Discover new books on Goodreads
Meet your next favorite book
Sign in with Facebook
Best General Science Books
Non-fiction books about neuroscience, genetics, biology, physiology, ecology, etc, etc.
Score
A book’s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
| 501 |
|
Life in the Universe: Essays
by
4.16 avg rating — 116 ratings
score: 66,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 501 |
|
The First Three Minutes: A Modern View of the Origin of the Universe
by
4.10 avg rating — 13,171 ratings
score: 66,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 501 |
|
The Martians of Science: Five Physicists Who Changed the Twentieth Century
by
3.82 avg rating — 101 ratings
score: 66,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 501 |
|
This Explains Everything: 150 Deep, Beautiful, and Elegant Theories of How the World Works
by
John Brockman (Editor)
3.66 avg rating — 2,824 ratings
score: 66,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 505 |
|
Carl Sagan and Immanuel Velikovsky
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 32 ratings
score: 65,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 505 |
|
Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems: Ptolemaic and Copernican
by
4.07 avg rating — 1,283 ratings
score: 65,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 505 |
|
The Outer Limits of Reason: What Science, Mathematics, and Logic Cannot Tell Us
by
4.02 avg rating — 1,036 ratings
score: 65,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 505 |
|
THE MOLECULE HUNT: Archaeology and the Search for Ancient DNA
by
3.58 avg rating — 50 ratings
score: 65,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 505 |
|
John von Neumann: The Scientific Genius Who Pioneered the Modern Computer, Game Theory, Nuclear Deterrence, and Much More
by
3.73 avg rating — 250 ratings
score: 65,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 505 |
|
Galapagos: Preserving Darwin's legacy
by
4.57 avg rating — 7 ratings
score: 65,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 511 |
|
Carl Sagan's Universe
by
Yervant Terzian (Editor)
4.03 avg rating — 65 ratings
score: 64,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 511 |
|
Night Comes to the Cretaceous: Comets, Craters, Controversy, and the Last Days of the Dinosaurs
by
4.14 avg rating — 65 ratings
score: 64,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 511 |
|
Thinking Physics: Understandable Practical Reality
by
Lewis Carroll Epstein (Illustrator)
4.40 avg rating — 416 ratings
score: 64,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 511 |
|
Flying Dinosaurs: How Fearsome Reptiles Became Birds
by
John Pickrell (Goodreads Author)
4.15 avg rating — 364 ratings
score: 64,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 511 |
|
John Von Neumann and Norbert Wiener
by
4.36 avg rating — 44 ratings
score: 64,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 511 |
|
Inheritors of the Earth: How Nature Is Thriving in an Age of Extinction
by
3.91 avg rating — 626 ratings
score: 64,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 517 |
|
Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge
by
3.98 avg rating — 4,963 ratings
score: 63,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 517 |
|
Out of Thin Air: Dinosaurs, Birds, and Earth's Ancient Atmosphere
by
3.90 avg rating — 147 ratings
score: 63,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 517 |
|
Napoleon's Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History
by
3.97 avg rating — 7,108 ratings
score: 63,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 517 |
|
The Map of My Life
by
3.43 avg rating — 28 ratings
score: 63,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 517 |
|
In the Name of Sharks
by
4.33 avg rating — 12 ratings
score: 63,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 522 |
|
Aristotle to Zoos: A Philosophical Dictionary of Biology
by
3.94 avg rating — 17 ratings
score: 62,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 522 |
|
I Am Mathematician
by
3.99 avg rating — 82 ratings
score: 62,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 522 |
|
Photo Ark Wonders: Celebrating Diversity in the Animal Kingdom
by
4.74 avg rating — 140 ratings
score: 62,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 525 |
|
Scars of Evolution: What Our Bodies Tell Us About Human Origins
by
4.13 avg rating — 246 ratings
score: 61,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 525 |
|
Adventures of a Mathematician
by
4.09 avg rating — 463 ratings
score: 61,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 525 |
|
Vanishing: The World's Most Vulnerable Animals
by
4.79 avg rating — 290 ratings
score: 61,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 528 |
|
Masters of the Planet: The Search for Our Human Origins
by
Ian Tattersall (Goodreads Author)
4.06 avg rating — 1,322 ratings
score: 60,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 528 |
|
Atomic Accidents: A History of Nuclear Meltdowns and Disasters: From the Ozark Mountains to Fukushima
by
4.22 avg rating — 2,866 ratings
score: 60,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 528 |
|
I Want to be a Mathematician: An Automathography
by
4.21 avg rating — 282 ratings
score: 60,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 528 |
|
The Photo Ark: One Man's Quest to Document the World's Animals
by
4.77 avg rating — 1,275 ratings
score: 60,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 532 |
|
Alex's Adventures in Numberland: Dispatches from the Wonderful World of Mathematics
by
Alex Bellos (Goodreads Author)
4.11 avg rating — 5,613 ratings
score: 59,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 532 |
|
Alan Turing: Life and Legacy of a Great Thinker
by
4.14 avg rating — 7 ratings
score: 59,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 534 |
|
The Invention of Air
by
Steven Johnson (Goodreads Author)
3.82 avg rating — 3,250 ratings
score: 58,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 534 |
|
Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us
by
4.01 avg rating — 32,578 ratings
score: 58,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 534 |
|
The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Our World from Scratch
by
3.76 avg rating — 3,547 ratings
score: 58,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 534 |
|
John von Neumann and the Origins of Modern Computing
by
3.58 avg rating — 45 ratings
score: 58,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 538 |
|
The Wild Life of Our Bodies: Predators, Parasites, and Partners That Shape Who We Are Today
by
3.91 avg rating — 1,265 ratings
score: 57,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 539 |
|
Resurrection Science: Conservation, De-extinction and the Precarious Future of Wild Things
by
M.R. O'Connor (Goodreads Author)
4.16 avg rating — 381 ratings
score: 56,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 540 |
|
The Black Hole War: My Battle with Stephen Hawking to Make the World Safe for Quantum Mechanics
by
4.13 avg rating — 11,395 ratings
score: 55,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 540 |
|
Your Brain On Nature: The Science of Nature's Influence on Your Health, Happiness and Vitality
by
Eva M. Selhub (Goodreads Author)
3.96 avg rating — 423 ratings
score: 55,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 542 |
|
Overpowered: The Dangers of Electromagnetic Radiation (EMF) and What You Can Do about It
by
4.09 avg rating — 68 ratings
score: 54,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 543 |
|
The Sun's Heartbeat: And Other Stories from the Life of the Star That Powers Our Planet
by
4.19 avg rating — 461 ratings
score: 53,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 544 |
|
Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters: From Dating, Shopping, and Praying to Going to War and Becoming a Billionaire-- Two Evolutionary Psychologists Explain Why We Do What We Do
by
3.56 avg rating — 1,874 ratings
score: 52,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 544 |
|
The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes: How a Stone-Age Comet Changed the Course of World Culture
by
4.58 avg rating — 12 ratings
score: 52,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 546 |
|
Disturbing the Universe
by
4.18 avg rating — 909 ratings
score: 50,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 546 |
|
Our Stolen Future: Are We Threatening Our Fertility, Intelligence and Survival? A Scientific Detective Story
by
4.11 avg rating — 862 ratings
score: 50,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 546 |
|
Department of Mad Scientists, The
by
3.57 avg rating — 425 ratings
score: 50,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 546 |
|
What is Real?: The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics
by
Adam Becker (Goodreads Author)
4.28 avg rating — 3,667 ratings
score: 50,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 550 |
|
The Spark of Life: Electricity in the Human Body
by
3.95 avg rating — 751 ratings
score: 49,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 550 |
|
Great Principles of Computing
by
3.34 avg rating — 32 ratings
score: 49,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 552 |
|
Junk DNA: A Journey Through the Dark Matter of the Genome
by
3.93 avg rating — 1,064 ratings
score: 48,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 553 |
|
Infinite Powers: How Calculus Reveals the Secrets of the Universe
by
Steven H. Strogatz (Goodreads Author)
4.29 avg rating — 7,127 ratings
score: 46,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 554 |
|
Frankenstein's Cat: Cuddling Up to Biotech's Brave New Beasts
by
Emily Anthes (Goodreads Author)
3.73 avg rating — 1,028 ratings
score: 45,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 555 |
|
A History of the World in 100 Objects
by
4.19 avg rating — 9,221 ratings
score: 44,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 556 |
|
The Archimedes Codex: How a Medieval Prayer Book Is Revealing the True Genius of Antiquity's Greatest Scientist
by
3.90 avg rating — 708 ratings
score: 43,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 557 |
|
No Apparent Danger: The True Story of Volcanic Disaster at Galeras and Nevado Del Ruiz
by
Victoria Bruce (Goodreads Author)
4.13 avg rating — 317 ratings
score: 41,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 558 |
|
Empire of Ants: The Hidden World and Extraordinary Lives of Earth's Tiny Conquerors
by
4.20 avg rating — 1,019 ratings
score: 39,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 559 |
|
Proof: The Science of Booze
by
Adam Rogers (Goodreads Author)
3.92 avg rating — 4,213 ratings
score: 38,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 559 |
|
The Better Half: On the Genetic Superiority of Women
by
Sharon Moalem (Goodreads Author)
3.96 avg rating — 1,545 ratings
score: 38,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 561 |
|
The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe
by
4.43 avg rating — 5,391 ratings
score: 37,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 562 |
|
Survival of the Friendliest: Understanding Our Origins and Rediscovering Our Common Humanity
by
4.03 avg rating — 1,657 ratings
score: 36,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 563 |
|
Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention— and How to Think Deeply Again
by
4.23 avg rating — 72,959 ratings
score: 35,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 564 |
|
The Second Law
by
4.19 avg rating — 106 ratings
score: 34,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 564 |
|
Tapestries of Life: Uncovering the Lifesaving Secrets of the Natural World
by
4.22 avg rating — 1,301 ratings
score: 34,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 566 |
|
Awakenings
by
4.09 avg rating — 13,900 ratings
score: 33,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 566 |
|
Life Changing: How Humans are Shaping the Course of Evolution
by
4.32 avg rating — 147 ratings
score: 33,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 568 |
|
Madame Curie: A Biography
by
4.37 avg rating — 5,082 ratings
score: 32,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 568 |
|
Microbes from Hell
by
4.23 avg rating — 26 ratings
score: 32,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 570 |
|
What Mad Pursuit: A Personal View of Scientific Discovery
by
3.96 avg rating — 548 ratings
score: 31,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 571 |
|
The Scientists: A History of Science Told Through the Lives of Its Greatest Inventors
by
4.11 avg rating — 1,230 ratings
score: 30,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 571 |
|
A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing
by
3.94 avg rating — 30,438 ratings
score: 30,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 571 |
|
Islands of Abandonment: Life in the Post-Human Landscape
by
Cal Flyn (Goodreads Author)
4.20 avg rating — 5,722 ratings
score: 30,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 574 |
|
Seasons of Life
by
3.54 avg rating — 26 ratings
score: 29,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 575 |
|
The Recursive Universe: Cosmic Complexity and the Limits of Scientific Knowledge
by
3.92 avg rating — 291 ratings
score: 26,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 576 |
|
The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons: The History of the Human Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma, Madness, and Recovery
by
Sam Kean (Goodreads Author)
4.25 avg rating — 13,548 ratings
score: 25,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 577 |
|
The Day the Universe Changed: How Galileo's Telescope Changed the Truth
by
4.21 avg rating — 2,078 ratings
score: 22,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 578 |
|
The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World
by
3.95 avg rating — 5,948 ratings
score: 18,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 579 |
|
Introduction to Quantum Mechanics
by
4.25 avg rating — 2,796 ratings
score: 17,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 580 |
|
Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe
by
4.21 avg rating — 18,736 ratings
score: 16,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
Robin
4413 books
51 friends
51 friends
Jake
1359 books
90 friends
90 friends
Ty
26 books
0 friends
0 friends
Aylons
235 books
55 friends
55 friends
Thom
6022 books
294 friends
294 friends
Lobstergirl
5664 books
157 friends
157 friends
Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large)
546 books
365 friends
365 friends
Jayme
1013 books
60 friends
60 friends
More voters…
Comments Showing 1-13 of 13 (13 new)
date
newest »
newest »
Dinosaur Heresies (Asuming it's the one by Bakker) popped up as the only hit when I searched for it under find/add books to list.Brief History of Time is in the top 5.
Cellular Biology - uh, which author? That's a pretty general title.
Susanna wrote: "Dinosaur Heresies (Asuming it's the one by Bakker) popped up as the only hit when I searched for it under find/add books to list.Brief History of Time is in the top 5.
Cellular Biology - uh, whi..."
Any major text will do, be nice to find one that is more narrative than schematic.
Removed an obvious work of fiction.
I deleted several works of fiction as well as several religious texts. For those voters interested in the intersection of science and religion, I would suggest finding or starting a new list for that purpose. This list is geared towards nonfiction science books rather than religious interpretations or debates with science.
I'm rather disturbed about the amount of novels that appear on this purported list of "scientific novels" that are taking the stance of intelligent design. Intelligent design is not scientific by its very definition, it is not something that can be tested or disproven and therefore should not be on a list about scientific (keyword here) books.
Hannah wrote: "I'm rather disturbed about the amount of novels that appear on this purported list of "scientific novels" that are taking the stance of intelligent design. Intelligent design is not scientific by i..."So what. I personally believe in evolution, not intelligent design, but I think they have a place on this list.
Here is another fantastic list of science books, complete with commentary and analysishttp://www.missingtheforest.com/library/
Joel wrote: "Hannah wrote: "I'm rather disturbed about the amount of novels that appear on this purported list of "scientific novels" that are taking the stance of intelligent design. Intelligent design is not ..." I, too, am offended by inclusion of books about ID. It's a thoroughly discredited concept and has used pseudo-scientific reasoning to persist as long as it has. Only in America, land of anti-intellectualism!
Related News
Need another excuse to treat yourself to a new book this week? We've got you covered with the buzziest new releases of the day, according to early...
Anyone can add books to this list.
How to Vote
To vote on existing books from the list, beside each book there is a link vote for this book clicking it will add that book to your votes.
To vote on books not in the list or books you couldn't find in the list, you can click on the tab add books to this list and then choose from your books, or simply search.
I'M ASKING FRIENDS WHO KNOW HOW TO ADD THESE TITLES TO THIS LIST.