» People who explain complicated concepts in simple terms
List compiled by Phil Gyford from an old MetaFilter thread:
“What single book is the best introduction to your field (or specialization) for laypeople?”
Ask MetaFilter’s best introductory books
- Aeronautics
- Mechanics of Flight by AC Kermode
- Animation
- Archaeology
- Architecture
- Astronomy
- Astrophyiscs
- Our Cosmic Habitat by Martin Rees
- Biology
- Biology
- Macrobiology
- The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
- Fluid Mechanics
- Population Biology
- A Primer of Ecology by Nicholas Gotelli
- Stream ecology
- Stream Ecology: Structure and Function of Running Waters by Dave Allan
- Blacksmithing
- Computer science
- Cognitive Neuropsychiatry
- Phantoms in the Brain by VS Ramachandran
- Consciousness
- The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness by David Chalmers
- Cooking
- Pastry
- Economics
- The Age of Diminished Expectations by Paul Krugman
- Economics in One Lesson
- Electrical engineering
- Engineering
- To Engineer Is Human by Henry Petroski
- Film making
- In the Blink of an Eye by Walter Murch
- Film Directing Shot by Shot by Katz
- The Grammar of the Shot by Roy Thompson
- Game design
- Gynaecology
- History
- Middle Ages
- The Making of the Middle Ages by Richard Southern
- Ancient Egypt
- Hunting
- Hunter Seat Equitation by George Morris
- Internet history
- Investigation
- Investing
- The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham
- Law
- Introduction to Legal Reasoning by Edward Levi
- Learning the Law by Glanville Williams
- Law 101: Everything you Need to Know About the American Legal System
- Lexicography
- Dictionaries, the Art and Craft of Lexicography by Sidney Landau
- Linguistics
- Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language by David Crystal
- Language: An Introduction to the Study of Speech by Edward Sapir
- Language Myths by Bauer and Trudgill
- Literary theory
- Literary Theory, An Introduction by Terry Eagleton
- Theory of Literature by Wellek and Watson
- Logic
- Methods of Logic by Quine
- Rulebook for Arguments by Weston
- Marine ecology
- Marine Ecological Processes by Ivan Valiela
- Materials science
- Mathematics
- What is Mathematics?
- Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction by Timothy Gowers
- Coincidences, Chaos, and All That Math Jazz
- Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
- Algebra
- Elementary And Intermediate Algebra by Timothy Craine
- Calculus
- The Calculus Tutoring Book by Carol Ash
- Trigonometry
- Precalculus by Margaret L. Lial
- Statistics
- How to Lie with Statistics by Darrell Huff
- Metalwork
- The Complete Metalsmith by Tim McCreight
- Microfabrication
- Fundamentals of Microfabrication by Marc Madou
- Molecular biology
- Movie business
- The Movie Business Book by Jason Squire
- Music business
- All You Need To Know About The Music Business by Donald Passman
- Nursing
- Notes on Nursing by Florence Nightingale
- Oceanography
- Fundamentals of Oceanography by Sverdrup, Duxbury, and Duxbury
- Pastoral care
- Hearing Beyond the Words: How to Become a Listening Pastor by Emma Justes
- Philosophy
- The Problem’s of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell
- The Story of Philosophy by Durant
- Learning to Philosophize: A Primer by Del Kiernan-Lewis
- 17th-19th Century
- A Short History of Modern Philosophy by Roger Scruton
- Photography
- Basic Photography by Langford
- Physics
- Space and Time in Special Relativity by N David Mermin
- Poetry
- How to Read a Poem by Terry Eagleton
- Poker
- The Theory of Poker by David Sklansky
- Politics
- Rules for Radicals
- The Prince by Machiavelli
- Psychometrics
- Psychological Testing by Anastasi and Urbina
- Psychotherapy
- On Kissing, Tickling, and Being Bored by Adam Philiips
- The Great Psychotherapy Debate by Bruce Wampold
- Radiology
- Fundamentals of Radiology by Robert Novelline
- Screenwriting
- The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri
- Screenplay by Syd Field
- Story by McKee
- Making a Good Script Great by Linda Seger
- Studying
- Sub editing
- Teaching
- Theatre
- Backstage Handbook
- The Empty Space by Peter Brook
- A Practical Handbook for the Actor
- Shakespeare
- Typography
- The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst
- Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works by Erik Spiekermann and EM Ginger
- Urban Planning
- Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs
- Writing
- Politics and The English Language by George Orwell
- Fowler’s Modern English Usage
- Elements of Style by Strunk and White
- Making Shapely Fiction by Jerome Stern
(via spaceships x binary)
