Best Popular Science, Technology and History Books

Science has transformed human life beyond measure. The device that you are reading this on is built as a result of years of accumulation of technical knowledge and knowhow. Popular science books are some of the most intelligently written books. They explain complex technicalities in simple language for the general reader. They are not as easy to get through as other kinds of non-fiction but reading about genetics, neuroscience, evolution, technology, economics and history has compounding benefits as it helps us understand ourselves and our fast-changing world. Here are some of the best books in pop-science, technology and history that can enlighten you about how the world works.

Books reviewed in this article:

1. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
2. Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow
3. AI Superpowers
4. The Brain: The Story of You
5. The Magic of Reality
6. Why Information Grows
7. The Body: A Guide for Occupants
8. Entangled Life

More books will be added as I read and review!

Before we proceed...

Many people (including me) often wonder what one can get from reading such books. Isn't it a hassle to spend so much time reading complicated stuff and wracking your brain? Why should we care about what scientists are doing in rainforests and space observatories?

In my opinion, the most useful 'benefit' that one can get from reading such deep books is a perspective beyond oneself. We spend all our waking hours worrying about our ambitions, our goals, our life and in the process miss the beauty of the world we inhabit. Reading about the world instills a sense of awe and admiration simply about how things are. Reading popular science is a way to escape the reality of day-to-day life through a different version of reality, unlike fantasy that takes you to a different world. When you read fascinating stuff about how how our species has come all the way from hunting and gathering to a day when you can read this on a digital device, you stop stressing so much about the annoying co-worker or the fact that you earn less than your neighbour. You simply sit back and revel in wonder. Also, reading quality books is the easiest way to spend prolonged time with the thoughts of intelligent people. All of us should spend time with people who are smarter than us. With that said, let's dive in...

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

by Yuval Noah Harari

A book about how our species "Homo sapiens" has come from being a localized animal in the African Savanna to the strongest species on the planet. Enjoyable, knowledgeable, and transformational. It involves history, science, sociology, philosophy, etc., and is a fantastic blend of everything. The author has connected universal history to the present world we live in and has given some tremendous insights thereby. He has also described history in a logical, scientific fashion, unlike history textbooks and informational sources. The author's unmatched clarity of thinking and insight can be seen in his writing.

The book is divided into four parts: the cognitive revolution, the Agricultural Revolution, the Unification of Humankind, and the Scientific Revolution. It gives a bird's eye view of human history right from the beginning of the cognitive revolution, which started 70,000 years ago and transformed the human brain into what we know today. Starting from explaining what distinguishes humans from other animals, it gives a lot of valuable insights into how this species has managed to come such a long way in such a short time (short by evolutionary standards), from hunting game in Africa in 70,000 BC to launching space programs and building artificial intelligence today. You will understand the role of several forces such as evolution, culture, religion, empires, money, and science in influencing how history has unfolded over the millennia.

What I liked the most in the book:

• The lessons we can get from looking at history, to live in today's world. It's a book about the present and future, not just the past.
• The scientific temperament in the arguments: discussion of contradicting theories and of what exactly we know and what we do not
• Mind-boggling realizations that the way our world works today is just one of the multitude of possibilities is a result of many factors, and cannot be taken for granted or considered "obvious."
• The discussion of Buddhism, craving, and suffering in Part 3 and of happiness towards the end of the book
• The way evolution has played a significant role in shaping our psyche, thinking, and decision-making
• An appreciation towards the luxuries we have today and how peaceful our world is (even if it does not seem to be so at first glance)

Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow

by Yuval Noah Harari

This is a sequel of Sapiens and is about the future. There is some repetition with Sapiens but the author has done an extremely good job of making this book a great read in itself so it can be read before Sapiens too (but not recommended). It is more on the philosophical side than Sapiens and it has a lot of stuff about what humanity will pursue in future after having conquered basic survival and material issues. It will show you what science is going to offer in the next few decades, along with the roles and limitations of cultures, religions and humanism which have shaped our lives till this date and some intelligent speculation about how it might change in the next few decades or centuries with the advent of artificial intelligence, biotechnology, genetic engineering, etc. With the aid of upcoming technology, Homo Sapiens might become something like never before, a completely different kind of superhuman species which the author has called Homo Deus.

I personally liked Homo Deus more than Sapiens. It has only those parts of Sapiens repeated which are necessary to relate what is happening today and what will happen later, without too much focus on the historical details. The criticism of humanism is rather depressing, but is a revolutionary idea nevertheless.

What I liked the most in this book:

• Educated predictions about how the world will be in the coming decades
• Discussion of humanism which we take for granted today
• Philosophical discussion of religions as systems that give factual arguments, ethical doctrines and practical guidelines
• Extremely gripping style of writing. The book is a page-turner, thrilling as well as enlightening.

AI Superpowers

by Kai Fu Lee

This is a book about the history of artificial intelligence (AI), its categories, developments, startup ecosystems, political implications and how it is changing the world. The author is a Taiwanese businessman, computer scientist, investor and has been at the forefront of AI technology in the past few decades. Starting with how China has developed a "copycat" tradition of taking technological research and startups developed in Silicon Valley and using the ideas to make their own products to capture the market. It is a detailed analysis of how power is getting redistributed in the world because of technology. Following this is a discussion of the different types of AI, which professions are at a risk of bring wiped out because of AI (and which ones are not).

There is a huge twist in the book which I will not spoil. But it is about something that happened in the author's personal life that gave him a perspective on how the future might look with AI technologies dominating our economy. He has predicted how our humanness will be turn out to be more rather than less important in order to thrive in an AI economy. The ideas are highly ambitious and bold but they make a lot of sense. A very insightful book, filled with intelligent conjectures, that combines technological as well as human elements.

Who Should Read This Book:

• Anyone working with AI, wanting to get a broad level perspective of this disruptive technology
• Anyone who thinks the world is going to be the same 20 years later
• Anyone wanting to understand how the job market will function in future
• Anyone who is at (or approaching) the peak of their career, but is not really finding themselves living a meaningful life
• Anyone who is sacrificing relationships for career success.

The Brain: The Story of You

by David Eagleman

This book is a fascinating dive into how "the most complex object on the planet", namely the human brain, works. It covers multiple questions such as sensation, learning, experience, consciousness, emotions, and behavior. The book is an excellent introduction to the fascinating field of neuroscience. Each page is filled with astonishing facts about the brain. There are descriptions of experiments done and the insights obtained which enlighten us about the workings of this neuronal machine inside our skulls. The reader cannot help but appreciate the complexity and the ingenuity of the brain's design. The most incredible thing about the book is the simplicity of writing. There is no point in the book where it feels like the concepts are challenging to grasp, which happens in many science books. The analogies used by the author and the way he explains intricacies in clear, simple language make the book an engaging page-turner, a combination of knowledge and fun. You'll get a lot of "aha" moments while reading it!

I saw this book in my college library and picked it up to see what it had. Despite having seen recommendations and reviews of so many books over the past few months, I hadn't even come across the name of this one, so I expected it to be a not-so-good one. But I read it and it almost came as a shock to me; it was fabulous. It has excellent page-for-page wisdom and does not get dull at any point. It might be one of the most underrated books—a great first book for anyone wishing to explore reading popular science or non-fiction.

The book is divided into 6 chapters:

• Who am I?
• What is reality?
• Who's in control?
• How do I decide?
• Do I need you?
• Who will we be?

The last chapter is especially jaw-dropping, with all the future possibilities and speculations of where neuroscience research is going to take us. From advances in bionics (artificial senses and limbs) to uploading our consciousness to the internet, this chapter can make you squirm in your seats, similar to sections in other futurism books like Homo Deus. It will show you what's about to come and how powerful our species is going to become with the tools of science, equipped to carve out its own destiny.

What I liked the most about the book:

• The analogies used to explain the brain, for example the brain being like a city
• The simplicity of writing and clarity in the explanations without technical jargon
• Great quality of content in a limited number of pages: Many pop-science books are long and difficult to finish, but this book was an exception
• The way the author has brought out the theme of appreciation of the brain's complexity and Mother Nature's design secrets

The Magic of Reality

by Richard Dawkins

This book can be seen an introduction to science. Dawkins has explained complicated concepts in simple language that everyone can understand, from teenagers to adults and from non-specialists to scientists. In each chapter, he discusses a question such as “What is a rainbow?” or “Who was the first person?”. He debunks some myths that have crept into the history of humanity. Followed by the myths and explanations of why they are wrong, Dawkins explains how science has tried to answer the questions. It is an excellent demonstration of how much there is to learn from science and why it is necessary and sufficient to understand things rationally.

The persistent theme in the book is the following: We resort to myths and superstitious beliefs to explain why our beautiful world has come into existence and how this seemingly magical universe has come to be, but the scientific explanations themselves are so worthy of awe that reality itself is more magical than any myth or miracle. Dawkins has shown how we can appreciate reality and find beauty in it with the help of science and rational arguments rather than any made-up beliefs. From the world of the tiny (atoms and subatomic particles) to the world of the vast (stars and galaxies), this book will inspire you to learn more about scientific advancements in various domains. Overall, a fabulous introduction to the pop-science genre of non-fiction books.

What I liked most in the book:

• Detailed explanations in simple language; easy to read as well as good learning value
• Broad coverage of various subfields of science: evolution, biology, physics, chemistry, astronomy, geology, etc. in just 250 odd pages
• Demonstration of the scientific method: How science works, how scientists acknowledge their ignorance and still work to seek answers, the importance of evidence, the use of probability and statistics.

Who should read this book?

• Teenagers
• Any enthusiastic person who is willing to understand the world but doesn’t know where to start
• Anyone who wants to challenge superstitious beliefs pushed onto them by society and wants to make sense of what is real
• Beginner readers who want to try a pop-science book that is not too advanced

Why Information Grows

by Cesar Hidalgo

This book offers a brilliant perspective to look at the world and the universe from the lens of information processing. The central premise is that the universe, though essentially chaotic, is composed of pockets of physical order which the author calls "information". Why this information is born, how it survives, and how it grows is the crux of the book. From biology to economics, from thermodynamics to industrial growth, it explores multiple disciplines and ultimately offers a fresh insights on how our world works. It has an academic bent and reads like a textbook sometimes. It's a difficult read at some places, and I didn't understand everything very well. But it was fascinating nevertheless because of the elegance of the arguments and the different perspective.

I love books which combine wisdom from multiple disciplines and offer a new perspective to look at things which we previously either ignored or took for granted. I had no idea that thermodynamics, information theory and macroeconomics have any connection whatsoever. The author has done a great job of presenting complicated concepts like entropy and economic complexity as simply as is ever possible.

Who Should Read This Book

• Anyone who wants to understand how the world works
• Anyone who thinks thermodynamics was a useless chapter introduced in high-school chemistry
• Anyone who loves multi-disciplinary thinking
• Anyone with a slightly nerdy, academic taste in books

The Body: A Guide for Occupants

by Bill Bryson

This is an excellent book about human anatomy for the general reader. It is filled with information and details but it is nevertheless an extremely fun read. Bill Bryson has done an excellent job describing the body, history of medical research, scientists, diseases, treatments with an occasional touch of humour. Each chapter is based on a part of the body such as the brain, heart or the immune system.

An interesting takeaway is that a lot of facts about the human body such as why we yawn or why we sleep 7-8 hours (and not more or less) or why one gets asthma are simply not known to science. It's a great read for pop science enthusiasts. It filled me with awe towards the workings of the body many times, and also made me laugh with some funny anecdotes and strange facts. It will help you appreciate the working of your own body which we otherwise take for granted. It will also enlighten you with how far we are from understanding so many things about the human body even when science is so advanced as to split the atom and reach the moon.

What I liked the most in this book:

• The fact that the book does not get boring inspite of having so much information. It's almost a textbook on human anatomy.
• Bill Bryson's occasional one-liners and humorous punches that seem to surprise you in the midst of serious scientific facts
• The humility that ultimately comes out when you realise how much you don't know
• The awe that comes on realising how beautifully the body works

Entangled Life

by Merlin Sheldrake

Can you imagine a 350 page non-fiction book on "fungi"? Fungi are neither plants nor animals. They form an entire kingdom of life, but they are one of the most neglected. Everyone talks about animals and plants but nobody talks about the essence of fungi in life. They form one of the most important parts of life on this planet. They have survived all the five mass extinctions and are evolutionarily older than land plants. This book is packed with jaw-dropping facts about fungi (as well as other forms of life such as bacteria and plants). It will change the way you see "life".

Each chapter is dedicated to a separate aspect such as truffles, lichens, psychedelics, mycorrhizal relationships, yeast, etc. It talks about how fungi form symbiotic relationships with other life forms, how fungal networks can help us solve complicated algorithms, how fungi can help solve the problem of climate change, and how fungi can give us transcendental mental states. This neglected category of life surely deserves more attention from science and as research in this area grows, we are definitely going to be influenced a lot by fungal concerns.

What I liked the most in this book:

• I got a newfound respect for evolution and life on planet earth, how magical and beautiful it is. Truly, there is so much to appreciate about the world we inhabit!
• The way the author has brought out the relevance of fungi in important matters like psychedelics and climate change
• The humility that comes when you realise that humans are not at the apex of life
• The confidence gained from the fact that science is looking at completely new areas in order to solve the pressing problems of today's world