TOPIC · 22 BOOKS
Popular science
Books I have read about popular science, brought together across genres, periods and countries.
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👍🏼👍🏼Very goodA Short History of Nearly Everything
Bill BrysonA hilarious journey through almost the entire history of science. Bryson manages to explain huge subjects through the people, accidents and obsessions behind the discoveries. It is endlessly interesting, and worth rereading from time to time to refresh what you know.
👍🏼👍🏼Very goodLa ciencia en la sombra. Los crímenes más célebres de la historia, las series y el cine a la luz de la ciencia forense
J.M. MuletA very entertaining book to understand what forensic science really can do and what the series and movies exaggerate.
👍🏼👍🏼⭐️ExcellentEl peligro de creer
Luis Alfonso GámezA book that I think a lot of people would need to read. It's very entertaining because it talks about fraud, pseudoscience and why we believe absurd things.
👍🏼👍🏼⭐️ExcellentCockpit Confidential: Everything You Need to Know About Air Travel: Questions, Answers & Reflections
Patrick SmithI love airplanes and the business of airlines. This is one of the most entertaining books I've ever read about commercial aviation. It answers questions we all have when flying and explains what happens in a cabin with clarity, experience and a lot of humor.
👍🏼👍🏼Very goodThe Creative Spark
Agustín FuentesOne of the anthropology books I have enjoyed most. Despite its length, I found it light and engaging. The author explains the origins of creativity in human beings.
👍🏼GoodStatistical: Ten Easy Ways to Avoid Being Misled by Numbers
Anthony ReubenEasy to read, illustrative and very interesting, this book written by the BBC's chief statistical officer teaches us to understand and be critical of the numbers, surveys and statistics we see daily in the media.
👍🏼👍🏼Very goodThe Checklist Manifesto
Atul GawandeA very interesting book about how something as simple as a checklist can prevent huge mistakes in medicine, aviation and all kinds of complex organizations.
👍🏼GoodWhen We Cease to Understand the World
Benjamín LabatutIt is a comfortable, quick read. I liked it and recommended it, but it left me with a bitter feeling. It tries to explore science, scientists and their pursuits, yet remains a succession of rather superficial stories. It could have been a great book, but did not quite succeed. Zweig could have made something extraordinary from the same material.
👍🏼GoodThinking in Numbers
Daniel TammetTammet, who is autistic, once held a record for reciting digits of pi. In this book he explains his distinctive way of seeing the world through mathematics, using stories and anecdotes that he transforms into numbers. It is interesting, although some chapters feel slow or less worthwhile.
👍🏼👍🏼⭐️ExcellentLongitud
Dava SobelIt tells the story of the problem of calculating longitude at sea and of John Harrison, the clockmaker who spent decades building a timepiece accurate enough to solve it. Science, navigation, obsession and history are all told in an exciting way.
👍🏼GoodEl arte de vender mierda
Fernando CerveraIndignant and funny at the same time, it explains how scams like homeopathy and other pseudosciences work trying to sell a therapy that the author invented himself: fecomagnetism.
👍🏼👍🏼Very goodA Mathematician's Apology
G.H. HardyMy dream has always been to pursue a career in mathematics, and this book reminded me why. It's a 1940 book that explains why mathematics is important and beautiful.
👍🏼👍🏼⭐️ExcellentFactfulness
Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling y Anna Rosling RönnlundOne of the books that has helped me the most to understand the world through data and to distrust many of the intuitions we take for granted. It explains how our vision is often far more pessimistic than reality and how biases, headlines and our way of thinking make us misinterpret progress. An important book for making better decisions and looking at the world more rigorously.
👍🏼👍🏼Very goodMedicina sin engaños
J.M. MuletA very clear explanation of the dangers of alternative medicine and those inventions that are so fashionable now.
👍🏼GoodInteligencia física
Javier SantaolallaA very interesting and easy to read book of scientific dissemination very useful for understanding from a physical point of view how our senses perceive the world and how our brain interprets and understands it.
👍🏼👍🏼Very goodLightning
Jean EchenozIt's not a biography of Nikola Tesla as such, but through another character, Jean Echenoz tells many real situations and stories about Tesla. Very interesting and very entertaining.
👍🏼👍🏼Very goodTicker: the quest to create an artificial heart
Mimi SwartzA very interesting story about the beginnings and advances in the development of the artificial heart, the challenges and all the efforts made and the lives sacrificed along the way to save millions more people.
👎🏼BadOaxaca Journal
Oliver SacksA botanical journal from a trip through Oaxaca. A bit boring at first, it ends up being more interesting talking about history. I was annoyed by his criticism of the Spanish during the conquest (you have to have eggs being English).
👍🏼👍🏼Very goodWhat If?
Randall MunroeThe book is very entertaining and entertaining because it answers hypothetical questions that the author answers scientifically, from whether the Earth would move if we put all the twins together and jump at once or how many pieces of Lego would be needed to build a bridge from London to NYC.
👍🏼👍🏼⭐️ExcellentWhat is ChatGPT doing… and why does it work?
Stephen WolframA short, accessible book for understanding AI and what we are living through. It explains how models such as ChatGPT work in technical terms that remain accessible, including the logic behind neural networks and training. It helped me understand so many things. I think it is essential groundwork for what is coming.
👍🏼GoodThe Soul of an Octopus
Sy MontgomeryIt's very interesting to learn about octopuses, their characteristics and behaviors. The bad thing is that what surrounds information is a childish and overly sensitive story.
👍🏼👍🏼Very good