Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make - and Keep - Friends

Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make – and Keep – Friends
by Marisa G. Franco, Ph.D.
G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2022. 336 pages. Nonfiction 

You’ve probably heard of attachment theory – how you can have a secure, anxious, or avoidant attachment style – as it applies to romantic relationships. In Platonic, psychologist and researcher Marisa G. Franco instead applies the science of attachment theory to friendships. She explores the deep importance of adult friendship to our physical and mental well-being, in spite of our cultural tendency to devalue friendship in comparison with romantic and family relationships. 

This is a great pick for book clubs and self-help readers, especially for those who are interested in relationships and psychology. Franco discusses in detail how meaningful friendships enrich our lives and improve our health, while also diving into just how to make friends as an adult. She explains scientific research and studies in easy-to-understand terms, with many real life stories mixed in. 

If you like Platonic, you might also like:

The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness
by Robert Waldinger, M.D. and Marc Schulz, Ph.D.
Simon & Schuster, 2023. 352 pages. Nonfiction 

What makes a life fulfilling and meaningful? The simple but surprising answer is: relationships. The stronger our relationships, the more likely we are to live happy, satisfying, and overall healthier lives. In fact, the Harvard Study of Adult Development reveals that the strength of our connections with others can predict the health of both our bodies and our brains as we go through life.

The Power of Attachment: How to Create Deep and Lasting Intimate Relationships
by Diane Poole Heller, Ph.D.
Sounds True, 2019. 224 pages. Nonfiction 

From our earliest years, teaches Diane Poole Heller, we develop an attachment style that follows us through life, replaying in our intimate relationships, with our children, and at work. And traumatic events can deeply affect that core relational blueprint. With The Power of Attachment, a pioneer in attachment theory and trauma resolution brings together these two fields to help us understand and benefit from their complementary principles and methods.

SGR

How to Make an Apple Pie from Scratch

How to Make an Apple Pie from Scratch: In Search of the Recipe for our Universe, from the Origins of Atoms to the Big Bang 

by Harry Cliff

Doubleday, 2021. 385 pages. Nonfiction

Carl Sagan famously said, "If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe." But what fundamental matter is the universe made of? What banged in the Big Bang? And how did that matter arise from nothing into the world we now know? In How to Make an Apple Pie from Scratch, Harry Cliff—a University of Cambridge particle physicist, researcher on the Large Hadron Collider, and acclaimed science presenter--sets out in pursuit of answers. Cliff illuminates the history of physics and chemistry that brought us to our present understanding—and misunderstandings—of the world, while offering readers a front row seat to the dramatically unfolding quest to unlock, at long last, the secrets of our universe.

Harry Cliff's deep understanding of particle physics shows in the way he can summarize complex theories so that anyone can understand them.  Part science lesson, part history lesson, and part travelogue, the thing I liked best about this book was Cliff's obvious love of physics, shown in the way he stops to marvel at life-changing ideas, or at the sight of the Milky Way on a particularly clear night.  I also appreciated that Cliff doesn't get too bogged down in the details; he uses relatable (and sometimes humorous) examples that kept me intrigued, and helped me follow along with the complex ideas he was explaining.  I am now closer to understanding what a Higgs boson is than I've ever been before.

If you like How to Make an Apple Pie from Scratch you might also like:

The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements

by Sam Kean

Little, Brown & Co., 2010, 391 pages, Nonfiction

In this book dedicated to telling the most fascinating discovery stories related to the periodic table of elements, Kean uses a bevy of unusual facts and unforgettable anecdotes to trace their influence on history, ranging from the Manhattan Project to Silicon Valley to the "disappearing spoon," a theoretical utensil made from gallium (atomic number 31), which has a melting point just over room temperature.

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry

by Neil deGrasse Tyson

W.W. Norton & Co., 2017. 222 pages. Nonfiction

What is the nature of space and time? How do we fit within the universe? How does the universe fit within us? There's no better guide through these mind-expanding questions than acclaimed astrophysicist and best-selling author Neil deGrasse Tyson. But today, few of us have time to contemplate the cosmos. So Tyson brings the universe down to Earth succinctly and clearly, with sparkling wit, in tasty chapters consumable anytime and anywhere in your busy day.

Cosmos

by Carl Sagan

Ballantine Books, 2013, 396 pages. Nonfiction

Cosmos retraces the fourteen billion years of cosmic evolution that have transformed matter into consciousness, exploring such topics as the origin of life, the human brain, Egyptian hieroglyphics, spacecraft missions, the death of the Sun, the evolution of galaxies, and the forces and individuals who helped to shape modern science.

MB

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism

By Amanda Montell

Harper Wave, 2021. 309 pages. Nonfiction

What makes "cults" so intriguing and frightening? What makes them powerful? The reason why so many of us binge Manson documentaries and fall down rabbit holes researching suburban moms gone QAnon is because we're looking for a satisfying explanation for what causes people to join--and more importantly, stay in--extreme groups. We secretly want to know: could it happen to me? Amanda Montell's argument is that, on some level, it already has...

Cultish is engaging, bringing together riveting narratives, personal anecdotes, and social science. The author argues that cultish language is already in our everyday world, anything from social media influencers to religion to fitness programs. This book will make you think, and keep on thinking.

If you liked Cultish, you might also like:

Leadership is Language

By David Marquet

Portfolio/Penguin, 2020. 336 pages. Nonfiction

Too many leaders fall in love with the sound of their own voice, and wind up dictating plans and digging in their heels when problems begin to emerge. Even when you want to be a more collaborative leader, you can undermine your own efforts by defaulting to command-and-control language we've inherited from the industrial era. It's time to ditch the industrial age playbook of leadership. In Leadership is Language, you'll learn how choosing your words can dramatically improve decision-making and execution on your team. 

The Storm is Upon Us

By Mike Rothschild

Melville House, 2021. 301 pages. Nonfiction

A journalist who specializes in conspiracy theories draws on interviews with QAnon converts and victims, as well as psychologists, sociologists, and academics to explain the origin and growth of the movement, its embrace by right-wing media and politicians, and why it is important to understand it rather than mock it.

Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language

By Amanda Montell

Harper Wave, 2019. 291 pages. Nonfiction

Amanda Montell, reporter and feminist linguist, deconstructs language--from insults, cursing, gossip, and catcalling to grammar and pronunciation patterns--to reveal the ways it has been used for centuries to keep women and other marginalized genders from power. Montell effortlessly moves between history, science, and popular culture to explore these questions--and how we can use the answers to affect real social change. 

sr

Project Hail Mary

Project Hail Mary
by Andy Weir
Ballantine Books, 2021. 476 pages. Science Fiction

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission--and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company. His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him.

If you liked Project Hail Mary, then you might also like:

How to Astronaut
by Terry Virts
Workman Publishing, 2020. 310 pages. Science Nonfiction

Former NASA astronaut Terry Virts offers an insider's guide to astronauting with a behind-the-scenes look at the training, the basic rules, lessons, and procedures of space travel, including how to deal with a dead body in space, what it's like to film an IMAX movie in orbit, what exactly to do when nature calls, and much more.

Goldilocks
by Laura Lam
Orbit, 2020. 340 pages. Science Fiction

A gripping science fiction thriller where five women task themselves with ensuring the survival of the human race. Despite increasing restrictions on the freedoms of women on Earth, Valerie Black is spearheading the first all-female mission to a planet in the Goldilocks Zone, where conditions are just right for human habitation.

AS

Sapiens: A Graphic History

Sapiens: A Graphic History. The Birth of Humankind. Volume One

By Yuval N. Harari

Harper Perennial, 2020. 245 pages. Graphic Novel. 

One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited the Earth. Yet today there is only one: homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us? In this first volume of the full-color illustrated adaptation of his groundbreaking book, renowned historian Yuval Harari tells the story of humankind's creation and evolution, exploring the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be "human." 

If you liked Sapiens: A Graphic History, you may also like: 

Lone Survivors

By Chris Stringer

Henry Hold and Company, 2012. 320 pages. Nonfiction. 

Outlines a reassessment of human evolution that draws on recent fossil findings. Challenges current theories to say that humans coexisted and competed across the African continent while exchanging genes, tools, and behaviors. 

Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species: A Graphic Adaptation

By Michael Keller

Rodale, 2009. 192 pages. Graphic Novel. 

A stunning graphic adaptation of one of the most famous, contested, and important books of all time: "On the Origin of Species." Includes sections about Darwin's pioneering research, the book's initial public reception, his correspondence with other leading scientists, as well as the most recent breakthroughs in evolutionary theory. 

Heretics!: The Wonderous (and Dangerous) Beginnings of Modern Philosophy

By Steven M. Nadler

Princeton University Press, 2017. 180 pages. Graphic Novel. 

A graphic narrative that charts the birth of modern thought during the 17th century, a time where thinkers challenged authority to lay the foundations of modern philosophy and science and help usher in a new world. Tells the story of these early philosophers' ideas, lives, and times. 

sr

Cosmic Queries

Cosmic Queries: StarTalk's Guide to Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We're Going
By Neil deGrasse Tyson
National Geographic, 2021. 309 pages. Science

Tyson and coauthor James Trefil, a renowned physicist and science popularizer, take on the big questions that humanity has been posing for millennia—How did life begin? What is our place in the universe? Are we alone?—and provide answers based on the most current data, observations, and theories. Populated with paradigm-shifting discoveries that help explain the building blocks of astrophysics, this relatable and entertaining book will engage and inspire listeners of all ages.

If you like Cosmic Queries, you might also like:

Fundamentals: Ten Keys to Reality

by Frank Wilczek

Penguin Press, 2021. 254 pages. Science

Nobel Prize winner Frank Wilczek's Fundamentals is built around a simple but profound idea: the models of the world we construct as children are practical and adequate for everyday life, but they do not bring in the surprising and mind-expanding revelations of modern science. To do that, we must look at the world anew, combining clear thinking with an openness to wonder. This "born again" world is in many ways larger, fuller, and much stranger than it appears.

The Last Stargazers

by Emily Levesque

Sourcebooks, 2020. 313 pages. Science

Award-winning astronomer Emily Levesque shares the stories of modern-day stargazers, the people willing to adventure across high mountaintops and to some of the most remote corners of the planet, all in the name of science. From the lonely quiet of midnight stargazing to tall tales of wild bears loose in the observatory, The Last Stargazers is a love letter to astronomy and an affirmation of the crucial role that humans can and must play in the future of scientific discovery.

AS