book exchange help!
So I'm participating in the Reddit book exchange and my guy is into long distance running and is studying biological sciences. Any suggestions?
"I'm glad I live in the GPS era. In a different century, I would've set off to visit the other side of the village and wandered off into the mountains and been eaten by a carnivorous plant. Or discovered the Americas."
-LaJessica
Thanks!
"I'm glad I live in the GPS era. In a different century, I would've set off to visit the other side of the village and wandered off into the mountains and been eaten by a carnivorous plant. Or discovered the Americas."
-LaJessica
I know i keep recommending this guy but it's a really intricate and scientific book. Tons of research went into it.
Obvious but he may not have read these...
What I talk about when I talk about running - Haruku Murakami
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner - Alan Sillitoe
Neither are very scientific though.
Incidentally I love the Belle and Sebastian song based on the latter book:
Loneliness of the Long Distance runner is pretty great. The movie is great too.
what about Guns, Germs and Steel?
Brain Matters is too expensive. I think I'm going to go with the loneliness of the long distance runner, but I would like to get something sciencey as well. If no one has better suggestions I might go with Steven Hawking, even though it's a different branch of science.
"I'm glad I live in the GPS era. In a different century, I would've set off to visit the other side of the village and wandered off into the mountains and been eaten by a carnivorous plant. Or discovered the Americas."
-LaJessica
Pretty sure I read this and really liked it a couple years ago, that or a very similar book.
(Stephen Hawking is kind of cliche, in a way, no offence)
Why did the stock market crash more than 500 points on a single Monday in 1987? Why do ancient species often remain stable in the fossil record for millions of years and then suddenly disappear? In a world where nice guys often finish last, why do humans value trust and cooperation? At first glance these questions don't appear to have anything in common, but in fact every one of these statements refers to a complex system. The science of complexity studies how single elements, such as a species or a stock, spontaneously organize into complicated structures like ecosystems and economies; stars become galaxies, and snowflakes avalanches almost as if these systems were obeying a hidden yearning for order. Drawing from diverse fields, scientific luminaries such as Nobel Laureates Murray Gell-Mann and Kenneth Arrow are studying complexity at a think tank called The Santa Fe Institute. The revolutionary new discoveries researchers have made there could change the face of every science from biology to cosmology to economics. M. Mitchell Waldrop's groundbreaking bestseller takes readers into the hearts and minds of these scientists to tell the story behind this scientific revolution as it unfolds.
Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychological Experiments of the Twentieth Century by Lauren Slater
Or anything by Oliver Sacks.
the book 'This is your brain on Music' was pretty interesting, if he's into music as well
(Stephen Hawking is kind of cliche, in a way, no offence)
Of course he's cliche, but that doesn't make him any less awesome.
"I'm glad I live in the GPS era. In a different century, I would've set off to visit the other side of the village and wandered off into the mountains and been eaten by a carnivorous plant. Or discovered the Americas."
-LaJessica
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner came on tv a month ago, but it was very late, I was sick and too stressed out to watch. Good song, Hattie. Issy likes it.
I read this before, Brain Matters - it's by a brain surgeon and it's really interesting, got some great real life stories in there but it's not at all sentimental, it's very accessible science.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2006/aug/19/scienceandnature.shopping1
http://amiilloyd.blogspot.com/