Hi, I enjoy reading scientific non-fiction books such as those written by Oliver Sacks and others (H. Marsh, V. Ramachandran). I'm looking for other current authors that write similar genre but not necessarily from the same discipline. I'm ready to read something else than psychology/neuroscience I was told about Lewis Thomas and C.S. Lewis and I will read their work. But I'm wondering, are there any more authors that you would recommend? I'm kind of new to this, until today I didn't even know what I like has a name. And I don't even know the difference between scientific/narrative/creative non-fiction.
Are you looking for science books written for the general audience? If you are, I know of several physics, astronomy, and sociology books. Creative nonfiction (also known as narrative nonfiction) uses elements traditionally found in literature to narrate a true story. Scientific nonfiction is, I'm guessing, a broad term that applies to nonfiction that deals with science; this includes journal articles, books aimed at the general audience, and I suppose you could throw in textbooks as well.
Yes, sociology and anthropology books would be great. I'd like to study the way these books are written, so although I'm interested in the content, I'd like to read these books to improve my own writing style. What I'd like to work on in the future is taking apart a psychological phenomenon (since I've been educated in psychology and it's my area of interest) and put it back together so that general audience can understand it. Not the way textbooks are written, I'd like it to be more approachable and, well, interesting
Try Jared Diamond. He's a kind of polymath: physiologist, anthropologist, geographer, evolutionary biologist, ecologist, and several other things. He's written several science books and won a Pulitzer Prize for Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies.
Oh, I love these, too. I've got a million of them. I really like epidemiological narratives -- And The Band Played On is one of my absolute faves, written somewhere around 1990, but it's such an interesting history of the early days of the AIDS crisis. Several others that I've really enjoyed are Spillover, The Coming Plague, and Tinderbox. I've read some others, but those are the ones I thought of off the top of my head. I also LOVE LOVE LOVE Alan Weisman's books -- The World Without Us and Countdown. The World Without Us describes what would happen to the earth if humans suddenly vanished. Countdown deals with overpopulation. I think about both of them frequently. There are a few about climate change, too -- I like Bill McKibben's books, particularly Eaarth. As I said, I've got tons of recommendations for nonfiction books.
