Best Science Books 2012: Mitch Joel, January Magazine, The Seattle Times and more

Another bunch of lists for your reading, gift-giving and collection development pleasure.

Every year for the last bunch of years I’ve been linking to and posting about all the “year’s best sciencey books” lists that appear in various media outlets and shining a bit of light on the best of the year.

All the previous 2012 lists are here.

This post includes the following:

Mitch Joel The best business books of 2012

• Makers: The New Industrial Revolution by Chris Anderson
• Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain

January Magazine Best Books of 2012: Non-Fiction

• Darwin’s Devices: What Evolving Robots Can Tell Us About the History of Life and the Future of Technology by John Long
• Gifts of the Crow: How Perception, Emotion, and Thought Allow Smart Birds to Behave Like Humans by John Marzluff and Tony Angell
• The Life of Super-Earths: How the Hunt for Alien Worlds and Artificial Cells Will Revolutionize Life on Our Planet by Dimitar Sasselov

The Seattle Times 25 best books of 2012

• Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic by David Quammen

Liesl Shurtliff

• Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain

Sinistmer’s Best of 2012

• Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain

Eric Shanfield

• The Making of the Atomic Bomb: 25th Anniversary Edition by Richard Rhodes
• The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail — but Some Don't by Nate Silver

The Philosophers Magazine

• Why Does the World Exist?: An Existential Detective Story by Jim Holt
• Beyond Human Nature: How Culture and Experience Shape the Human Mind by Jesse Prinz

Chicago Center for Literature and Photography The Year in Books 2012: Best of the Best

• Leaving Mundania: Inside the Transformative World of Live Action Role-Playing Games by Lizzie Stark
• The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain: The Surprising Talents of the Middle-Aged Mind by Barbara Strauch

The Hindu 12 good reads from 2012

• Like a Virgin: How Science is Redesigning the Rules of Sex by Aarathi Prasad
• A History of the World in Twelve Maps by Jerry Brotton

Karen Edmisten Shockingly Clever Reading in 2012

• Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain

I'm always looking for recommendations and notifications of book lists as they appear in various media outlets. If you see one that I haven't covered, please let me know at jdupuis at yorku dot ca or in the comments.

I am picking up most of my lists from Largehearted Boy.

For my purposes, I define science books pretty broadly to include science, engineering, computing, history & philosophy of science & technology, environment, social aspects of science and even business books about technology trends or technology innovation. Deciding what is and isn’t a science book is squishy at best, especially at the margins, but in the end I pick books that seem broadly about science and technology rather than something else completely. Lists of business, history or nature books are among the tricky ones.

And if you wish to support my humble list-making efforts, run on over to Amazon, take a look at Steve Jobs or The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks or maybe even something else from today's list.