I try to read books that are both entertaining and informative, and I prefer getting information directly from the source. The great thinkers knew much more about their subjects and were able to present complex information more clearly than the modern authors who rehash and put a personal spin on their works.
"Great Experiments in Physics" provides first hand accounts, by Galileo Galilei, Robert Boyle, Isaac Newton, Charles Coulomb, Michael Faraday, James Clerk Maxwell and many others, of the experiments that shaped modern physics. This Dover publication costs about $10.00.
"The Ghost in the Atom" gives the personal views of "quantum strangeness" by such people as John Bell, Alain Aspect, John Wheeler and David Bohm. This Cambridge University Press publication costs about $15.00.
"Matter and Motion" by James Clerk Maxwell provides a simple, clear overview of physical science. His "A treatise on Electricity and Magnetism" is also very good.
"The Nature of the Universe" was written by Lucretius, a Roman who lived about two thousand years ago. It expounds the ideas and views of the Greek philosopher Epicurus and covers such topics as "atomic theory", "the fine structure constant" ( Atomic swerve), matter, space, mind, will, cosmology and meteorology.
"Language, Philosophy and Logic" was written by Clifford R. Paulson, a living American. This book develops numbers, logic, language and philosophy from a few simple principles. It covers such topics as logic, classes, assertions, morphemes, theorems, natural numbers, cardinality, ordinality, logical operations, and mathematical operations.
"I Dare You !" is a short motivational book which was written by William Danforth, an American who died in 1956. I read it when I was about twelve years old ( It was promoted by Tom Mix, a movie "cowboy", on his radio show.) and it had a great influence on me. It gets people, particularly young people, to set goals and work to achieve them. It does this by getting people to "dare" themselves to do things, like getting up in the morning, doing their homework, doing constructive work, exercising, learning etc. I think everyone should read this book, and have their kids read it. The book can be obtained from the "American Youth Foundation" by calling (314) - 772 - 2889.
"Caesars War Commentaries" by Julius Caesar provides insights into history, power politics, war, Roman discipline, and the mind of an amazing human being.
"The Conquest of New Spain" was written by Bernal Diaz, one of Hernan Cortez's swordsmen. It gives a detailed account of an ambitious, fearless, con man's ( Cortez) conquest of a powerful empire with an "army" consisting of a few hundred ragtag recruits. It provides vivid accounts of Montezuma, Mexico, the adventures of Cortez and his men, the negotiations, the battles and the human sacrifices of the captured Spanish by the Aztecs. The letters Cortez wrote to the King of Spain during this period are also very interesting, as is the book written by Cortez's personal secretary.
"The Voyage of the Beagle" is a very interesting and entertaining journal of Charles Darwin's trip around the world in Her Majesty's ship the Beagle in 1831. It deals with interesting people, events and places more so than with science.
"The Histories" is an informative, entertaining account of the world and it's people written over two thousand years ago by Herodotus, the first historian. He saw ( And described) the pyramids when they were "like new" and tells how they were built. He gives detailed accounts of many peoples including the Egyptians, Persians, Greeks, Ethiopians and Phoenicians.
"Early Greek Philosophy", a Penguin Classic which sells for about $8.00, features the fragments of the works left by the early Greek philosophers, Thales, Pythagoras, Zeno, Paramenides, Democritus, etc. Western culture is largely based on the thoughts of these great thinkers.
The writings of the ancients Thucydides, Xenophon, Polybuis, Plutarch,
Tacitus, Livy, Suetonius, Josephus ( Histories) Pliny the Elder, (
Encyclopedia) Strabo, ( Geography) Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, (
Philosophy) etc. gives insights into the people and the times of the
ancient world and provides raw truths that transcend time.