best science books 2009
jdupuis | December 14, 2009A short list from the Christian Science Monitor:
The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann
The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and the Terror of Science by Richard Holmes
Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less Are the Keys to Sustainability by David Owen
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
jdupuis | December 12, 2009The latest issue of IT Professional (v11i6) has some interesting articles on strategic planning for IT organizations.
Information Technology Strategic Planning by Hong, Edward K
IT Innovations: Evaluate, Strategize, and Invest by Sahoo, Manas
Professional and Interpersonal Skills for ICT Specialists by Llorens-Garcia, Ariadna; Llinas-Audet, Xavier; Sabate, Ferran
IT and Business Alignment: The Effect on Productivity and Profitability by Nash, Elby M.
Finding Your True IT Transformation by Kraynak, Peter
Copyright Infringement and Protection in the Internet Age by Berti, John
Virtual Teams…
jdupuis | December 10, 2009Yet another solid list from the Globe and Mail, assembled from a few different categories. This list focuses on gift/coffee table-style books; I've left out a few of the many science and nature books that seem a bit more peripheral to my main mission.
Aviation in Canada: The Formative Years by Larry Milberry
Gil Cohen: Aviation Artist by Gil Cohen
Eco House Book by Terence Conran
Illustrated Birds of North America by Jon L. Dunn and Jonathan Alderfer
Whole Green Catalogue: 1,000 Best Things for You and the Earth edited by Michael W. Robbins
Birds of North America: The Complete…
jdupuis | December 9, 2009A good selection from The Economist.
The British Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective by Robert C. Allen
Why We Disagree About Climate Change: Understanding Controversy, Inaction and Opportunity by Mike Hulme
Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origin of Species by Sean B. Carroll
The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Mystic of the Atom by Graham Farmelo
Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human by Richard Wrangham.
Direct Red: A Surgeon's Story by Gabriel Weston
By the way, is anybody else noticing that the Dirac bio is shaping up to be the book of…
jdupuis | December 8, 2009A few nice items from the Canadian book industry magazine, Quill & Quire:
Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller: Oil and the End of Globalization by Jeff Rubin
Grass, Sky, Song: Promise and Peril in the World of Grassland Birds by Trevor Herriot
Slow Death by Robber Duck: How the Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Life Affects Our Health by Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie, with Sarah Dopp
jdupuis | December 7, 2009A nice selection from the Financial Times, spread across a few categories.
Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth by Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos H Papadimitriou
Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century by PW Singer
Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal by Tristram Stuart
Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species by Sean Carroll
The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution by Richard Dawkins
Seasons of Life: The Biological Rhythms That Living Things Need to Thrive and Survive by Russell Foster and Leon…
jdupuis | December 2, 2009Boing Boing has some very cool scitech suggestions in their annual gift guide for non-fiction books.
If Your Kid Eats This Book, Everything Will Still Be Okay: How to Know if Your Child's Injury or Illness Is Really an Emergency by Lara Zibners
The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business by Tara Hunt
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba, Bryan Mealer
Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities by Amy Stewart
How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer
The Math Book: From…
jdupuis | December 1, 2009A pretty good list from the Times, who've been a bit spotty with their lists the last few years.
The Age of Entanglement: When Quantum Physics Was Reborn by Louisa Gilder
The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes
Cold: Adventures in the World's Frozen Places by Bill Streever
The Invention of Air: A Story of Science, Faith, Revolution, and the Birth of America by Steven Johnson
The Lost City Of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann
The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Mystic of the Atom by…
jdupuis | November 29, 2009One of the most interesting lists every year is The Globe and Mail's Globe 100, and this year is no exception. There's relevant stuff all over the spectrum, from biography to history to graphic novels to popular science to the environment.
In the print version, the categories are pretty basic: Canadian fiction, international fiction, poetry, non-fiction, graphica. Online, the categories are, well, a little more granular, and we'll get to that train wreck after the list.
Here goes:
Logicomix by Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos H. Papadimitriou, art by Alecos Papadatos and Annie Di Donna
Tar…
jdupuis | November 24, 2009Obviously, Strategy+Business is not going to be core science books, but I've always included social media, technology and innovation books in my very broad definition of science books. There are a couple of categories that have some very fine books on recommendation.
Technology
Stealing MySpace: The Battle to Control the Most Popular Website in America by Julia Angwin
Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy by Lawrence Lessig
Say Everything: How Blogging Began, What It's Becoming, and Why It Matters by Scott Rosenberg
Marketing
Twitterville: How Businesses Can Thrive…
jdupuis | November 23, 2009Unfortunately, LJ's Best Books 2009: 31 Titles, Plus Best Genres & How-To doesn't have a dedicated science section but there are a few good recommendations nevertheless.
NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children by Po Bronson & Ashley Merryman
The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Mystic of the Atom by Graham Farmello
The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes
Waiting on a Train: The Embattled Future of Passenger Rail Service--A Year Spent Riding Across America by James McCommons
Mannahatta: A Natural…
jdupuis | November 16, 2009Sort of related to my ongoing series of Best Science Books 2009 lists, here's a nice list of the top 5 social media books I found on Mashable, via Tara Hunt. They're all 2009 books, after all.
The list is from Steve Cunningham who interestingly frames the five books in terms of the lessons we should take away from them.
You Need to Build Trust: Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith
Turn the Bullhorn Around: The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business by Tara Hunt
Learn the Pillars…
jdupuis | November 6, 2009Amazon has come out with their Editor's Picks for 2009. There are three categories that have books that are relevant to us here.
Science
The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes
Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origin of Species by Sean B. Carroll
Complexity: A Guided Tour by Melanie Mitchell
Fixing My Gaze: A Scientist's Journey Into Seeing in Three Dimensions by Susan R. Barry
The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Mystic of the Atom by Graham Farmelo
Every Patient Tells a Story by…
jdupuis | November 4, 2009Every year for the past 3 or 4 years I've been linking to and posting about all the "year's best books" lists that appear in various media outlets and highlighting the science books that are mentioned. From the beginning it's been a pretty popular service so I'm happy to continue it.
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.
This year, the first list is from Publisher's…