Favorite nonfiction read 1982-2004
Discover the best nonfiction reads from 1982-2004, including Angela's Ashes, The Demon-Haunted World, and D-Day. Explore history, science, and memoirs in this curated list of unforgettable favorites.
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The Ascent of Man
by Jacob Bronowski
Traces the development of science and the discoveries that have made man unique among animal species.
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Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
by Robert M. Pirsig
While cycling through the western states, a disillusioned American questions the meaning of existence after confronting the ghost of his former, uninstitutionalized self.
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Genius
by James Gleick
To his colleagues, Richard Feynman was not so much a genius as he was a full-blown magician: someone who âdoes things that nobody else could do and that seem completely unexpected.â The path he cleared for twentieth-century physics led from the making of the atomic bomb to a Nobel Prize-winning theory of quantam electrodynamics to his devastating exposĂŠ of the Challenger space shuttle disaster. At the same time, the ebullient Feynman established a reputation as an eccentric showman, a master safe cracker and bongo player, and a wizard of seduction. Now James Gleick, author of the bestselling Chaos, unravels teh dense skein of Feynmanâs thought as well as the paradoxes of his character in a biographyâwhich was nominated for a National Book Awardâof outstanding lucidity and compassion.
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The Demon-Haunted World
by Carl Sagan
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ⢠From the renowned astronomer and author of Cosmos comes a âpowerful [and] stirring defense of informed rationalityâ (The Washington Post Book World) in a world where fake news stories and Internet conspiracy theories play to a disaffected American populace. LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE WINNER ⢠âGlorious . . . A spirited defense of science . . . From the first page to the last, this book is a manifesto for clear thought.ââLos Angeles Times How can we make intelligent decisions about our increasingly technology-driven lives if we donât understand the difference between the myths of pseudoscience, New Age thinking, and fundamentalist zealotry and the testable hypotheses of science? Casting a wide net through history and culture, Pulitzer Prizeâwinning author and distinguished astronomer Carl Sagan argues that scientific thinking is critical not only to the pursuit of truth but to the very well-being of our democratic institutions. He examines and authoritatively debunks such celebrated fallacies as witchcraft, faith healings, demons, and UFOs. And yet, disturbingly, in todayâs so-called information age, pseudoscience is burgeoning, with stories of alien abduction, âchannelingâ past lives, and communal hallucinations commanding growing attention and respect. As Sagan demonstrates with lucid eloquence, the siren song of unreason is not just a cultural wrong turn but a dangerous plunge into darkness that threatens our most basic freedoms.
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Angela's Ashes
by Frank McCourt
"A memoir about childhood, relilience, and the trumphant power of storytelling."--From back cover.
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D-Day
by Stephen E. Ambrose
Stephen E. Ambroseâs D-Day is the definitive history of World War IIâs most pivotal battle, a day that changed the course of history. D-Day is the epic story of men at the most demanding moment of their lives, when the horrors, complexities, and triumphs of life are laid bare. Distinguished historian Stephen E. Ambrose portrays the faces of courage and heroism, fear and determinationâwhat Eisenhower called âthe fury of an aroused democracyââthat shaped the victory of the citizen soldiers whom Hitler had disparaged. Drawing on more than 1,400 interviews with American, British, Canadian, French, and German veterans, Ambrose reveals how the original plans for the invasion had to be abandoned, and how enlisted men and junior officers acted on their own initiative when they realized that nothing was as they were told it would be. The action begins at midnight, June 5/6, when the first British and American airborne troops jumped into France. It ends at midnight June 6/7. Focusing on those pivotal twenty-four hours, it moves from the level of Supreme Commander to that of a French child, from General Omar Bradley to an American paratrooper, from Field Marshal Montgomery to a German sergeant. Ambroseâs D-Day is the finest account of one of our historyâs most important days.
