How The World Works (Science, Math, Sociology, History, Economics)

Why Fish Don't Exist

“I was absolutely riveted to this beautiful book. This story is fascinating and seamlessly threaded into the author's own struggles. It made me pause, rewind, start over, cry, laugh.....it's just one of the best memoirs I've ever read.”

Nichole, The Yankee Bookshop

The 100 most substantive solutions to reverse global warming, based on meticulous research by leading scientists and policymakers around the world

In the face of widespread fear and apathy, an international coalition of researchers, professionals, and scientists have come together to offer a set of realistic and bold solutions to climate... Read more »

New York Times Bestseller

New York Times Notable Book of 2016

NPR Great Read of 2016

Economist Best Books of 2016

Brain Pickings Best Science Books of 2016

Smithsonian Best Books about Science of 2016

Science Friday Best Science Book of 2016

A Mother Jones Notable Read of 2016

A Bill Gates “Gates Notes” Pick

MPR Best Books of 2016

Chicago Public Library...

One of the world’s most beloved and bestselling writers takes his ultimate journey -- into the most intriguing and intractable questions that science seeks to answer.

In A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson trekked the Appalachian Trail -- well, most of it. In In A Sunburned Country, he confronted some of the most lethal wildlife Australia has to... Read more »

Talking to Strangers

“Talking To Strangers is perfect on audio. It reads (listens) like a podcast including audio clips from interviews, etc.”

Jessica, Main Street Books Davidson

A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
Shortlisted for the 2018 FT & McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award

A brilliantly reported, global look at universal basic income—a stipend given to every citizen—and why it might be necessary in an age of rising inequality, persistent poverty, and dazzling technology.
 
Imagine if every month... Read more »

“Fascinating . . . A thought-provoking journey into emotion science.” — Wall Street Journal

“A singular book, remarkable for the freshness of its ideas and the boldness and clarity with which they are presented.” — Scientific American

“A brilliant and original book on the science of emotion, by the deepest thinker about this topic since Darwin.”...

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE
From the author of Field Notes from a Catastrophe, a powerful and important work about the future of the world, blending intellectual and natural history and field reporting into a compelling account of the mass extinction unfolding before our eyes.

Over the last half a billion years, there have been five mass... Read more »

Prepare to learn everything we still don’t know about our strange and mysterious universe 

Humanity's understanding of the physical world is full of gaps. Not tiny little gaps you can safely ignore —there are huge yawning voids in our basic notions of how the world works. PHD Comics creator Jorge Cham and particle physicist Daniel Whiteson have... Read more »

How to Invent Everything

“I thoroughly enjoyed this listen. In my opinion, it is not always a good thing when an author narrates their own work, but in this instance it was spot on. What impressed me was how well he managed to describe graphs, tables, and illustrations from the written version. That said, I will admit to having skipped past a couple of tables that became tedious listening. I can only imagine how much fun he had reading them. There is humor from start to finish, and I especially enjoyed his handling of famous quotes at the beginning of each section. Since the book is a guide on how to rebuild civilization faster than it developed naturally, the reader (who is ostensibly trapped in the past due to a broken time machine, for which this book is the 'repair' manual) gets to take credit for 'discovering' and 'inventing' all the great advances in history. In keeping with this, all famous quotes are attributed to "You". This is followed by an additional 'also' accreditation to a personage from the 'original' timeline. What is also educational is that as each technological stride is explained, the author informs not only when this it first appeared, but how much sooner it COULD have based on previous advances. A 'technology tree' appendix (which is available on the author's website with all the other described visual aids) lays out exactly which technologies are necessary to take the next step on your path to becoming the most important person in history. Shortly after I finished the book, one of my children asked me several question I was able to answer as if I had always known (rather than just learned it myself 48 hours previously). This is a great resource if you've ever had a desire to know a little bit more about the 'hows' and 'whys' behind the workings of civilization”

John, Travelin' Storyseller

Sapiens

“I don't own many books. I read books and give them away. However, I will NOT be giving away my copy of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. It's a keeper! Sapiens was an intense read for me. I found myself taking breaks every dozen pages or so. Not because I was bored - just the opposite. I needed time to let the author's perspective on the history of our species (you, me, us!) sink in. Yuval Noah Harari is irreverent at times and makes mind-blowing assertions in his book. You may not agree with all of his theories, but what he claims will make you see yourself as the animal you are in a refreshing new light. It's even possible that after you read Sapiens your view of the human condition will have shifted dramatically. Superbly translated from the original Hebrew into English by the author himself, Sapiens is accessible to readers of all types of non-fiction and fiction alike.”

Catherine, The Bookloft