Science Writing to Humble and Inspire

The Edge of the Sea by Rachel Carson

Recommended by Sy Montgomery:

This title introduced me to an author whose work helped found the modern environmental movement. I became a devotee of Carson’s sharp eye and lyrical voice and sought out her later works.

The Eighth Day of Creation: Makers of the Revolution in Biology by Horace Freeland Judson

Recommended by David Quammen:

This was an important book for me at the very beginning of my career as a science writer. It’s a history of molecular biology, filled with characters like Francis Crick, Francois Jacob, and Rosalind Franklin.

Black Hole Blues by Janna Levin

Recommended by Annie Minoff:

Astrophysicist Janna Levin’s history of LIGO (the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) is a beautiful look into the personalities and passions that drive science forward, through the eyes of a black hole scientist.

King Solomon’s Ring by Konrad Z. Lorenz

Recommended by Sy Montgomery:

This is a classic account of animal behavior by the man who founded the field now known as ethology. His careful and detailed observations of geese, jackdaws, and even fish are not only scientifically revealing, but also filled with respect and affection for each animal as an individual.

The lives of a cell by lewis thomas

Recommended by David Quammen:

Lewis Thomas was a physician at Sloan-Kettering who was invited to write a column for The New England Journal of Medicine. He wrote these wonderful little essays on health and humanness. The Lives of a Cell collects 29 of these essays.

The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf

Recommended by Annie Minoff:

Alexander von Humboldt was a globetrotting explorer, scientist, environmentalist, and the second-most famous man in Europe. Writer and historian Andrea Wulf’s fabulously entertaining book aims to restore Humboldt to his rightful place in science history.