GUNS, GERMS AND STEEL by Jared Diamond

 

This book asks the question: How come Europeans conquered the Americas 600 years ago rather than Native Americans conquering Europe? Jared Diamond is a Professor of Geography who happens to be a highly skilled biologist. So he is uniquely qualified to comment on factors to do with the genes in plants and animals that mean that they can be domesticated as well as the fact that Europe stretches from East to West whereas America stretches from North to South. It's quite a fat book but don't let that put you off. The chapters are self contained so you don't need to read a lot to understand what he is saying. In each chapter he clearly outlines what he is about to say and then summarises at the end of the chapter. There is also a lot of comment about historical events. It's such a brilliant hypothesis that it left me wondering where the catch is.

THE UNIVERSE FOR BEGINNERS by Felix Pirani and Christine Roche

 

This book takes you through the history of human thought on the origins of the Universe. It focuses on scientific explanations and gives a good account of what is known as cosmology (cosmos is the Greek word for universe) "For Beginners" is my favourite series on books because they use graphic art to spread out the ideas. They don't "dumb down" but they do make it easier to follow. So if you want an introduction to a modern understanding of the Universe in which we live, this is the book for you.