Science Recommended Books and Bestsellers

1Fairyland of Science

By Arabella B. Buckley

"I have promised to introduce you today to the fairy-land of science, -- a somewhat bold promise, seeing that most of you probably look upon science as a bundle of dry facts, while fairy-land is all that is beautiful, and full of poetry and imagination. But I thoroughly believe myself, and hope to prove to you, that science is full of beautiful pictures, of real poetry, and of wonder-working fairies; ..."</br>(From the Introduction to <em>The Fairyland of Science</em>)

2How to Tell the Birds from the Flowers

By Robert Williams Wood

How do you tell apart a parrot from a carrot? A plover from a clover? A bay from a jay? Although there are several ways of differentiating, R. W. Wood’s use of pun and rhyme is one of the most entertaining! (Summary by Andrea L.)

3Book of the Damned

By Charles Hoy Fort

The Book of the Damned was the first published nonfiction work of the author Charles Fort (first edition 1919). Dealing with various types of anomalous phenomena including UFOs, strange falls of both organic and inorganic materials from the sky, odd weather patterns, the possible existence of creatures generally held to be mythological, disappearances of people under strange circumstances, and many other phenomena, the book is historically considered to be the first written in the specific field of anomalistics. - Summary from Wikipedia

4Concept of Nature

By Alfred North Whitehead

In <i>The Concept of Nature</i>, Alfred North Whitehead discusses the interrelatedness of time, space, and human perception.<BR />The idea of objects as 'occasions of experience', arguments against body-mind duality and the search for an all-encompassing 'philosophy of nature' are examined, with specific reference to contemporary (Einstein, with whose theory of relativity he has some complaints) and ancient (Plato, Aristotle) approaches. (Summary by mb)

5Burgess Animal Book for Children

By Thornton W. Burgess

Peter Rabbit goes to school, with Mother Nature as his teacher. In this zoology book for children, Thornton W. Burgess describes the mammals of North America in the form of an entertaining story, including plenty of detail but omitting long scientific names. There is an emphasis on conservation. (Summary by Laurie Anne Walden)

6Advance of Science in the Last Half-Century

By Thomas Henry Huxley

Thomas H. Huxley, an English biologist and essayist, was an advocate of the theory of evolution and a self-proclaimed agnostic. A talented writer, his essays helped to popularize science in the 19th century, and he is credited with the quote, "Try to learn something about everything and everything about something." In <i>The Advance of Science in the Last Half Century</i>, he presents a summary of the major developments in Physics, Chemistry and Biology during the period 1839-1889 and their impact on society, within the historical context of philosophical thought and scientific inquiry going back to Aristotle. Huxley’s clear and readable prose makes this subject equally enjoyable for both the student of scientific history and the casual listener alike. (Summary by J. M. Smallheer)

7Bird Study Book

By Thomas Gilbert Pearson

Do you enjoy bird watching? Would you like to learn a little more about the early conservation efforts to protect wild birds? In the Preface to The Bird Study Book, Pearson tells us “This book was written for the consideration of that ever-increasing class of Americans who are interested in acquiring a greater familiarity with the habits and activities of wild birds. Attention is also given to the relation of birds to mankind and the effect of civilisation on the bird-life of the country. ” An avid ornithologist, T. Gilbert Pearson (1873-1943) was a co-founder in 1905 of the National Association of Audubon Societies of which he was first secretary and then president for many years. He was also a pioneer of the conservation movement in the United States, international bird protection and broad nature education for school-aged children. (Audubon Magazine. 42: 370–371. Nov-Dec 1943)

8Voyage of the Beagle

By Charles Darwin

The book, also known as Darwin's Journal of Researches, is a vivid and exciting travel memoir as well as a detailed scientific field journal covering biology, geology, and anthropology that demonstrates Darwin's keen powers of observation, written at a time when Western Europeans were still discovering and exploring much of the rest of the world. Although Darwin revisited some areas during the expedition, for clarity the chapters of the book are ordered by reference to places and locations rather than chronologically. With hindsight, ideas which Darwin would later develop into his theory of evolution by natural selection are hinted at in his notes and in the book (Summary from Wikipedia)<p>.

9Is Mars Habitable?

By Alfred Russel Wallace

In 1907 Wallace wrote the short book Is Mars Habitable? to criticize the claims made by Percival Lowell that there were Martian canals built by intelligent beings. Wallace did months of research, consulted various experts, and produced his own scientific analysis of the martian climate and atmospheric conditions. Among other things Wallace pointed out that spectroscopic analysis had shown no signs of water vapour in the Martian atmosphere, that Lowell's analysis of Mars's climate was seriously flawed and badly overestimated the surface temperature, and that low atmospheric pressure would make liquid water, let alone a planet girding irrigation system, impossible. (from Wikipedia)

10Extermination of the American Bison

By William T. Hornaday

The American bison (Bison bison), also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds, became nearly extinct by a combination of commercial hunting and slaughter in the 19th century and introduction of bovine diseases from domestic cattle. William T. Hornaday’s advocacy is credited with preserving the American bison from extinction. This book, originally published in 1887, gives Mr. Hornaday's evidence of the Bison's impending extinction. (Adapted from Wikipedia by Ann Boulais)

1Edison, His Life and Inventions

By Frank Lewis Dyer and Thomas Commerford Martin

A detailed biography of Thomas Alva Edison, inventor of such things as the telephone, the microphone, the electric motor, the storage battery, and the electric light. In the words of the authors, "It is designed in these pages to bring the reader face to face with Edison; to glance at an interesting childhood and a youthful period marked by a capacity for doing things, and by an insatiable thirst for knowledge; then to accompany him into the great creative stretch of forty years, during which he has done so much. This book shows him plunged deeply into work for which he has always had an incredible capacity, reveals the exercise of his unsurpassed inventive ability, his keen reasoning powers, his tenacious memory, his fertility of resource; follows him through a series of innumerable experiments, conducted methodically, reaching out like rays of search-light into all the regions of science and nature, and finally exhibits him emerging triumphantly from countless difficulties bearing with him in new arts the fruits of victorious struggle." (written by Justin Barrett, with authors' quote taken from the work itself)

This is a project which will allow us to compare recording quality of different mp3 players and portable recording devices. Each reader has recorded the poem "Written in March" by William Wordsworth.<BR> For more information on actions taken on recordings please see <a href="http://librivox.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12222">The Project thread</a>.<BR> Recorders used in the sections: <OL> <LI><a href="http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&partNumber=ICDSX46">Sony ICD-SX46 2</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.iriveramerica.com/prod/ultra/T10/">iRiver T10</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.sandisk.com/Products/Catalog(1166)-SanDisk_Sansa_e200_Series_MP3_Players.aspx">Sansa m240</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.nextar.com/frontend/proddetail.asp?pn=MA566&co=10000309">nextar MA566</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/h2/">Zoom H2Handy Recorder</a></LI> <LI>Sansa C3 MP3 player</LI> <LI><a href="http://www.iriveramerica.com/">iRiver iHP-140</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.iriveramerica.com/prod/ultra/T10/">iRiver T10 1GB</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.sandisk.com/Products/Default.aspx?CatID=1363">Sandisk Sansa Clip</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.creative.com/products/mp3/zenvisionm/">Creative Zen Vision M</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.iriver.com/product/p_detail.asp?pidx=35">iRiver ifp780</a> with external mic</li> <LI><a href="http://www.iriver.com/product/p_detail.asp?pidx=35">iRiver ifp780</a> with internal mic</li> <LI><a href="http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=10387/10388/8016/8018&pq-locale=en_US">Kodak Easyshare Z650 camera</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.amazon.com/LogitechUSB-Headset-980374-0403/dp/tech-data/B0007SXHP0/ref=de_a_smtd">Logitech USB Headset 350</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1901">Samson H4</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.samsung.com/my/products/audio/mp3player/yp_c1v.asp">Samsung YP-C1</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.apple.com/ipodnano/">iPod Nano</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.roland.com/products/en/BR-600/index.html">Boss Digital Recorder BR-600</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/h2/">Zoom H2 Handy Recorder</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000AQDOKC/interactiveda95-21">Archos Gmini 402</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.sandisk.com/Products/Catalog(1166)-SanDisk_Sansa_e200_Series_MP3_Players.aspx">sansa m240</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&subcategory=214&product=12720&nav=1">Creative Zen Nano Plus</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.korg.com/gear/info.asp?a_prod_no=d4">Korg D4 digital recorder</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://uk.samsungmobile.com/mobile/SGH-D600">Samsung D600 mobile phone</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&subcategory=215&product=10737">Creative MuVo N200</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://en.aigo.com/Product/view.asp?id=1701">Aigo A208 mp3 player</a></LI> </OL>

3Umbrellas and Their History

By William Sangster

A whimsically serious look at the umbrella and society. (summary by Clarica)

4Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki

By United States Army Corps of Engineers

This is the official report, published nearly 11 months after the first and only atomic bombings in history (to date), of a group of military physicians and engineers who accompanied the initial contingent of U.S. soldiers into the destroyed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The report presents a clinical description of the devastation, loss of life and continued suffering of the survivors that resulted from the world's first and only atomic bombings, to date. The appendix is an eyewitness account, contrasting vividly with the dispassionate sang-froid of the report itself, written by a German Jesuit priest who survived the blast at Hiroshima, and whose order assisted in rescue efforts following the catastrophic attack. This recording was completed on the 63rd anniversary of the events. (Summary by Dennis Sayers).

5Early History of the Airplane

By Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright

The Brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air flight, on 17th December 1903. They were not the first to build and fly aircraft, but they invented the controls that were necessary for a pilot to steer the aircraft, which made fixed wing powered flight possible. The Early History of the Airplane consists of three short essays about the beginnings of human flight. The second essay retells the first flight: <em>This flight lasted only 12 seconds, but it was nevertheless the first in the history of the world in which a machine carrying a man had raised itself by its own power into the air in full flight, had sailed forward without reduction of speed and had finally landed at a point as high as that from which it started.</em> (Introduction by Availle)

6My Life and Work

By Henry Ford

Henry Ford profiles the events that shaped his personal philosophy, and the challenges he overcame on the road to founding the Ford Motor Company. Throughout his memoir, he stresses the importance of tangible service and physical production over relative value as judged by profits and money. He measures the worth of a business or government by the service it provides to all, not the profits in dollars it accumulates. He also makes the point that only service can provide for human needs, as opposed to laws or rules which can only prohibit specific actions and do not provide for the necessaries of life. Ford applies his reasoning to the lending system, transportation industry, international trade and interactions between labor and management. For each, he proposes solutions that maximize service and provide goods at the lowest cost and highest quality. He analyzes from a purely material viewpoint, going as far as to argue that the need for a good feeling in work environments may reflect a character flaw or weakness. However, his unflinching focus on the ultimate material products and necessities of life provide clever insights in how he created an efficient and flexible system for providing reliable transportation for the average person. (Summary by LivelyHive)

7Careers of Danger and Daring

By Cleveland Moffett

In this volume of adventure the author depicts the lives of certain humble modern heroes whose unconscious courage ordinarily goes unnoticed. Mr. Moffett has chosen unusual and picturesque careers, and has offered dramatic scenes from the lives of the steeple climber, the diver, the balloonist,the pilot, the bridge builder, the fireman, the aerial acrobat, the wild animal trainer, the dynamite worker and lastly the locomotive driver. (Summary by annise)<br><br>And it has great pictures - ever wondered what the top of a steeple really looked like? <b>Some listeners may find the "Wild Animal Tamer" stories distressing </b>- I did. I would suggest you just don't download that section - the rest is well worth listening to.

8Story of Books

By Gertrude Burford Rawlings

Rawlings follows the development of printing from the origins of writing to modern printing. Some of the earliest records are ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman recordings on papyrus and wax tablets. However, Rawlings acknowledges the sparse nature of this first fragile evidence, and limits speculation.<br/><br/> Later, libraries of religious books grew in Europe, where monks copied individual books in monasteries. The "block printing" technique began with illustrations carved in wood blocks, while the text needed to be written by hand. Eventually, entire pages were printed as combinations of illustrations with text. The Biblia Pauperum, or “Bible of the Poor,” demonstrates this first time saving method.<br/><br/> Later chapters focus on printing developing as an industry, especially after the invention of movable type. Two inventors are contested as the first inventor, Johann Gutenberg of Mentz in Germany, and Laurenz Coster of Haarlem in Holland. Rawlings describes the evidence for each side, along with stories and legends that grow around their names.<br/><br/> Since many of the medieval books were meant to be admired as art by the illiterate majority and read only by an educated minority, copiers spent much time decorating manuscripts. Also, these highly decorated volumes needed to be protected. Here, Rawlings describes the techniques for binding and beautifying books. Arriving closer to the present day, Rawlings describes a few modern printing techniques that bring mass produced and cheap books to the now literate public. (Summary by LivelyHive)

9Twentieth Century Inventions: A Forecast

By George Sutherland

This work from 1901 predicts what technological developments will manifest in the twentieth century. The author, a technical journalist, presents ideas for inventions and new developments in the areas of power, transportation, agriculture, mining, domestic applications, electronic devices, warfare, music, art, and news. Many have come to pass. All of them provide an interesting look into how the next century was imagined and what challenges were anticipated for the progress of society. -(Summary by A. Gramour)

10Story of the Atlantic Telegraph

By Henry M. Field

Cyrus W. Field had a dream: to link the Old World of Britain and Europe to that of the New World of North America by a telegraph cable stretching across the great Atlantic Ocean. It took him thirteen years, a lot of money, and many men and ships and cable to make it happen. He wanted to bring the world together and make it a smaller place; to forge alliances and achieve peace. This is his story. (Introduction by Alex C. Telander)