Science And Nature Books

an oldie but goodie is the Ascent of Man by Jacob Bronowski

it was conceived as a documentary tv series, but the book is quite good

here's a summary of the tv episodes, without getting my copy out, i believe they equate to the chapters in the book

Series outline

Lower than the Angels — Evolution of man from proto-ape to the modern form 400,000 years ago.
The Harvest of the Seasons — Early human migration, agriculture and the first settlements, and war.
The Grain in the Stone — Tools, and the development of architecture and sculpture.
The Hidden Structure — Fire, metals and alchemy.
Music of the Spheres — The language of numbers and mathematics.
The Starry Messenger — Galileo's universe--and the implications of his trial on the shift to "northern" science.
The Majestic Clockwork — Explores Newton and Einstein's laws.
The Drive for Power — The Industrial Revolution and the effect on everyday life.
The Ladder of Creation — Darwin and Wallace's ideas on the origin of species.
World within World — The story of the periodic table--and of the atom.
Knowledge or Certainty — Physics and the clash of the pursuit of absolute vs. imperfect knowledge, and the misgivings of the scientists realizing the terrible outcome of the conflict. Auschwitz. Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Generation upon Generation — The joys of life, sex, and genetics--and the dark side of cloning.
The Long Childhood — Bronowski's treatise on the commitment of man.

The Poisoners Handbook A brief history of Forensic sciences in the US.

Thank you, interesting suggestions.

An older but a good one for one who lives in sub tropica is Dave Quammens The Song of the Dodo Its a popular science look t island biogeography and speculates about the evolution of unique spewcies on islands (and around cave systems)

Thanks farmerman, another good suggestion.

Anything at all written by Loren Eiseley, anthropologist extraordinaire who, during his lifetime (he died in 1977) was awarded more than 30 honorary degrees! Terrific writer.

Thanks for that, will check him out.