Popular Science Books

If you like learning about nature, science, and technology, but you aren't a PhD scholar or serious academic, this list is for you! Readable nonfiction books on fascinating topics that bridge the gap between informative and entertaining. Learn something new and have fun at the same time!

Updated July 16, 2026
Drag items up and down to your preferred order then select the "Save Order" button.
At the water's edge macroevolution and the transformation of life
Zimmer, Carl, 1966-
Paper Book
Discusses the history of evolutionary science as it relates to current knowledge of the transformation of body types through evolution. Focusing primarily on the emergence of the first land creatures 360 million years ago and the later return to the sea of the ancestors of whales and dolphins some...
Fuzz : when nature breaks the law
Roach, Mary
Paper Book
What's to be done about a jaywalking moose? A bear caught breaking and entering? A murderous tree? Three hundred years ago, animals that broke the law would be assigned legal representation and put on trial. These days, as New York Times best-selling author Mary Roach discovers, the answers...
The golden ratio : the story of phi, the world's most astonishing number
Livio, Mario
Paper Book
Throughout history, thinkers from mathematicians to theologians have pondered the mysterious relationship between numbers and the nature of reality. In this fascinating book, Mario Livio tells the tale of a number at the heart of that mystery: phi, or 1.6180339887...This curious mathematical...
Gravity : how the weakest force in the universe shaped our lives
Clegg, Brian.
Paper Book
A history of gravity, and a study of its importance and relevance to our lives, as well as its influence on other areas of science. Physicists will tell you that four forces control the universe. Of these, gravity may the most obvious, but it is also the most mysterious. Newton...
Here comes the sun : a last chance for the climate and a fresh chance for civilization
McKibben, Bill
Paper Book
Our climate, and our democracy, are melting down. But Bill McKibben, one of the first to sound the alarm about the climate crisis, insists the moment is also full of possibility. Energy from the sun and wind is suddenly the cheapest power on the planet and growing faster than any energy source in...
How to : absurd scientific advice for common real-world problems
Munroe, Randall
Paper Book
AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "How To will make you laugh as you learn...With How To, you can't help but appreciate the glorious complexity of our universe and the amazing breadth of humanity's effort to comprehend it. If you want some...
The map that changed the world : William Smith and the birth of modern geology
Winchester, Simon.
Paper Book
From the author of the bestselling The Professor and the Madman comes the fascinating story of William Smith, the orphaned son of an English country blacksmith, who became obsessed with creating the world's first geological map and ultimately became the father of modern geology. ...
The matter of everything : how curiosity, physics, and improbable experiments changed the world
Sheehy, Suzie
Paper Book
A surprising, fascinating journey through the experiments that not only unlocked the nature of matter and shaped our understanding of the cosmos but also forever changed the way we live within it "A book about the fundamental problems of physics written from a viewpoint I hadn't come...
Meteorite : how stones from outer space made our world
Gregory, Tim
Paper Book
Explore the universe and immerse yourself in the story of our solar system, planet, and life through meteorites.   "Meteorite is a treasure"--Wall Street Journal Meteorites have long been seen as portents of...
The monster's bones : the discovery of T. Rex and how it shook our world
Randall, David K.
Paper Book
One of Smithsonian Magazine's Ten Best Books of 2022 A gripping narrative of a fearless paleontologist, the founding of America's most loved museums, and the race to find the largest dinosaurs on record. In the dust of the Gilded Age Bone Wars, two vastly...
Our moon : how Earth's celestial companion transformed the planet, guided evolution, and made us who we are
Boyle, Rebecca
Paper Book
LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD * NATIONAL BESTSELLER * "A riveting feat of science writing that recasts that most familiar of celestial objects into something eerily extraordinary, pivotal to our history, and awesome in the original sense of the word."--Ed Yong, New York Times...
The perfectionists : how precision engineers created the modern world
Winchester, Simon
Paper Book
"Another gem from one of the world's justly celebrated historians specializing in unusual and always fascinating subjects and people." -- Booklist (starred review) The revered New York Times bestselling author traces the development of technology from the Industrial Age to...
Robin Hood math : take control of the algorithms that run your life
Giansiracusa, Noah
Paper Book
How the rich and powerful use math to exploit you, and what you can do to beat them at their own game     Everything we do today is recorded as data that's sold to the highest bidder. Plugging our personal data into impersonal algorithms has made government...
Rocket men : the daring odyssey of Apollo 8 and the astronauts who made man's first journey to the Moon
Kurson, Robert
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The riveting inside story of three heroic astronauts who took on the challenge of mankind's historic first mission to the Moon, from the bestselling author of Shadow Divers. "Robert Kurson tells the tale of Apollo 8 with novelistic...
The secret lives of numbers : a hidden history of math's unsung trailblazers
Kitagawa, Kate
Paper Book
Shortlisted for the 2024 British Academy Book Prize A new history of mathematics focusing on the marginalized voices who propelled the discipline, spanning six continents and thousands of years of untold stories. "A book to make you love math." --Financial Times Mathematics...
Startalk everything you ever need to know about space travel sci fi the human race the universe
Paper Book
Thisillustrated companion to the popular podcast and National Geographic Channel show is an eye-opening journey for anyone curious about our universe, space, astronomy and the complexities of the cosmos. For decades, beloved astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has interpreted science...
I Told You So!: Scientists Who Were Ridiculed, Exiled, and Imprisoned for Being Right
Kaplan, Matt
Paper Book
An energetic and impassioned work of popular science about scientists who have had to fight for their revolutionary ideas to be accepted--from Darwin to Pasteur to modern day Nobel Prize winners. For two decades, Matt Kaplan has covered science for the Economist. He's...
The underworld : journeys to the depths of the ocean
Casey, Susan
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From bestselling author Susan Casey, an awe-inspiring portrait of the mysterious world beneath the waves, and the men and women who seek to uncover its secrets "An irresistible mix of splendid scholarship, heart-stopping adventure...
The wave : in pursuit of the rogues, freaks, and giants of the ocean
Casey, Susan
Paper Book
From Susan Casey, bestselling author of The Devil's Teeth, an astonishing book about colossal,  ship-swallowing rogue waves and the surfers who seek them out. For centuries, mariners have spun tales of gargantuan waves, 100-feet high or taller. Until recently...
Wild chocolate : across the Americas in search of cacao's soul
Jacobsen, Rowan
Paper Book
2025 JAMES BEARD AWARD FINALIST "Inspiring." -MARK BITTMAN "One of the best stories under the sun." -JOSÉ ANDRÉS From James Beard Award-winner Rowan Jacobsen, the thrilling story of the farmers, activists, and chocolate makers...
Your inner fish : a journey into the 3.5-billion-year history of the human body
Shubin, Neil.
Paper Book
Why do we look the way we do? What does the human hand have in common with the wing of a fly? Are breasts, sweat glands, and scales connected in some way? To better understand the inner workings of our bodies and to trace the origins of many of today's most common diseases, we have to turn to...

Library staff! You can create and contribute to lists. Contact your catalog administrator or log in here.