Special thanks to Sam Askin, Founder of Sciengage who put together this list of great books about science and stuff. Make sure you check out this great initiative in science engagement.

Sciengage is here to provide a bridge or gateway between the public and the pros in the world of science. We are for everyone, in one place, as everyone should have access to the wealth of science resources and expertise online, and be able to understand and engage with every stream of science they desire. There are already many great resources across the web providing quality, unique, and innovative science news, information and engagement with the public. Our aim is to consolidate these resources (rather than add another one!) to one meeting place of engagement, providing a connection that allows members of the global public (or the professionals in science) with any level of curiosity.  From – http://www.sciengage.com.au

Sciengage Homepage: http://www.sciengage.com.au
Sciengage Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/Sciengage
Sciengage Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/sciengage
Sam’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/samaskin

1. Made To Stick (the Heath Brothers)

This book has nothing to do with science, but it’s a book that I recommend to anyone in any field. It is just so practical and useful. It’s centred upon the techniques of making an idea or a message “sticky” to its audience. It breaks down a sticky message into a number of components, analyses them in great detail, and provides fantastic real-world examples of how they are applied. The book itself is so relevant to the world of science communication that I couldn’t speak enough of it.

2. Wildlife Fact Files

A bunch of fold out fact cards that go into a binder on different animals from all over the world. The info in them was really interesting, and sparked a big interest in me in biology and the diversity of the life on earth as a child.

3. Brock Biology of Microorganisms (madigan, Martinko and Parker)

I only ever bought 1 semester’s worth of text books in my uni degree, but this book text I still refer to today. The sheer breadth of microbiology, and the different pathogenic pathways and mechanisms had me hooked from the first time I used it, and got me into microbiology to the extent that I got exception in my degree to do more undergraduate study in it than my course initially allowed for. And I still work in bacterial disease now, such has been its initial impact.

4. Tom Clancy’s Bio-Strike by Jerome Preisler 

It’s a lot to explain, but as a teenager it made me very curious about all of the crazy and outlandish things that could be done in science, and even made me wonder what it would be like working for science in a government agency on some top-secret projects.

5. The Cassandra Compact (Robert Ludlum)

Similarly to Bio-Strike, the idea of using science in bioweapons and terrorism, covert operations etc. was fascinating to me, and throughout my teen years books such as these were all the fiction I read.

 

6. Executive Orders by Tom Clancy

The third in my favourite bioterrorism-based fiction books. This was a long novel, but what I really hung on to was the use of Ebola as a bioweapon. To this day, Ebola is my “favourite” microbe, which all started from this book. These three novels provided the platform for my wanting to dig deeper into biotechnology (which was my undergraduate degree) and microbiology after I finished school, which I followed through with.

 

 

 

7. Everyday Machines: Amazing Devices We Take for Granted by John Kelly

As a young child, this book was given to me as a present. It broke down some of the most common household items kids are familiar with, and opened your eyes to how complicated they may be on the inside, in a way that was fun to read and easy to understand! It was the first book I remember to make me question things beyond how they appear on the outside.

 

 

 

8. Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space by Carl Sagan

Need I say more. Anyone that can read such a book and not be inspired to question more about their world, and become even slightly interested in science… will never be interested in science. Ever.

 

 

 

 

9. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life by Charles Darwin

I’d be lying if I actually said that I’d read all of this, but I never forgot it after being exposed to it in school. I never had much of a tie to any religion, despite going to a religious school, and this book gave me just that platform to understand that things might go back a little bit further than that night in Bethlehem…

 

 

 

10. The Value of Believing in Yourself: The Story of Louis Pasteur by Spencer Johnson

I actually found this book in an old pile that used to be my partner’s from when she was a little girl. Now I have read it to my own 4 yo son countless times, and he loves it. He asks questions about viruses and microorganisms that he has come up with from reading the book, and how the vaccine might work. Couldn’t be happier as a dad!