lisabees Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 DS13 is loving Dawkins' Magic of Reality. Any other science books that you could recommend for him? We have listened to A Short History of Nearly Everything two times. He loves that as well. Would Hawking's A Brief History of Time be accessible? Or any other Dawkins' works? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 I think A Brief History of Time is one of the more accessible science books out there, sounds like he'd love it. I also think he might like Science Matters by Hazen & Trefil, which I think everyone over the age of at least 15 should read. . . other all-time favorite science books of mine, along the same vein, would be Carl Sagan's A Demon Haunted World and Steven Pinker's The Blank Slate. Getting into the more philosophical side of things, would he like Sam Harris or Christopher Hitchens? Or other Dawkins books, they are written for an older audience, but it sounds like he might dig them. If I had to pick just one of those to recommend, I'd pick The Demon Haunted World. Definitely. Give him that one! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 Your son might also enjoy reading Classic Feynman: All the Adventures of a Curious Character which is a compilation of two of Richard Feynman's earlier books -- "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" and "What Do You Care What Other People Think?". The edition I've linked above is wonderful because it includes a CD of Richard Feynman telling some great stories of his time at Los Alamos. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisabees Posted November 27, 2012 Author Share Posted November 27, 2012 I love you ladies!! All of these books would interest him. He has seen a lot of the Feynman talks on youtube, so Kareni, your suggestion is perfect. Rose, I have looked at the samples of your suggestions, and I like them all!! Yikes. Which to choose? Maybe I should stick with Sagan. And get Science Matters for myself! Off to read more and make decisions. Thank you both! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 I'd definitely recommend A Short History of Time, as well as a less well-known book, Relativity Simply Explained, by Martin Gardner. ONe of my boys read these in seventh grade and really liked them. The latter lead him to read another Martin Gardner book (there are dozens), Calculus Made Easy. This is actually an updating of a book written by Silvanus P. Thompson. And he went on to read Wrinkles in Time, by George Smoot. Smoot is a cosmologist whose life work was the COBE explorer mission, which observed the "wrinkles" in cosmic background radiation predicted by relativity and the Big Bang. He won the Nobel prize in physics in 2006 for this work. Finally, if you do Teaching Company courses, one that I absolutely love is Big History, which tells the history of the universe, from the first seconds down to the present day. Very thought-provoking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisabees Posted November 28, 2012 Author Share Posted November 28, 2012 Catherine - thank you so much for your suggestions. I have heard of Martin Gardner, but have never checked into his works. I am not a STEM girl! Interestingly, David Christian and Bill Gates have teamed up to offer a "Big History Project" course to educators. A month ago, I was approved to be part of the beta program. So, we have been enjoying that. I discovered it after searching for sample videos of Teaching Company's Big History course. I am still tempted to get the TC dvd! Thanks for the reminder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 I'd definitely recommend A Short History of Time, as well as a less well-known book, Relativity Simply Explained, by Martin Gardner. ONe of my boys read these in seventh grade and really liked them. The latter lead him to read another Martin Gardner book (there are dozens), Calculus Made Easy. This is actually an updating of a book written by Silvanus P. Thompson. And he went on to read Wrinkles in Time, by George Smoot. Smoot is a cosmologist whose life work was the COBE explorer mission, which observed the "wrinkles" in cosmic background radiation predicted by relativity and the Big Bang. He won the Nobel prize in physics in 2006 for this work. Finally, if you do Teaching Company courses, one that I absolutely love is Big History, which tells the history of the universe, from the first seconds down to the present day. Very thought-provoking. I am absolutely drooling over this course!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 I'm not sure if spending the $$ for the DVD is necessary. I've listened to it twice when I took it out of our (awesome) public library. Then my dh bought the download when they were on sale last year, and I'm pretty sure he paid less than $50 for it. I did not know about the Big History Project! Lucky you!! I'll confess one part of the course I enjoyed was David Christian's accent. But the concept of putting history into a larger context was very comforting to me. I found the idea that our movement, as a human race, has clearly been toward less tribalism, less violence, more enlightened behavior very comforting. It can be hard to remember that when you hear the nightly news. Martin Gardner is perhaps best known for the math puzzles he used to write monthly for Scientific American magazine. There are several book-length compilations of them. He was also known as a "debunker" of pseudoscience too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmos Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 I'd definitely recommend A Short History of Time, as well as a less well-known book, Relativity Simply Explained, by Martin Gardner. Thank you for this title! My ds has been asking to learn about relativity, and I'm a big fan of Martin Gardner. I think I'll pick this up for Christmas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 Well, there's A Brief History of Time, which came out first, and then there is A Briefer History of Time, which came out later. The Briefer one is meant to be more accessable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 Sheer geeky fun: Guy Murchie's Seven Mysteries of Life. If he likes Feynman (which DH did growing up) he might also like Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid -- it can be a slog, though; definitely try at the library first. And I feel compelled to mention that Artifical Intelligence theory has moved on a lot since then ... (ETA: Catherine discusses this in post #15 below) But I could never recommend that over Pinker's Blank Slate, on Rose's list, just in terms of books I wish everybody read. For history in a broader context, this is my official list: Blank Slate by Pinker (human nature, excellent list of human culture universals at the end that is worth the price of admission) Guns, Germs and Steel by Diamond Collapse by Diamond Better Angels of our Nature: Why Violence has Declined by Pinker. Even if you don't buy his thesis, the synopsis of the history of violence is excellent and valuable, esp. in an age that can look wistfully back at medieval chivalry and the simplicity of medieval town life ... * with optional 1491 and maybe 1493 as more conjectural than the above, but very enlightening nevertheless. And if he likes relativity, have you tried Einstein's book? I have worked through it a few times, and it layers well; but might be better when he's older. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 Sheer geeky fun: Guy Murchie's Seven Mysteries of Life. If he likes Feynman (which DH did growing up) he might also like Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid -- it can be a slog, though; definitely try at the library first. And I feel compelled to mention that Artifical Intelligence theory has moved on a lot since then ... But I could never recommend that over Pinker's Blank Slate, on Rose's list, just in terms of books I wish everybody read. For history in a broader context, this is my official list: Blank Slate by Pinker (human nature, excellent list of human culture universals at the end that is worth the price of admission) Guns, Germs and Steel by Diamond Collapse by Diamond Better Angels of our Nature: Why Violence has Declined by Pinker. Even if you don't buy his thesis, the synopsis of the history of violence is excellent and valuable, esp. in an age that can look wistfully back at medieval chivalry and the simplicity of medieval town life ... * with optional 1491 and maybe 1493 as more conjectural than the above, but very enlightening nevertheless. And if he likes relativity, have you tried Einstein's book? I have worked through it a few times, and it layers well; but might be better when he's older. Oh yes, if I were making a list of books everyone should read, Guns Germs and Steel would be on it. That book completely transformed the way I think about global history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisabees Posted December 1, 2012 Author Share Posted December 1, 2012 Well, there's A Brief History of Time, which came out first, and then there is A Briefer History of Time, which came out later. The Briefer one is meant to be more accessable. That looks like the perfect option. Thank you. Sheer geeky fun: Guy Murchie's Seven Mysteries of Life. If he likes Feynman (which DH did growing up) he might also like Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid -- it can be a slog, though; definitely try at the library first. And I feel compelled to mention that Artifical Intelligence theory has moved on a lot since then ... But I could never recommend that over Pinker's Blank Slate, on Rose's list, just in terms of books I wish everybody read. For history in a broader context, this is my official list: Blank Slate by Pinker (human nature, excellent list of human culture universals at the end that is worth the price of admission) Guns, Germs and Steel by Diamond Collapse by Diamond Better Angels of our Nature: Why Violence has Declined by Pinker. Even if you don't buy his thesis, the synopsis of the history of violence is excellent and valuable, esp. in an age that can look wistfully back at medieval chivalry and the simplicity of medieval town life ... * with optional 1491 and maybe 1493 as more conjectural than the above, but very enlightening nevertheless. And if he likes relativity, have you tried Einstein's book? I have worked through it a few times, and it layers well; but might be better when he's older. Ooooh! Wonderful! He has watched the Guns, Germs and Steel documentary at least two times. Would it be overkill to read the book? Love the Pinker suggestions. Thank you so, so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 Ooooh! Wonderful! He has watched the Guns, Germs and Steel documentary at least two times. Would it be overkill to read the book? Love the Pinker suggestions. Thank you so, so much! It might be! esp. for a teenager. Maybe Collapse, then, for Diamond? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 Another plug for the Teaching Company Big History course, for those of you who appreciate Guns, Germs and Steel. It's basically a broader, deeper treatment of a similar topic. I just finished listening to the audiobook of Collapse and it was very thought-provoking, and sobering. He stops short of applying his idea to our current world, but the implication is obvious. Also a comment about Goedel, Escher, Bach: my current college freshman read this several times when he was in middle and high school, not the entire book (which he did not finish until he was probably a junior), but parts of it. It's dense and kind of self-congratulatory, IMO, but for someone who's new to the ideas it presents, it was exciting. One more thought: there is another book about the COBE mission, written by John Mather, The Very First Light, that looks very good, and perhaps better written (if Amazon.com's reviewers can be trusted) than Wrinkles in Time. Mather will never beat George Smoot's title, though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 Oh yes, the Big History course is awesome! Definitely recommended! As for Guns, Germs, and Steel and Collapse, they're dense. There are documentary versions of both, though, I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 This just came on my rader -- Albert Einstein and Relativity for Kids. If he can look past the "for Kids" bit in the title, this might be a lot of fun -- it is from the 21 Activities series. The middle grades are the target audience -- the Newton and/or Galileo versions are part of a Christmas gift for my older son, I'm hoping to give one along with a packet with all the materials needed for the activities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisabees Posted December 4, 2012 Author Share Posted December 4, 2012 Another plug for the Teaching Company Big History course, for those of you who appreciate Guns, Germs and Steel. It's basically a broader, deeper treatment of a similar topic. I just finished listening to the audiobook of Collapse and it was very thought-provoking, and sobering. He stops short of applying his idea to our current world, but the implication is obvious. Also a comment about Goedel, Escher, Bach: my current college freshman read this several times when he was in middle and high school, not the entire book (which he did not finish until he was probably a junior), but parts of it. It's dense and kind of self-congratulatory, IMO, but for someone who's new to the ideas it presents, it was exciting. One more thought: there is another book about the COBE mission, written by John Mather, The Very First Light, that looks very good, and perhaps better written (if Amazon.com's reviewers can be trusted) than Wrinkles in Time. Mather will never beat George Smoot's title, though! Thank you for these ideas. Oh yes, the Big History course is awesome! Definitely recommended! As for Guns, Germs, and Steel and Collapse, they're dense. There are documentary versions of both, though, I believe. Hmm. The documentary doesn't have many good reviews. Has anyone seen it? This just came on my rader -- Albert Einstein and Relativity for Kids. If he can look past the "for Kids" bit in the title, this might be a lot of fun -- it is from the 21 Activities series. The middle grades are the target audience -- the Newton and/or Galileo versions are part of a Christmas gift for my older son, I'm hoping to give one along with a packet with all th ematerials needed for the activities. Hmmm...not sure he would get past the "for Kids" unless it is assigned reading for science! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisabees Posted December 15, 2012 Author Share Posted December 15, 2012 Just wanted to update. Ds is finishing up A Briefer History of Time. We have received Science Matters and Relativity Simply Explained. They look wonderful. Family will be getting him the Feynman book and Sagan's A Haunted Demon World for Christmas. These are perfect to begin with - thank you! And we have plenty of follow ups with the other suggestions. Ironically, I went into my Great Courses account to download a new course (Secrets of Mental Math) and realized I had Big History audio from 2 years ago!! Silly me. We will enjoy that along with the Big History Project, which we are thoroughly enjoying. And Ana, after looking more thoroughly into your Albert Einstein and Relativity for Kids, I think it would a great addition to our day. Science is starting to take over - Yikes! Thanks again everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 This just came on my rader -- Albert Einstein and Relativity for Kids. If he can look past the "for Kids" bit in the title, this might be a lot of fun -- it is from the 21 Activities series. The middle grades are the target audience -- the Newton and/or Galileo versions are part of a Christmas gift for my older son, I'm hoping to give one along with a packet with all th ematerials needed for the activities. This was such an awesome thread - I'm so glad you turned us on to this series! Two of the books will be under the Christmas tree, and several others are now part of my lesson plan. I am especially enamored of the Galileo book. Thanks for sharing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 This was such an awesome thread - I'm so glad you turned us on to this series! Two of the books will be under the Christmas tree, and several others are now part of my lesson plan. I am especially enamored of the Galileo book. Thanks for sharing! :) wendyk found the Darwin book in this series to be "eh", I think, so that may not be a favorite ... the da Vinci one came to me via interlibrary loan (to preview the series) this week, and I'm enthralled -- and hoping Button will be, too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 :) wendyk found the Darwin book in this series to be "eh", I think, so that may not be a favorite ... the da Vinci one came to me via interlibrary loan (to preview the series) this week, and I'm enthralled -- and hoping Button will be, too! You know, I got the Darwin book from the library awhile back, and was just "eh" about it, too. I didn't realize it was part of a series, though, and I really like the other two I've previewed so far (Leonardo and Galileo). Our library doesn't have the American Folk Art, which I'm pretty sure dd will adore, so I got that one for xmas. I also got the Lewis and Clark one, and think we'll park there and do kind of a unit study for a copule of weeks after the holidays - it will fit in nicely with American geography studies. Dd has been asking for more hands-on stuff, and this is not my forte, so I'm glad to have discovered these! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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