Last week, I asked readers to name five must-read books on science and technology. The results are below. I included nominations from my comments section, from the comments over at Crooked Timber, and from any other blogs I spotted. This represents the consensus of about thirty people.
The most-mentioned book was Hofstadter’s Goedel, Escher, Bach, which received eight votes. Interestingly, GEB was the only book that received negative votes (urging me not to include it). One of the negative voters called it a “show-off book”.
The results:
| Rank | Book | Author | Votes |
| 1 | Goedel, Escher, Bach | Hofstadter | 8 |
| 2 | Guns, Germs, and Steel | Diamond | 6 |
| 3 (tie) | On the Origin of Species | Darwin | 5 |
| 3 (tie) | The Character of Physical Law | Feynman | 5 |
| 5 (tie) | A Brief History of Time | Hawking | 4 |
| 5 (tie) | What is Mathematics? | Courant, Robbins | 4 |
| 5 (tie) | The Selfish Gene | Dawkins | 4 |
| 8 (tie) | QED | Feynman | 3 |
| 8 (tie) | The Visual Display of Quantitative Information | Tufte | 3 |
| 8 (tie) | The Double Helix | Watson, Crick | 3 |
Six books received two votes: Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Feynman’s The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams, Medawar’s The Limits of Science, Pinker’s The Blank Slate, and Schneier’s Beyond Fear. Eighty-five books received a single mention.
As in the university presidents’ survey, the respondents to my query showed a notable lack of consensus.
I’ll post my list tomorrow.
Must-Read Books: My List
Below is my list of six must-read books on science and technology. I know: I asked you for five, and now I’ve allowed myself six. I just couldn’t narrow it down any more. Naturally, I include only books that I have read; and I must admit that I haven’t…
I’m also surprised there’s no Knuth on the list. The Art of Computer Programming isn’t exactly short, I guess, but Literate Programming is also quite good.
Of all these books, apparently only “On the Origin of Species” is out of copyright or available online.
My list would include:
The Character of Physical Law / The Feynman Lectures on Physics
The Visual Display of Quantitative Information
But I’d also encourage scientists to read Tufte’s list of information design must-reads:
Interaction of Color
The Elements of Typographic Style
Mastering the Techniques of Teaching
Understanding Comics
Light and Color in the Outdoors
The Design of Everyday Things
Elements of Style, the last chapter on style (read once a year)
Maps and Civilizations
The Tufte Trilogy