Amazon has come out with their Editor's Picks for 2009. There are three categories that have books that are relevant to us here.
Science
- The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes
- Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origin of Species by Sean B. Carroll
- Complexity: A Guided Tour by Melanie Mitchell
- Fixing My Gaze: A Scientist's Journey Into Seeing in Three Dimensions by Susan R. Barry
- The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Mystic of the Atom by Graham Farmelo
- Every Patient Tells a Story by Lisa Sanders
- The Mathematical Mechanic: Using Physical Reasoning to Solve Problems by Mark Levi
- Truth, Lies, and O-Rings: Inside the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster by Allan J McDonald
- Dissection: Photographs of a Rite of Passage in American Medicine 1880-1930 by John Harley Warner
- The Monty Hall Problem: The Remarkable Story of Math's Most Contentious Brain Teaser by Jason Rosenhouse
Outdoors & Nature
- The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America by Douglas Brinkley
- Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less are the Keys to Sustainability by David Owen
- Cold: Adventures in the World's Frozen Places by Bill Streever
- Fat of the Land: Adventures of a 21st Century Forager by Langdon Cook
- Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto by Stewart Brand
Business & Investing
- Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust by Chris Brogan
- SuperCorp: How Vanguard Companies Create Innovation, Profits, Growth, and Social Good by Rosabeth Moss Kanter
- Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity by Hugh MacLeod
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I'm curious as to your opinion. I've checked out these ten best lists and frankly, I'd be interested in reading about the Monte Hall problem. I didn't get it, til I tested it and re-phrased it...but a very cool use of mathematics...but, anyway...
I read Nick Lane's, "The ten greatest Inventions of Evolution," and was so impressed I went out and read his other works. I find what the guy has to say and discuss to be utterly fascinating. But, given I'm not seeing his book on the list, I wonder about his credibility or writing style. Does Lane provide a good source of information?
Mike, unfortunately I haven't actually read any of the books on the Amazon lists although many of them do look interesting and I'll probably get around to reading a couple of them, probably including the Monty Hall book. Struck by Lightning: The Curious World of Probabilities by Jeffrey S. Rosenthal is a book I did read a few years ago and it has a good explanation of the Monty Hall problem.
The Lane book did get some good reviews, but I guess just didn't make the cut for Amazon. There are probably lots of good books out there not on the list.
Thanks!