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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.
1 |
A Short History of Nearly Everything
by
4.22 avg rating — 415,212 ratings
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2 |
A Brief History of Time
by
4.21 avg rating — 470,199 ratings
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3 |
The Selfish Gene
by
Richard Dawkins (Goodreads Author)
4.16 avg rating — 189,968 ratings
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4 |
Cosmos
by
4.40 avg rating — 156,489 ratings
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5 |
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
by
4.04 avg rating — 448,140 ratings
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6 |
The Origin of Species
by
4.01 avg rating — 120,649 ratings
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7 |
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character
by
4.27 avg rating — 214,561 ratings
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8 |
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
by
4.29 avg rating — 78,946 ratings
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9 |
The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution
by
Richard Dawkins (Goodreads Author)
4.16 avg rating — 55,640 ratings
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10 |
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
by
3.93 avg rating — 74,090 ratings
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11 |
The Universe in a Nutshell
by
4.19 avg rating — 44,848 ratings
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11 |
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
by
4.29 avg rating — 51,884 ratings
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13 |
The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution
by
Richard Dawkins (Goodreads Author)
4.14 avg rating — 28,498 ratings
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14 |
Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters
by
4.06 avg rating — 27,752 ratings
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15 |
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
by
4.34 avg rating — 1,217,279 ratings
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16 |
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
by
4.34 avg rating — 111,981 ratings
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17 |
The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality
by
4.13 avg rating — 40,176 ratings
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18 |
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
by
4.06 avg rating — 235,866 ratings
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19 |
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
by
4.03 avg rating — 29,349 ratings
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20 |
The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography
by
4.30 avg rating — 28,630 ratings
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21 |
Silent Spring
by
4.06 avg rating — 53,762 ratings
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22 |
King Solomon's Ring
by
4.13 avg rating — 4,502 ratings
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23 |
In Search of Schrödinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality
by
4.06 avg rating — 21,462 ratings
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24 |
The Double Helix
by
3.84 avg rating — 19,831 ratings
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25 |
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
by
Rebecca Skloot (Goodreads Author)
4.13 avg rating — 791,769 ratings
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26 |
The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature
by
Steven Pinker (Goodreads Author)
4.09 avg rating — 25,139 ratings
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27 |
Fermat's Enigma
by
4.30 avg rating — 32,953 ratings
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28 |
The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements
by
Sam Kean (Goodreads Author)
3.92 avg rating — 55,334 ratings
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29 |
Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History
by
4.14 avg rating — 10,181 ratings
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30 |
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
by
Randall Munroe (Goodreads Author)
4.14 avg rating — 192,493 ratings
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31 |
The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design
by
Richard Dawkins (Goodreads Author)
4.09 avg rating — 41,306 ratings
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32 |
The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature
by
4.05 avg rating — 17,242 ratings
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33 |
An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales
by
4.15 avg rating — 23,451 ratings
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34 |
On Human Nature
by
4.14 avg rating — 3,580 ratings
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35 |
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
by
Elizabeth Kolbert (Goodreads Author)
4.15 avg rating — 77,868 ratings
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36 |
The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance
by
4.21 avg rating — 10,700 ratings
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37 |
Parasite Rex: Inside the Bizarre World of Nature's Most Dangerous Creatures
by
Carl Zimmer (Goodreads Author)
4.20 avg rating — 5,950 ratings
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38 |
The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal
by
4.08 avg rating — 28,407 ratings
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39 |
The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher
by
4.14 avg rating — 10,363 ratings
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40 |
Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science
by
4.05 avg rating — 10,834 ratings
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41 |
Chaos: Making a New Science
by
James Gleick (Goodreads Author)
4.03 avg rating — 40,435 ratings
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42 |
A Briefer History of Time
by
4.26 avg rating — 42,325 ratings
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43 |
Your Inner Fish: a Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body
by
Neil Shubin (Goodreads Author)
4.04 avg rating — 28,300 ratings
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44 |
Physics of the Impossible
by
4.09 avg rating — 41,127 ratings
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45 |
Nineteen Ways of Looking at Consciousness
by
3.46 avg rating — 720 ratings
score: 895,
and
9 people voted
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46 |
The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus
by
4.16 avg rating — 120,053 ratings
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47 |
Voyage of the Beagle
by
4.02 avg rating — 8,320 ratings
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48 |
The Feynman Lectures on Physics
by
4.61 avg rating — 8,021 ratings
score: 804,
and
9 people voted
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49 |
The Extended Phenotype: The Long Reach of the Gene
by
Richard Dawkins (Goodreads Author)
4.12 avg rating — 9,522 ratings
score: 763,
and
9 people voted
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50 |
Billions & Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium
by
4.30 avg rating — 17,677 ratings
score: 745,
and
9 people voted
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51 |
Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space
by
4.34 avg rating — 38,886 ratings
score: 739,
and
8 people voted
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52 |
The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic—and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World
by
Steven Johnson (Goodreads Author)
3.89 avg rating — 55,472 ratings
score: 733,
and
8 people voted
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53 |
Relativity: The Special and the General Theory
by
4.20 avg rating — 22,809 ratings
score: 720,
and
9 people voted
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54 |
The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science
by
4.20 avg rating — 39,738 ratings
score: 706,
and
8 people voted
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55 |
How to Lie with Statistics
by
3.84 avg rating — 17,691 ratings
score: 668,
and
8 people voted
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56 |
I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life
by
4.18 avg rating — 30,745 ratings
score: 654,
and
7 people voted
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57 |
Life on Earth
by
4.46 avg rating — 4,958 ratings
score: 646,
and
7 people voted
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58 |
Microbe Hunters
by
4.14 avg rating — 4,386 ratings
score: 643,
and
7 people voted
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59 |
The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution
by
Walter Isaacson (Goodreads Author)
4.12 avg rating — 39,341 ratings
score: 613,
and
7 people voted
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60 |
Theory of People: Master Behaviors, Business, Economics, Emotions and Mind in One Simple Way (Understanding the World Book 1)
by
Jakub Lasak (Goodreads Author)
4.22 avg rating — 216 ratings
score: 600,
and
6 people voted
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61 |
What Is Life? with Mind and Matter and Autobiographical Sketches
by
4.13 avg rating — 7,557 ratings
score: 589,
and
7 people voted
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61 |
The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York
by
4.01 avg rating — 36,645 ratings
score: 589,
and
7 people voted
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63 |
Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst
by
4.39 avg rating — 30,170 ratings
score: 587,
and
6 people voted
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64 |
The Mismeasure of Man
by
4.06 avg rating — 9,246 ratings
score: 563,
and
6 people voted
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65 |
The Making of the Atomic Bomb
by
4.40 avg rating — 24,033 ratings
score: 559,
and
8 people voted
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66 |
The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time
by
4.17 avg rating — 9,837 ratings
score: 558,
and
6 people voted
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67 |
Kinds of Minds: Toward an Understanding of Consciousness
by
3.81 avg rating — 2,183 ratings
score: 554,
and
6 people voted
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67 |
Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman
by
James Gleick (Goodreads Author)
4.12 avg rating — 24,172 ratings
score: 554,
and
7 people voted
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69 |
Einstein: His Life and Universe
by
Walter Isaacson (Goodreads Author)
4.17 avg rating — 198,894 ratings
score: 534,
and
6 people voted
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70 |
The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood
by
James Gleick (Goodreads Author)
4.04 avg rating — 16,916 ratings
score: 525,
and
6 people voted
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71 |
The God Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer, What Is the Question?
by
4.15 avg rating — 4,121 ratings
score: 524,
and
6 people voted
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72 |
The Gene: An Intimate History
by
4.35 avg rating — 54,475 ratings
score: 523,
and
6 people voted
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73 |
Microcosmos: Four Billion Years of Microbial Evolution
by
4.22 avg rating — 892 ratings
score: 514,
and
6 people voted
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74 |
Coming of Age in the Milky Way
by
Timothy Ferris (Goodreads Author)
4.16 avg rating — 3,107 ratings
score: 513,
and
6 people voted
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75 |
Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries
by
Neil deGrasse Tyson (Goodreads Author)
4.10 avg rating — 31,989 ratings
score: 509,
and
6 people voted
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76 |
The Descent of Man
by
4.04 avg rating — 4,426 ratings
score: 499,
and
6 people voted
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77 |
Alien Earths: The New Science of Planet Hunting in the Cosmos
by
Lisa Kaltenegger (Goodreads Author)
3.99 avg rating — 1,339 ratings
score: 497,
and
5 people voted
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78 |
The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God
by
4.29 avg rating — 10,664 ratings
score: 496,
and
6 people voted
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79 |
Gorillas in the Mist
by
4.15 avg rating — 21,096 ratings
score: 495,
and
6 people voted
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80 |
Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution
by
3.79 avg rating — 4,028 ratings
score: 490,
and
5 people voted
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81 |
Demon Fish: Travels Through the Hidden World of Sharks
by
3.90 avg rating — 897 ratings
score: 486,
and
5 people voted
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82 |
The Seven Daughters of Eve: The Science That Reveals Our Genetic Ancestry
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 7,570 ratings
score: 480,
and
5 people voted
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83 |
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
by
4.26 avg rating — 6,178 ratings
score: 477,
and
6 people voted
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84 |
Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow
by
4.19 avg rating — 281,339 ratings
score: 476,
and
5 people voted
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85 |
Intelligent Life in the Universe
by
4.28 avg rating — 373 ratings
score: 461,
and
5 people voted
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86 |
Survival of the Sickest: A Medical Maverick Discovers Why We Need Disease
by
Sharon Moalem (Goodreads Author)
4.14 avg rating — 9,002 ratings
score: 452,
and
5 people voted
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87 |
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales
by
4.05 avg rating — 241,632 ratings
score: 448,
and
6 people voted
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88 |
Spillover: Emerging Diseases, Animal Hosts, and the Future of Human Health
by
David Quammen (Goodreads Author)
4.42 avg rating — 20,159 ratings
score: 445,
and
5 people voted
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89 |
Physics for Future Presidents: The Science Behind the Headlines
by
4.03 avg rating — 2,517 ratings
score: 442,
and
5 people voted
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90 |
Trilobite: Eyewitness to Evolution
by
4.11 avg rating — 2,386 ratings
score: 440,
and
5 people voted
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91 |
The Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinction
by
David Quammen (Goodreads Author)
4.29 avg rating — 8,591 ratings
score: 434,
and
5 people voted
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92 |
The Immense Journey
by
4.31 avg rating — 2,506 ratings
score: 431,
and
5 people voted
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93 |
The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet
by
Neil deGrasse Tyson (Goodreads Author)
3.87 avg rating — 7,158 ratings
score: 430,
and
5 people voted
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94 |
River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life
by
Richard Dawkins (Goodreads Author)
3.98 avg rating — 8,856 ratings
score: 424,
and
5 people voted
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95 |
The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory
by
4.10 avg rating — 101,389 ratings
score: 416,
and
6 people voted
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96 |
The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence
by
4.19 avg rating — 21,261 ratings
score: 404,
and
5 people voted
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97 |
Why Is Sex Fun? The Evolution of Human Sexuality
by
3.70 avg rating — 7,220 ratings
score: 403,
and
5 people voted
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98 |
MindHub: Personality Profiler
by
Snapshot Systems (Goodreads Author)
4.34 avg rating — 74 ratings
score: 397,
and
4 people voted
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99 |
Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End...
by
Philip Plait (Goodreads Author)
4.04 avg rating — 5,238 ratings
score: 396,
and
4 people voted
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99 |
The Periodic Table
by
4.14 avg rating — 18,952 ratings
score: 396,
and
4 people voted
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Robin
4413 books
51 friends
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Jake
1359 books
90 friends
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Ty
26 books
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Aylons
235 books
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6022 books
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5664 books
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Comments Showing 1-13 of 13 (13 new)
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Brief History of Time is in the top 5.
Cellular Biology - uh, which author? That's a pretty general title.

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.



So what. I personally believe in evolution, not intelligent design, but I think they have a place on this list.

http://www.missingtheforest.com/library/

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!
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