D A Y Reading Math No School Labor Day Or: Fill & Download for Free

Good luck Malvi Shah with your 7-yr-old son. My parents had no idea how to educate me (even though Dad is a chemist who might have won a Nobel prize with a slightly different life path), but my educational path was less tumultuous than many people who’ve written here.My parents were born in Taiwan in the 1930s-1940s, and came to the US in 1963 for graduate school. They were both from wealthy families, but decided to be “downwardly mobile” idealists - leaving their families without money. Dad declined to take over the family business, and thus his parents didn’t like him much. Basically, they were Chinese “hippies” rebelling against traditional attitudes, but very conservative compared to American/European hippies and beatniks.My parents were the opposite of “Asian Tiger” parents, and encouraged me to do whatever I wanted to be happy. Dad was familiar with both US and Chinese educational systems, and felt that the Chinese system builds a high level of basic skills, but stifles creativity as an adult thinker/researcher/scientist.Mom (1966)Me (1966)I was born in Indiana in 1966. Grew up speaking Taiwanese. Could read English before age 1 - not sure exactly when, my earliest memories include already being able to read.Funny story: I was fascinated with cars, and had fun naming cars as we drove around the US. But I was ashamed of cheating…if I couldn't recognize the car by shape, I would read the name. Little did I know, that people were more impressed by my reading…than naming the cars by shape. :-)When people are extremely intelligent, they often make very poor guesses about other people’s motivations…until they get a lot of real-world experience with the wide range of personality styles, emotional levels, ability levels, and life experiences in other people.When I was 4, my parents had me tested (possibly an IQ test) to enter kindergarten early. My birthday was in November, and Colorado required kids to be age 5 by September, but my parents didn't want me to wait a year. I was told that the tester refused to give my parents a score (which is proper procedure for Ratio scores with old Stanford-Binet tests - Ratios above 160 are considered “no score”).I thought it was strange, but didn’t think much of it until 2015 when I stumbled onto Quora (with many IQ-obsessed people). It’s possible my parents were told a score, and decided to tell me “no score.”Some people think all smart people have a fantastic memory. My memory is terrible. I have trouble remembering a 7-digit phone number or a 7-word sentence.I learned many mnemonic methods, but I’m too lazy to use them. For storage, I use notes on my smartphone, an Excel spreadsheet on my computer, and I e-mail myself.I have a relatively high iq, yet a terrible working memory. Why? And what can I do to fix this?Aphantasia - Some people see visual images of a page, and can read the words. I visualize nothing. Strong audio, but weak/no touch or smell imagery either. I build 3D mental models, but more from a sense of touch.- When the Mind's Eye Is Blind (Scientific American, 2018)- Aphantasia: How It Feels To Be Blind In Your Mind (2016 FB viral post)- Aphantasia - Wikipedia Since I have audio memory, one of my mnemonic tricks to remember numbers is to repeat some of the digits out loud so I can recall the audio sounds while I remember some of the other digits. The lack of internal image memory makes “memory palace” techniques less strong, but since I can 3D model in my head, it does work.Unlike some people who compulsively learn, I like to have a mind which can be calm and empty, or active and full of wonder. My favorite thoughts are awe, wonder, curiosity, love, compassion, joy, and gratitude. I’m not so fond of problem-solving, planning, worry, anxiety, and anger.———————————————-Starting School (1971–75, age 4–8)———————————————-So I started kindergarten in 1971. Since my Dad was a post-doc trying to get enough publications for a professorship & tenure, we moved twice, and I attended three kindergartens in Ithaca, NY (Cornell), Boulder, CO (U Colorado), and Rochester, NY (U Rochester).I remember the frustration in Jan 1972 of often writing the wrong year (1971) on my school papers.I had no sense of being unusually smart. The internet had started in 1969, but I wouldn’t use it for another 11 years (1980), so I had no reference points. In 1971, I learned to play football in the snow in Colorado, and was mostly frustrated that the other boys wouldn’t let me be quarterback.When I got older, my parents shared that they had no idea how to raise me.For chores, I was assigned to read a regular encyclopedia and a medical encyclopedia front-to-back. When I finished those, they bought a 25+ volume Encyclopedia Britannica (which I don’t think I ever finished).I grew up on college campuses, sometimes accompanying my dad while he programmed some computers to analyze chemical compounds and anti-cancer drugs. He sat me at punch card machines, and I would type my name, address, and other things on punch cards while he worked.School wasn’t challenging, and I was bored by some of it, but I didn’t know any better. Sometimes I would just read a book while the teacher was speaking. This upset one teacher who liked to quiz kids who weren’t paying attention, make them look bad, and give them an “F” for the day. But one day when he signaled me out to ask me questions, I answered them correctly, so he gave me an “F+”. Other times, I would doodle and draw. Or I would do my homework in class, so I didn’t have to do it after school.In kindergarten and 1st grade, I was often assigned to help/tutor other kids.I was reading at 4th grade level, but the 2nd grade teacher didn’t want me to read above grade, so I made no progress that year in English.Unlike some “autodidacts” here, I could learn things at a slow speed, or at a fast speed. It didn’t bother me to learn at the “school speed”. I could function socially in the academic world.Since my parents were not great with English (There’s no one for 2 generations - grandparents, cousins, etc… with good language skills, it’s not in my genes), I didn’t have much exposure to English/American literature.Dad did have Scientific American, Physics Today, and Popular Science on the living room table, so I read those every month. And Reader’s Digest (not quite literature…) and Consumer Reports.When teachers didn’t have more assignments for me, sometimes they would give me a box of math questions on index cards (100,000s of questions). Grunt work.I often went to the library, checked out a stack of 15–25 books, rinse, and repeat (a typical non-textbook takes me about 1–2 hrs at a leisurely pace, 15 sec - 2 min if skimming quickly).——————————————————————————Attending 4th grade & middle school (1975–76, age 8–9)——————————————————————————In 4th grade (1975–76), my teacher and parents arranged for me to go to the middle school for math (pre-algebra) after New Years. I was excited and nervous. Wanted to do well, so I learned the whole math book over Xmas break.Oops. Didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to do that. So the middle school math teacher (Mr. Tumminelli) ended up teaching me Algebra I, II, Trigonometry, etc…Every day I had a tiny school bus driving me back & forth between grade school & middle school. Not sure how my parents arranged this. They were amazing.———————————————————————————————————-Attending 5th grade, 6th grade, and Kent State University (1976–77, age 9-10)———————————————————————————————————-We moved from Rochester, NY to Kent, OH (Kent State University). I remember my dad being very angry at the time, but I didn’t realize for another decade that Dad’s professor was using him for cheap labor, and refusing to write letters of recommendation. So without recommendation letters, he was able to get a job as an assistant professor, but at a small non-Ivy League schoolKent State University didn’t yet have an Early Admit Program…and Center for Talented Youth (CTY, Johns Hopkins) didn’t begin until 1979. …but somehow my Dad was able to introduce me to professors at Kent State to take some math classes (1976–1983), unofficially at first, then officially after 1–2 years when the Early Admit program was created.The math professors said the number of student complaints about “Calculus is too hard” dropped dramatically when a 10-yr-old began taking classes with them. :-)So in 1976–77, I was enrolled in 5th grade, 6th grade, and university. A bus would take me to the college for half the day, or I might take night-classes.Started programming an old 1960s IBM with FORTRAN on punchcards.When a program wouldn’t work for an unknown reason, we often opened up the computer to look for insects (real-life “bugs”).—————————————————————————————————-Attending 7th-11th grade, and Kent State University (1977–82, age 11–15)———————————————————————————-——————Next year, I did 7th grade and college. I studied math, computer science, chemistry, physics, and violin at college. Wasn’t so good at English, so took that, history, government, biology, PE (Physical education), etc… at junior high and high school.Rehearsal for debut violin recital (Mozart Concerto #3) at age 12 (1978) with the Kent State Sinfonia.Dad got a TI-58 in 1978 (programmable calculator for $200–300, $800–1,200 in 2019 dollars). Programming at home without punch cards!- TI-59 / TI-58 - WikipediaBetween 6th grade and 11th grade, I didn’t skip any grades. My parents were not fond of accelerating me too quickly. I mostly missed my friends from K-4, as I never again had a big group of friends from 5th–11th grade in Kent.In 7th and 8th grade, I was greatly puzzled by puberty in boys. Many of the boys began to do really stupid and hurtful things (Tell Polish jokes and make fun of other people).I got interested in girls at age 12, so the first two years of attending college were before my sex drive started. I was a shy introvert, not athletic (5′7″, 115 lbs), with no fashion sense - your basic nerd. So no success there for another 7 years.I wondered how other people like me navigated life, but didn’t find much in those pre-web-browser days (pre-1991). What helped me most were two things:(1) Terman studies (1921-)Genetic Studies of Genius - Wikipedia (2) Leta Hollingsworth’s “Children Above 180 IQ” (1975)Amazon.com: Children Above 180 IQ Standford-Binet Origin and Development (Classics in Child Development) (9780405064678): Leta Stetter Hollingworth: Books—————————————-Working during high school—————————————-My first consulting project in 1979 (or 1980) was when the high school teachers were negotiating salary scales (e.g. BA + 5 years experience = $X, MA + 10 yrs = $Y). They wanted to compare multiple salary scales for overall benefit to all teachers, and no one knew about business spreadsheets on mainframes (1961) or VisiCalc (first microcomputer spreadsheet, 1979), so I hard-coded a spreadsheet.I worked for my Dad on various FORTRAN programs in Chemistry, including a crazy program for factor analysis. For a few days, I couldn’t figure out what this program was doing. Finally I realized that the author was using variables shoehorned inside format statements to achieve variable-length fields and different numbers of fields (e.g. “X = 2.3 Y + 4.56 Z” or “X = 2.8 Y”). Fortran 4 used fixed-format output, and the method was quite ingenious and TOTALLY unreadable. One of the coolest programs I’ve had the pleasure of working with.Later I worked for another Chemistry professor doing 3-D visualization of chemical compounds. An Apple ][ was used to interface to a mainframe doing most of the calculations. This was 4 years before GUI interfaces migrated from Xerox Parc (1973) to the Apple Lisa and Macintosh (1984).———————————————-Meeting kids from other schools———————————————-Did some AIME/AMC exams in 9th-11th grade. Best was 2nd in Ohio. But never studied, and didn’t realize that they were important, so never got to meet any IMO people from around the world. Art of Problem SolvingTheodore Roosevelt High School (Ohio) was so backwater, about half the kids didn’t do any college. We had classes in cosmetology (cutting hair), wood shop, auto shop, stenography (typing), OWE (Occupational Work Exchange)…and maybe one student per year went to a lower-level Ivy League.Almost no one took SATs (which required a 10 mile trip to neighboring Akron, OH). ACTs were the usual exam. Didn’t realize that ACH (SAT IIs) subject tests even existed until after visiting Harvard. I think we had four AP classes in our high school (English, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, maybe history). I don’t think I took any of the AP classes.In 10th & 11th grade, I started doing science fairs and symposiums. Won state science science symposium, but was pressured to decline the award for drinking underage. Guy who took my place won the International Symposium in England. Whoops. Might have messed up my chance to get into Harvard. Butt got saved a 6–9 months later though.Entered the Westinghouse Science Talent Search and won 6th place ($7,500 - Harvard tuition was only $6,000 at the time, so more than 1 year of tuition). For the first time, I met kids from the Bronx High School of Science, Stuyvesant, and other magnet/private schools.For the first time in my life I met someone smarter…MUCH smarter. When some of the 40 finalists were hanging out, the topic of “who’s the smartest one here” came up. No discussion. Unanimous. One guy was clearly WAAAY above the rest of us.Because of Westinghouse, I got invited to an American Academy of Achievement dinner, where I met Jay Luo (graduated college at age 12, Prodigy views his homeland - Taiwan Today), Steve Jobs, John Glenn (1st man on the moon), Brooke Shields, George H. W. Bush (the first one), etc…Years later, I spoke with Michael Kearney (graduated college at age 10, has the current record) via phone, but we didn’t hit it off.Decided to start college as a freshman (even though I had enough math for a BA), and applied to Harvard, Princeton, MIT, and Stanford at age 15 (1981). Got into three, but was rejected at MIT (Heard later that MIT might have had a minimum age of 16 in the 1980s).Visited Harvard and Princeton. Didn’t visit Stanford (which may have been a mistake, it has great flat areas for rollerblading, and lots of volleyball nets), so chose Harvard to be safe, since I liked the people there.————————————————-Life at Harvard (1982–86, age 15–19)————————————————-At Harvard, I finally realized that my level of intelligence was quite rare.Students were introducing me to their parents as “yada yada yada…”I skipped the undergraduate math curriculum (…and vaguely wish I had audited or taken Math 55ab), and started with Complex Analysis (Math 213ab), before abandoning higher math.Played in the orchestra for two years, and got to tour Europe and the USSR (before the wall fell). But practicing/playing for 8–12 hrs/day for 1–2 months convinced me that I didn’t like music enough to do it professionally. So I stopped playing violin in 1984 after sophomore year.Dad introduced me to a Nobel laureate in Chemistry (Prof. William Lipscomb, who recently died at age 91), and I ended up doing some X-ray crystallography in his lab. Later worked in a virology lab at the Harvard Medical School for Prof. Donald M. Coen. Started a Yahoo!-like system for Harvard, but in the pre-browser (pre-1991) era, it was a flop.Dad didn’t have money, or understand the US elite college admissions system (In high school, I had few extra-curriculars, no leadership activities, did no volunteer work - unlike my younger brother and sister), but he did have connections! He also suggested submitting a project for the Westinghouse STS, which probably made me a lock for Harvard (In the 1980s, I think they accepted all 40 Finalists who applied).Had a lot of fun taking challenging classes, but it totally submarined my ability to get into a top graduate school. I chose classes based on the professors’ teaching ratings - Government, History, Literature, Linguistics, Science, whatever… Eventually I had to get special clearance to graduate because I hadn’t taken enough classes in my major (Chemistry and Physics).Did a 1.5x load (6 classes) officially & audited others.Sometimes I skipped 1–2 levels of prerequesites to take classes, which wasn’t great for my grades. I wasn’t bright enough to skip prerequisites and still get an A+.If I were to do it over, I might have(1) Finished a BA & PhD ASAP, while impressing key professors(2) Used connections & research to get a tenured professor position(3) …then explored other classes and topicsBut I didn’t know any better … and was just excited to have challenging classes.Clueless youth.I was two years behind Lisa Randall (physicist) who won Westinghouse STS in 1980. See Can a person be both extremely beautiful and highly intelligent?Masako, Crown Princess of Japan (will be Empress on 5/1/19) was one year before me. As was Conan O'Brien (comedian, talk-show host).———————-Spiritual Crisis———————-In senior year (1985–86), I had my first relationship (I was 18, and she was a 19-yr-old 1st year), and it created a crisis of values.My parents were not religious and had a philosophy of “Be first, and you’ll always have a job” (Along with “Do whatever you want, just be happy.”).But I had always felt this was unfair to everyone else in the world, as not everyone can be first. How can we have a world which everyone can have a fulfilling life?This resulted in a suicidal manic-depression which lasted 12 years (1986–1998).In retrospect, I was dealing with 3 things:(1) Realignment of values. Discovering God.(2) Poor emotional skills. Inability to cope with the “dark night” and dark emotional places, and come back to happiness, wonder, awe, curiosity, love, compassion, and joy.(3) Inexperience with relationships. Coming out of “initial euphoria” and not knowing what to do.So it took me ten years to get a bachelor’s degree (1976–86, age 19).————————————After College (1986–2019)————————————Retired at age 40 (2007)…Spent 16 years traveling around the world (2002–2018).I’m 52 now. Not sure what’s coming next.Long-lived ancestors. Grandma lived to 103. Mom (79) & Dad (82) are still in good health.Funny thing is my mom never expected to live to age 50. She grew up in Taiwan during WW II, and people died a lot back then from disease.At a springboard diving meet at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center in the 1990s, a 94-yr-old lady (Viola Krahn) was diving. 1922 NCAA champion. The 70-something men & women could still do 2.5 somersaults.Viola Cady Krahn, 102; Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame MemberMet a guy trying to set the record for oldest man to run a marathon. Except there was a guy 5 years older who was still running. :-)

Now I described about your question that, What's a surprisingly old scientific text that's still required reading in its field?(a) and (b). The Voyage of the Beagle (1845) and The Origin of Species(1859) by Charles Darwin (tie)One of the most delightful, witty, and beautifully written of all natural histories, The Voyage of the Beagle recounts the young Darwin's 1831 to 1836 trip to South America, the Galapagos Islands, Australia, and back again to England, a journey that transformed his understanding of biology and fed the development of his ideas about evolution. Fossils spring to life on the page as Darwin describes his adventures, which include encounters with "savages" in Tierra del Fuego, an accidental meal of a rare bird in Patagonia (which was then named in Darwin's honor), and wobbly attempts to ride Galapagos tortoises.Yet Darwin's masterwork is, undeniably, The Origin of Species, in which he introduced his theory of evolution by natural selection. Prior to its publication, the prevailing view was that each species had existed in its current form since the moment of divine creation and that humans were a privileged form of life, above and apart from nature. Darwin's theory knocked us from that pedestal. Wary of a religious backlash, he kept his ideas secret for almost two decades while bolstering them with additional observations and experiments. The result is an avalanche of detail there seems to be no species he did not contemplate thankfully delivered in accessible, conversational prose. A century and a half later, Darwin's paean to evolution still begs to be heard: "There is grandeur in this view of life," he wrote, that "from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.""The most important science book of all time. Darwin revolutionized our understanding of life, the relationship of humanity to all creatures in the world, and the mythological foundation of all religions." geneticist Lee M. Silver, Princeton University(c) Philosophies Natural’s Principia Mathematical (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy) by Isaac Newton (1687)Dramatic is an unlikely word for a book that devotes half its pages to deconstructions of ellipses, parabolas, and tangents. Yet the cognitive power on display here can trigger chills. Principia marks the dawn of modern physics, beginning with the familiar three laws of motion ("To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction" is the third). Later Newton explains the eccentric paths of comets, notes the similarity between sound waves and ripples on a pond, and makes his famous case that gravity guides the orbit of the moon as surely as it defines the arc of a tossed pebble. The text is dry but accessible to anyone with a high school education an opportunity to commune with perhaps the top genius in the history of science."You don't have to be a Newton junkie like me to really find it gripping. I mean how amazing is it that this guy was able to figure out that the same force that lets a bird poop on your head governs the motions of planets in the heavens? That is towering genius, no?" psychiatrist Richard A. Friedman, Cornell University(d) Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems by Galileo Galilei (1632)Pope Urban VIII sanctioned Galileo to write a neutral treatise on Copernicus's new, sun-centered view of the solar system. Galileo responded with this cheeky conversation between three characters: a supporter of Copernicus, an educated layman, and an old-fashioned follower of Aristotle. This last one a dull thinker named Simplicio represented the church position, and Galileo was soon standing before the Inquisition. Galileo comes across as a masterful raconteur; his discussions of recent astronomical findings in particular evoke an electrifying sense of discovery. The last section, in which he erroneously argues that ocean tides prove Earth is in motion, is fascinatingly shoddy by comparison. Galileo, trying to deliver a fatal blow to the church's Aristotelian thinking, got tripped up by his own faith in an idea he was sure was true but couldn't prove."It's not only one of the most influential books in the history of the world but a wonderful read. Clear, entertaining, moving, and often hilarious, it showed early on how science writing needn't be stuffy." cognitive scientist Steven Pinker, Harvard University(e) De Revolution bus Erbium Coelestium (On the Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres) by Nicolaus Copernicus (1543)Copernicus waited until he was on his deathbed to publish this volume, then prefaced it with a ring-kissing letter to Pope Paul III explaining why the work wasn't really heresy. No furor actually ensued until long after Copernicus's death, when Galileo's run-in with the church landed De Revolutionibus on the Inquisition's index of forbidden books (see #4, above). Copernicus, by arguing that Earth and the other planets move around the sun (rather than everything revolving around Earth), sparked a revolution in which scientific thought first dared to depart from religious dogma. While no longer forbidden, De Revolution bus is hardly user-friendly. The book's title page gives fair warning: "Let no one untrained in geometry enter here."(f) Physical (Physics) by Aristotle (circa 330 B.C.)By contrast, Aristotle placed Earth firmly at the center of the cosmos, and viewed the universe as a neat set of nested spheres. He also mistakenly concluded that things move differently on Earth and in the heavens. Nevertheless, Physical ,Aristotle's treatise on the nature of motion, change, and time, stands out because in it he presented a systematic way of studying the natural world—one that held sway for two millennia and led to modern scientific method."Aristotle opened the door to the empirical sciences, in contrast to Platonism's love of pure reason. You cannot overestimate his influence on the West and the world." bioethicist Arthur Caplan, University of Pennsylvania(g) De Humani Corporis Fabrica (On the Fabric of the Human Body) by Andreas Vesalius (1543)In 1543, the same year that Copernicus's De Revolution bus appeared, anatomist Andreas Visalia’s published the world's first comprehensive illustrated anatomy textbook. For centuries, anatomists had dissected the human body according to instructions spelled out by ancient Greek texts. Vesuvius dispensed with that dusty methodology and conducted his own dissections, reporting findings that departed from the ancients' on numerous points of anatomy. The hundreds of illustrations, many rendered in meticulous detail by students of Titian's studio, are ravishing.(Available on CD-ROM.)(h) Relativity: The Special and General Theory by Albert Einstein (1916)Albert Einstein's theories overturned long-held notions about bodies in motion. Time and space, he showed, are not absolutes. A moving yardstick shrinks in flight; a clock mounted on that yardstick runs slow. Relativity, written for those not acquainted with the underlying math, reveals Einstein as a skillful popularize of his ideas. To explain the special theory of relativity, Einstein invites us on board a train filled with rulers and clocks; for the more complex general theory, we career in a cosmic elevator through empty space. As Einstein warns in his preface, however, the book does demand "a fair amount of patience and force of will on the part of the reader."(i). The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins (1976)In this enduring popularization of evolutionary biology, Dawkins argues that our genes do not exist to perpetuate us; instead, we are useful machines that serve to perpetuate them. This unexpected shift in perspective, a "gene's-eye view of nature," is an enjoyable ­­brainteaser for the uninitiated. So is a related notion: that altruistic behavior in animals does not evolve for "the good of the species" but is really selfishness in disguise. "Like successful Chicago gangsters," Dawkins writes, "our genes have survived, in some cases for millions of years, in a highly competitive world."(j). One Two Three . . . Infinity by George Gamow (1947)Illustrating these tales with his own charming sketches, renowned Russian-born physicist Gamow covers the gamut of science from the Big Bang to the curvature of space and the amount of mysterious genetic material in our bodies (DNA had not yet been described). No one can read this book and conclude that science is dull. Who but a physicist would analyze the atomic constituents of genetic material and calculate how much all that material, if extracted from every cell in your body, would weigh? (The answer is less than two ounces.)"Influenced my decision to become a physicist and is part of the reason I write books for the public today." theoretical physicist Lawrence M. Krauss, Case Western Reserve University(k). The Double Helix by James D. Watson (1968)James Watson's frank, and often frankly rude, account of his role in discovering the structure of DNA infuriated nearly everyone whose name appeared in it, but it nonetheless ranks as a first-rate piece of science writing. The Double Helix takes us inside a pell-mell race whose winners were almost guaranteed fame and a Nobel Prize. Most poignant are Watson's disparaging descriptions of his encounters with DNA researcher Rosalind Franklin. Her X-ray crystallography images showed the molecule to be a helix, crucial data that Watson and his collaborator Francis Crick "borrowed" to construct their DNA model. Franklin died of ovarian cancer in 1958, losing out on the 1962 Nobel Prize for the discovery. Perhaps to atone, Watson noted her key contribution in the epilogue to his book."The telenovela of my generation of geneticists." geneticist Mary-Claire King, University of Washington(l). What Is Life? by Erwin Schrödinger (1944)Long a classic among biologists, this volume describes, from the perspective of a Nobel Prize–winning physicist, how living organisms differ from inanimate objects like crystals. Schrödinger carefully outlines how the two groups obey different laws and puzzles over what the "paragon of orderliness" of living things may signify. Some editions include an autobiographical sketch, in which Schrödinger describes the conflict over teaching Darwin that raged when he was in school, as well as his own fascination with evolution."What Is Life? is what got Francis Crick and the other pioneers of molecular biology in the 1950s interested in the problem in the first place." cognitive scientist Steven Pinker, Harvard University(m). The Cosmic Connection by Carl Sagan (1973)At a time when NASA was reeling from the end of the Apollo program, Sagan reacquainted both the public and his colleagues with the majesty of the universe, starting with the oft-overlooked worlds of our own solar system. He also championed the search for extraterrestrial life and argued for the likelihood of planets around other stars two decades before they were discovered. The TV series Cosmos brought Sagan to the masses, but the adventure began here.(n). The Insect Societies by Edward O. Wilson (1971)The patriarch of modern evolutionary biology explores the lives of everyone's favorite creepy crawlies ants, termites, bees, and wasps in this 500-page treatise unmatched in scope and detail by any other work on the topic (with the possible exception of his own 1990 volume, The Ants). It also lays the groundwork for his 1975 classic, Sociobiology: The New Synthesis, which explores the then-controversial idea that the social behavior of animals, including humans, has a deep biological basis. The book is a labor of love, infused with the author's boundless fascination for his tiny subjects. Wilson openly acknowledges the quirkiness of his obsession; the dedication reads, "For my wife Irene, who understands."(o). The First Three Minutes by Steven Weinberg (1977)When Weinberg was a student, "the study of the early universe was widely regarded as not the sort of thing to which a respectable scientist would devote his time." But after World War II, radar researchers turned their instruments to the sky and helped bring creation stories out of the realm of myth and into the realm of science. Weinberg, winner of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics, offered the first authoritative, popular account of the resulting Big Bang scenario in The First Three Minutes. A 1993 afterword discusses more recent advances. Amazingly, only the description of the first fraction of a second of cosmic history has changed significantly.(p). Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (1962)When Silent Spring was first published, a chorus of critics called Carson "hysterical" and "extremist." Yet the marine biologist's meticulously documented indictment of DDT led both to a U.S. ban on the insecticide and to the birth of the modern environmental movement. Carson argues that DDT not only indiscriminately kills insects, including beneficial species like bees, but also accumulates in the fat of birds and mammals high on the food chain, thinning eggshells and causing reproductive problems. Her chilling vision of a birdless America is still haunting. "Over increasingly large areas of the United States," she writes, "spring now comes unheralded by the return of the birds, and the early mornings are strangely silent where once they were filled with the beauty of birdsong."(q). The Mismeasure of Man by Stephen Jay Gould (1981)In this witty critique of bad science, Harvard scholar Stephen Jay Gould sets out to eviscerate the notion of biological determinism. For hundreds of years, Gould argues, questionable measurements of human intelligence, like skull size or IQ, have been used to justify racism, sexism, and class stratification. According to Gould, even respected sociologists and psychologists have used falsified or shaky data to support the belief that Westerners are genetically predisposed to rule the world. The book drew political and scientific criticism, especially from social scientists furious that Gould had oversimplified or demonized their work.(r). The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Talesby Oliver Sacks (1985)In these profiles of patients with unusual neurological disorders, Sacks revolutionizes the centuries-old literary tradition of presenting clinical case studies. Far from dryly reporting each case, the eminent British-born New York City neurologist writes in lively prose with the gentle affection of a country doctor on house call and a contagious sense of wonder. To him, the man with Tourette's syndrome and the woman who cannot sense her own body position are the heroes of the stories. Legions of neuroscientists now probing the mysteries of the human brain cite this book as their greatest inspiration.(s). The Journals of Lewis and Clark by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark (1814)One of history's most famous tales of exploration began on May 14, 1804, when William Clark and his Corps of Discovery set off from the mouth of the Missouri River, beginning an epic 28-month journey west to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. (Meriwether Lewis joined the group two days later.) The Journals, a meticulous chronicle of their expedition, offer an unprecedented glimpse at unexplored, undeveloped America west of the Mississippi. Lewis, the group's naturalist and astronomer, and Clark, the surveyor, documented new species of wildlife (coyotes, jackrabbits, mule deer, and others), unfamiliar geology, and interactions with native peoples. A complete copy of the Journals and their companion material is heavy reading (the definitive Nebraska edition has 13 volumes), but an abridged version captures all the adventure in a palatably sized package.(t). The Feynman Lectures on Physics by Richard P. Feynman, Robert B. Leighton, and Matthew Sands (1963)Not only did physicist Richard Feynman win the 1965 Nobel Prize for his work on quantum electrodynamics, he once played bongos for a San Francisco ballet. The beloved book Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! recounts his raucous adventures, but these undergraduate physics lectures, presented over two years at Caltech in the 1960s, are Feynman's true gift to students at all levels. The first 94 lectures cover a wide swath of basic physics, from Newtonian mechanics to electromagnetism, while the final 21 venture into quantum mechanics. Feynman's characteristic humor and peerless explanations elevate these classroom lessons to enduring classics."Feynman, the prankster-genius, appeals no matter what field you're in. It helps to know some basic physics to approach his lectures, but he has such a luminous mind and is so good with metaphor that you can grasp a fair amount about what's going on in modern physics without formal understanding of complex math, up to a point." psychiatrist Richard A. Friedman, Cornell University(u). Sexual Behavior in the Human Male by Alfred C. Kinsey et al. (1948)The first of two books known collectively as the Kinsey Report, this treatise became an improbable best seller. With raw, technical descriptions of sexual acts, distilled from thousands of interviews, it documented for the first time what people really do behind closed doors. Many researchers consider the book flawed because of its sampling bias: Most of the men interviewed were young, white, and eager to participate. Nevertheless, the work remains an outstanding model of scientific bravery in the 20th century, with its insistence that sexual acts be described as healthy functions of the human body and that cultural taboos not stand in the way of science.(v). Gorillas in the Mist by Dian Fossey (1983)In a richly hued portrait of the lives and behavior of African mountain gorillas, Fossey documents her 13 years dwelling in a remote rain forest amid these enigmatic animals. One of a trio of protégés picked by famed anthropologist Louis Leakey to conduct field studies of great apes, Fossey was determined, devoted, and often angry over the apes' diminishing habitat and especially over the danger they faced from poachers (who may have been responsible for Fossey's 1985 murder). In Gorillas she leaves behind a scientific treasure, one rendered more poignant by her death in the service of these peaceful, intelligent beasts.(w). Under a Lucky Star by Roy Chapman Andrews (1943)Roy Chapman Andrews made scientific history during the 1920s by leading five motorized expeditions into unexplored reaches of the Gobi desert. He emerged with the equivalent of pale ontological gold: more than 350 new species (including the dinosaurs Protuberates and Velociraptor), the first fossils of Cretaceous mammals, and the first nests of dinosaur eggs. He packed out plenty of wild tales, too, which are woven into this engaging autobiography. Rumors persist that the fedora-wearing, snake-hating, death-defying explorer may have served as the inspiration for Hollywood's Indiana Jones.(x). Micrographia by Robert Hooke (1665)A revelation in its time, Micrographia exposed the previously hidden microscopic world. Hooke, an early developer of the compound microscope, used his device to peer at the eyes of flies, the stinger on a bee, hairs, bristles, sand particles, seeds, and more, noting every detail with both words and masterful illustrations. The original book is a hefty three pounds, so the digital versions now available are more convenient, but there is something to be said for flipping through a printed copy and discovering, like a hidden treasure, each drawing in its beautiful intricacy. (Available on CD-ROM.)(y). Gaia by James Lovelock (1979)As an inventor of scientific instruments, James Lovelock may seem an unlikely figure to have launched a New Age, earth-mother environmental movement. Yet that's exactly what he accomplished with Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth. In it Lovelock laid out his daring idea that our planet is a single, self-regulating system, dubbed Gaia, wherein "the entire range of living matter on Earth, from whales to viruses, and from oaks to algae, could be regarded as constituting a single living entity, capable of manipulating the Earth's atmosphere to suit its overall needs." Lovelock has since refined the hypothesis, which many scientists criticized as quasi mystical, and notes that he never implied that Gaia was a sentient being.Thank you for the question. I hope you will be benefit from this answer.