Top Hacker News Book Recommendations in Science & Math (all time)

All Time Past 6 Months

Seven Brief Lessons on Physics

Carlo Rovelli

4.4 on Amazon

8 HN comments

Dirt to Soil: One Family’s Journey into Regenerative Agriculture

Gabe Brown and Chelsea Green Publishing

4.8 on Amazon

7 HN comments

Structures: Or Why Things Don't Fall Down

J. E. Gordon

4.7 on Amazon

7 HN comments

The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness

Sy Montgomery

4.6 on Amazon

7 HN comments

A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future

Sir David Attenborough and Jonnie Hughes

4.8 on Amazon

7 HN comments

Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming

Paul Hawken

4.6 on Amazon

7 HN comments

PIHKAL: A Chemical Love Story

Alexander Shulgin and Ann Shulgin

4.8 on Amazon

7 HN comments

Spacetime and Geometry: An Introduction to General Relativity

Sean M. Carroll

4.8 on Amazon

6 HN comments

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

Mary Roach, Shelly Frasier, et al.

4.6 on Amazon

6 HN comments

Snake: The Essential Visual Guide

Chris Mattison

4.8 on Amazon

6 HN comments

Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation

Daniel J. Siegel and Brilliance Audio

4.6 on Amazon

6 HN comments

Dinosaur: A Photicular Book

Dan Kainen and Kathy Wollard

4.8 on Amazon

6 HN comments

The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It . . . Every Time

Maria Konnikova

4.3 on Amazon

6 HN comments

The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914

David McCullough

4.7 on Amazon

6 HN comments

Rewire Your Anxious Brain: How to Use the Neuroscience of Fear to End Anxiety, Panic, and Worry

Catherine M. Pittman

4.6 on Amazon

5 HN comments

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kayallonFeb 27, 2018

Mary Roach. Her books are quite fun to read.

The titles are good too.

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex

atombenderonJuly 21, 2019

For anyone who liked this article, I can recommend Mary Roach's "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers" (2003) [1]. A fantastic book about what happens to human bodies after death. Part of the book is about visiting a body farm. She's a funny, very talented writer.

[1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32145.Stiff

tzsonMay 8, 2015

For a more varied look at what can happen after you die, I recommend the book "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers" by Mary Roach [1].

I think my favorite is to donate your body to a body farm [2].

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Stiff-Curious-Lives-Human-Cadavers/dp/...

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_farm

DocSavageonJan 27, 2008

We must pay respect to the people who donate their bodies for educational and scientific studies. So if the speakers or moving parts don't increase our knowledge, the keeper of the cadavers should veto their use. The excellent book "Stiff" by Mary Roach describes many interesting uses of cadavers, from crash test dummies to Death's Acre in Knoxville, TN.

616conAug 13, 2013

This reminds of when I read Stiff (an amazing book, by the way) [0], and how scientists in the good old days were weighing bodies before and after death, trying to find a weight of the soul, or any other quantitative values for the soul. I found that funny, but off-putting and disturbing.

My take: people are looking for any proof of the afterlife, holding onto a sliver hope proven by any scientific, factual account. I call the gamble on the afterlife faith, and why it cannot be guaranteed, but hey, that is way out of the scope of this conversation.

[0] http://www.amazon.com/Stiff-Curious-Lives-Human-Cadavers/dp/...

tzsonOct 20, 2014

Incapacitation is hard. The common belief that when you get shot you quickly go down and either pass out or are in too much pain or shock from the injury to do anything is pretty much a myth from movies.

There's some great information on this in the book "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers" by Mary Roach [1]. Even getting shot through the heart often leaves the person several seconds where they are conscious and able to act, giving them enough time to shoot back or shoot hostages.

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Stiff-Curious-Lives-Human-Cadavers/dp/...

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