2018 Summer Reading List: Popular Sciences Books
For some of us, summer break means almost three months away from anything resembling a textbook. For others, it’s a chance to catch up on the books we didn’t have time to read during the school year. The UCLA Science Libraries have compiled a list of twenty popular science books that are perfect for your summer break, with links to find the books in our collection, on Amazon, or in the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL). Happy reading!
For the zoologists, or simply those curious about quirky animal behavior: by Lucy Cooke |
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For the planetary exploration nerds: Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto by Alan Stern and David Grinspoon |
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For those looking to gain a deeper insight into physics: Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli |
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A hybrid piece on natural sciences and the history of science: The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk Wallace Johnson |
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For those interested in our scaly predecessors: The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World by Steve Brusatte |
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For those nostalgic for the Apollo Days: by Robert Kurson |
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For those looking to understand what it biologically and consciously means to be human: Think Tank: Forty Neuroscientists Explore the Biological Roots of Human Experience edited by David J. Linden |
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A personal look at cosmologists on their race to obtain truth and prestige: Losing the Nobel Prize: A Story of Cosmology, Ambition, and the Perils of Science’s Highest Honor by Brian Keating |
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For hobbyist botanists: edited by Paul Smith |
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For those interested in the dark underbelly of todays healthcare landscape: by Maya Dusenbery |
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For those looking to go on a chilly adventure to the ends of the Earth: by Edward J. Larson |
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For those who look after lab flies and are dying for some recognition: by Stephanie Elizabeth Mohr |
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For the budding physicist: by Jon Butterworth |
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For those that dream of Solar System colonization: by Michio Kaku |
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For those interested in one of the fundamental forces of nature: by Alanna Mitchell |
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For astrogeologists or those interested in the origins of the Solar System: by Natalie Starkey |
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For those who love cool science applied to a great fictional narrative: by James S.A. Corey |
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For those who love today's greatest science communicator: Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson |
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For those who need to destress from the pressure of college: by Carl Sagan |
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For those itching for a classic: by Stephen Hawking |
Written by Hayley Bricker, Science Libraries Research Assistant