S/O - Beautifully written *non-fiction* books?

[Tranquility7]

After getting lots of great ideas from this thread, I decided to start another, looking for non-fiction ideas this time! I'm seeking content-rich examples (science, history, geography...), not so much biography, travel, theology, personal situations, or that kind of thing.

[Rockhopper]

Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas, anything by Wendell Berry, Edith Hamilton's histories, Edward Hall's works on language and sociology... There's one more teasing the corner of my mind -- a female naturalist... Will post if I remember.

 

I remembered! Annie Dillard, "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek." 

Edited January 4, 2016 by Rockhopper

[73349]

DS very much liked The Forest Unseen. It's meant for adults but worked suprisingly well as a read-aloud.

[Kalmia]

I highly recommend this anthology of science writing:

Galileo's Commandment: 2,500 Years of Great Science Writing edited by Edmund Blair Bolles

http://www.amazon.com/Galileos-Commandment-Years-Science-Writing/dp/0805073493/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452000885&sr=8-1&keywords=Galileo%27s+commandment

 

Also:

Swampwalker's Journal by David M. Carroll

 

Most anything by Rachel Carson

 

Charles Darwin, Voyage of the Beagle

 

 

 

 

[Chrysalis Academy]

Seconding The Forest Unseen.  And David Carroll, mentioned above, has books on a number of topics - we really loved The Year of the Turtle.

 

I really like David Quammen's science writing, I find him very readable, and read-aloudable.

 

SWB's Story of Western Science is an excellent read-aloud.

 

Bill Bryson's Short History of Nearly Everything

 

Harari's Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind