Non-Fiction Science Books for Adults

This is the last week of the Eager Free Public Library’s summer reading program! We hope you had as much fun reading this summer as we did around here. Did you participate in the first adult reading program? Don’t forget to turn in your book bingo sheets by the time the library closes on Saturday August 16th in order to enter our awesome prize drawing.

One of the bingo spots is “non-fiction science.” We fielded a lot of questions about this square this summer, about what “counts” as non-fiction science for adults. In case you’re scrambling to find an appropriate book for that spot this week, we’ve compiled a list of books that fit into this category. 

Science writers to check out:

• Mary Roach. With titles like Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal and Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, Roach’s books are smart, entertaining, and present science “for the rest of us.”
• Michael Pollan. Pollan’s books cover important topics that affect us everyday, particularly when it comes to food science and issues related to farming and food production. 
• Carl Hiaasen. Check out the non-fiction work by popular fiction and environmental science writer Carl Hiaasen.
• John McPhee. This writer’s eclectic catalog ranges from geological histories to sports. 

More recommended titles:

• The Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic, and How it Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson 
• The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz-Age New York by Deborah Blum
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (it’s the next book club title, so you can read more about the book and read-alikes here!)
• Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss
• The Best American Science Writing collections for you anthology lovers out there!

We hope you find something to suit your science appetite in this list!