Present at the Future: From Evolution to Nanotechnology, Candid and Controversial Conversations on Science ...5 reviews Ira Flatow Collins, 2008 IGCC + Does science have a future? + A good, broad view of modern scientific advances + He is definitely trying             The Company of Strangers: A Natural History of Economic Life11 reviews Paul Seabright Princeton University Press, 2005 A Bioeconomic Masterpiece + Cooperation with no one in charge Despite the rough treatment handed to Edward O. Wilson's call for a unification of biology and the social sciences some three decades ago, and despite the hostility still aroused by the notion of "sociobiology" by some traditionalists, the process of integrating social science into natural science ...             Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness36 reviews Richard H. Thaler, Cass R. Sunstein Yale University Press, 2008 Useful analysis of factors affecting decision making + A must read In this lovely, useful book, Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein examine choices, biases and the limits of human reasoning from a variety of perspectives. They often amuse by disclosing how they have fallen victim to the limitations of thought that they are describing. The fact that these educated, ...             Agricultural Trade Policy: Letting Markets Work (Aei Studies in Agricultural Policy) Daniel A. Sumner AEI Press, 1995 This study reviews the contents and implications of major trade agreements, as well as the consequences of failing to secure agricultural trade policy reform.             Multiplicity: The New Science of Personality, Identity, and the Self4 reviews Rita Carter Little, Brown and Company, 2008 An exceptionally clear roadmap of human personality. A smart read, a timely update of how our personalities operate. + Very interesting research + How Many Personalities Are Inside You? Rita Carter is a fine writer with a sterling track record in charting the human mind, both in her well praised Mapping the Mind, and Consciousness (Mapping Science) and here she explores the issue of personality. The twist here is that recent advances in neuro-science are enabling us to ...             Linked: How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means92 reviews Albert-Laszlo Barabasi Plume, 2003 Quite good approach to understand networks. + Good way to start + Inspiring + Great overview for the non-scientist + Fascinating Linkage             Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body63 reviews Neil Shubin Pantheon, 2008 Evolution for the Nonscientist + Engaging non-specialist treatment + Wonderful tour through evolution + Making fossils rock!             The Logic of Life: The Rational Economics of an Irrational World31 reviews Tim Harford Random House, 2008 Best of the current crop of pop-economic books + Very Readable, and Interesting I've read a lot of books lately on human behavior, the economics of daily life, and game theory. Although "Freakonomics" by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner is the most famous recent book of pop economics (and I did quite enjoy it), I think the best of the current lot is this one: "The ...             Deep Simplicity: Bringing Order to Chaos and Complexity12 reviews John Gribbin Random House, 2005 A Beautiful Piece of Literature + logical and scientific integration is profound + Good update of chaos theory + Fantastic book + Cheo-plexity exposed.             Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain19 reviews Maryanne Wolf Harper, 2007 A view from a reading teacher + An excellent introduction to the cognitive neuroscience of reading + Confirming and Thought-Provoking I have taught written language skills (reading, writing and spelling) to reluctant learners (mainly individuals with dyslexia) for thirty years. This book, PROUST AND THE SQUID: THE STORY AND SCIENCE OF THE READING BRAIN, is a book that I would highly recommend to my colleagues and others ...             Simple Heuristics That Make Us Smart6 reviews Gerd Gigerenzer, Peter M. Todd, ... Oxford University Press, USA, 2000 Well, i liked it anyway + Worthwhile Insight into Mental Shortcuts + Gigerenzer's clearest text - very inspiring. + Great book about cognitive pitfalls + Statistical, Mathematical, Academic             Abandon the Old in Tokyo7 reviews Yoshihiro Tatsumi Drawn and Quarterly, 2006 A darker grittier sadder view of modern Japan - the one without giant robots, sexy cyborgs, ninjas, or magical creatures + Haunted Tokyo + A quality tough to define + LOVE IT             A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World (Princeton Economic History of the Western World)35 reviews Gregory Clark Princeton University Press, 2007 Clarks two big, but different, questions + Thought Provoking + excellent An ambitious and provocative new book by University of California at Davis economic historian Gregory Clark, A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World attempts to explain two huge questions: 1. Why did one part of the human race finally break out of the "Malthusian trap"--in ...             Gut Feelings: The Intelligence of the Unconscious16 reviews Gerd Gigerenzer Viking Adult, 2007 Making sense of the social brain + Evolutionary Shortcomings in Human Behavior and Decision Making + Great read + Gut Feelings/Blink + Accessible!             Sync: The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order56 reviews Steven H. Strogatz Hyperion, 2003 sync sync + Resonance + Heavy Science for Light Readers This book gave both nature and theoretical explanation of what sync is and how it might happen. Of course, its raminifaction still need a lot of exploration. This book is a good start and definite a good read for scientific inquiring mind. Read it and you know if you sync with this book.             Your Money and Your Brain: How the New Science of Neuroeconomics Can Help Make You Rich23 reviews Jason Zweig Simon & Schuster, 2008 Sobering experience + Good insight into the inner workings of the brain. + You CAN teach an old primate new tricks (about investing) + Interesting Read + great insight             Super Crunchers: Why Thinking-by-Numbers Is the New Way to Be Smart70 reviews Ian Ayres Bantam, 2007 Freakonomics 2: enjoyable survey of interesting research with real-world impacts Ayres demonstrates how statistical analysis of large datasets is affecting the way the world works in a broad range of applications: credit card companies, sports teams, wine critics, development economists, medical practitioners,* law enforcement agencies, schools, etc. "Freakonomics didn't talk ...             Simple Rules for a Complex World6 reviews Richard Epstein Harvard University Press, 1998 a good book. + Complex + Cost-benefit analysis in defense of liberty? Professor Richard Epstein does a very convincing job in this book of articulating a legal system which is far more practical and comprehensible than the regime we currently enjoy. In the tradition of the law and economics approach, Epstein's major theme is that the administrative costs associated ...             Calculated Risks: How to Know When Numbers Deceive You12 reviews Gerd Gigerenzer Simon & Schuster, 2003 How to interpret test results better than your Doc! + The truth about, fingerprints, DNA, AIDS, legal drugs, and so much more. + Calculated Risks by Gigerenzer This is a very clearly written book. It demonstrates many numerical errors the press, the public, and experts make in interpreting the accuracy of medical screening test (mammography, HIV test, etc...) and figuring out the probability of an accused person being guilty. At the foundation of the ...             Economic Facts and Fallacies45 reviews Thomas Sowell Basic Books, 2007 Informative, yet easy to read + Another Thomas Sowell great! + Another winner from the mind and research of black libertarian author Tom Sowell My knowledge of economics is admittedly limited, but this book was written so well that even a rookie like me could understand the concepts. Though I'm not sure I agree with every conclusion Sowell draws, the book was incredibly informative and really got me thinking. I know I will listen to ...