Maybe you are curious about things, or perhaps you don’t like the inevitable gaps that creep up in all our educations. Maybe you would like to hold interesting conversations, or simply pass time doing something productive. Whatever you reason may be, reading books is surely one of the best activities you can engage in. And thankfully for us, there is an entire mountain of books filled with knowledge, that are just as entertaining as their fictional counterparts. Here are some such reads –
1. A Short History of Nearly Everything (Bill Bryson)
This popular science book is one of the steadiest sellers of the genre, and for good reason. Bryson’s simple English and illustrative examples, coupled with humorous stories about scientists and their discoveries not only helps you touch the subjects of physics, biology, and geology among many others, it also helps you realize the sheer perseverance, dedication, and comedy that goes into making science.
2. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (Yuval Harari)
Who are we, where did all we create come from? An intense, in-depth look into humanity and the structures and social orders that we take for granted, Sapiens puts up a mirror to our common collective and goes beyond what is reflected. It is an immensely dense book – people often take months to finish it – but the end product is something unique, a sense of deeper understanding and connection with ourselves and other humans.
3. The Emperor of All Maladies (Siddhartha Mukherjee)
Cancer is one of the most devastating and fearful illnesses that faces humanity today, and this Pulitzer winning book encapsulates both the clinical and personal sides of the fight science and people have waged against it. Alongside demystifying cancer, the book also provides a view into the life and experiences of the doctors who work everyday to help their patients deal with the illness against all odds.
4. The Making of the Atomic Bomb (Richard Rhodes)
Covering the most innovating and cutting edge discoveries and people whose history is forever tinged in blood and darkness, the book tells the story of how the world entered the atomic stage. People intimately associated with the whole processes themselves have lauded the truthfulness and simplicity of language of the read, which won the Pulitzer prize.
5. An Inconvenient Truth (Al Gore)
Released in conjunction with the documentary of the same name, the book expands on the former to bring together expert opinions, illustrations, scientific evidence, and personal experiences about one single phenomena – global warming. Devoid of minute analysis and needless politicization, the book is simply a harrowing wake up call, one that the world desperately needs.
There are just some starting points, of course. Every topic you can think of has been covered by some expert in the form of a book. Sometimes, these can lead you astray with their seductive words that seek to bend you opinions, but most are honest works that simply wish to communicate to the people who don’t hold three degrees important facts and information, covered painstakingly in detail and simple language, in the hopes that people know better, and thus, are able to do better.