100 Best Chemistry Books of All Time (Updated for 2026)

1

The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements

Sam Kean

5.0

Why did Gandhi hate iodine (I, 53)? Why did the Japanese kill Godzilla with missiles made of cadmium (Cd, 48)? How did radium (Ra, 88) nearly ruin Marie Curie's reputation? And why did tellurium (Te, 52) lead to the most bizarre gold rush in history?

The periodic table is one of our crowning scientific achievements, but it's also a treasure trove of passion, adventure, betrayal and obsession. The f

Recommended by Michelle Francl and Timothy J. Jorgensen.

Michelle Francl

Sam Kean brings the periodic table to life with the stories you didn’t hear in high school chemistry but will wish you did. [source]

Timothy J. Jorgensen

I do like the story of radium. [source]

2

Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe

Theodore Gray and Nick Mann

4.9

With more than 1 million copies sold worldwide, The Elements is the most entertaining, comprehensive, and visually arresting book on all 118 elements in the periodic table.

Includes a poster of Theodore Gray's iconic photographic periodic table of the elements!

Based on seven years of research and photography by Theodore Gray and Nick Mann, The Elements presents the most complete and visually ar

3

A Short History of Nearly Everything

Bill Bryson

4.8

Preview Summary

In Bryson's biggest book, he confronts his greatest challenge: to understand—and, if possible, answer—the oldest, biggest questions we have posed about the universe and ourselves. Taking as territory everything from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization, Bryson seeks to understand how we got from there being nothing at all to there being us. To that end, he has attached himself to a host of the

Recommended by Amanda Palmer, David Goldberg, and Fabrice Grinda.

Amanda Palmer

Amanda Palmer recommended this book in the book "Tools of Titans". [source]

David Goldberg

What I really liked about A Short History of Nearly Everything is that it gives an excellent account of a lot of the personalities and the interconnectedness of important discoveries in cosmology and elsewhere. He does such a great job of bringing together our understanding of cosmology, evolution, paleontology, and geology in a very, very fluid way. [source]

Fabrice Grinda

I have lots of books to recommend, but they are not related to my career path. The only one that is remotely related is Peter Thiel’s Zero to One. That said here are books I would recommend. [source]

4

Molecules: The Elements and the Architecture of Everything

Theodore Gray and Nick Mann

4.6

In this paperback edition of the beloved second book in Theodore Gray's bestselling (1.5 million copies) Elements trilogy, Gray demonstrates how the elements of the periodic table combine into the molecules that form the things that make up our world.

Molecules is the second book in the million-copy bestselling Elements trilogy. In Molecules, Theodore Gray takes the next step in the story that bega

5

The Periodic Table

Primo Levi

4.6

The Periodic Table by Primo Levi is an impassioned response to the Holocaust: Consisting of 21 short stories, each possessing the name of a chemical element, the collection tells of the author's experiences as a Jewish-Italian chemist before, during, and after Auschwitz in luminous, clear, and unfailingly beautiful prose. It has been named the best science book ever by the Royal Institution of Gre

Recommended by Tim Radford and William Fiennes.

Tim Radford

It’s a life story by a chemist seen through the prism of an elemental substance. Some of it doesn’t work very well and some of it works very well. There’s a lovely chapter on iron that refers to the arrival of the Fascist era. There’s a much more personal account involving mine tailings and the extraction of precious metals from mine tailing, which he was employed at. That gives him a chance to contemplate the nature of matter itself and why the stuff that’s in the ground is the same as the stuff that actually composes our bodies. And why things that happen in chemistry can be subtly different if you alter the element that’s involved in the process. All of it is illuminating. You read it and you understand the world around you much better for having read even a sentence of Levi. [source]

William Fiennes

They’re a mixture of short stories and autobiographical essays, or essays in autobiography. Levi uses the elements from the periodic table as a way of organising memory. He uses 21 elements, each as a doorway or wormhole into a particular area of his experience, into a particular memory – but leaving out his time in Auschwitz, because he’d already written about that. You get his early interest in chemistry, his early experiments, the friends he studied with, the atmosphere of the laboratories and the characters of the professors who taught him. It’s about his interest in matter, the stuff the world is made of, as counterposed to spirit. He wrote another great book, The Wrench, which is a series of soliloquies from a mechanic called Faussone. Levi is the scribe as Faussone describes all these things he’s built – bridges, oil derricks – and the excitement of putting things together. In The Periodic Table, you also get that fascination with the stuff the world’s made of and we’re made of – the wonder of it. [source]

Cover unavailable

6

General Chemistry

Linus Pauling

4.6

When it was first published, this first-year chemistry text revolutionized the teaching of chemistry by presenting it in terms of unifying principles instead of as a body of unrelated facts. Those principles included modern theories of atomic and molecular structure, quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics and thermodynamics. In addition, Dr. Pauling attempted to correlate the theories with descr

7

The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York

Deborah Blum

4.5

Deborah Blum, writing with the high style and skill for suspense that is characteristic of the very best mystery fiction, shares the untold story of how poison rocked Jazz Age New York City. In The Poisoner's Handbook Blum draws from highly original research to track the fascinating, perilous days when a pair of forensic scientists began their trailblazing chemical detective work, fighting to end

Recommended by Michelle Francl.

Michelle Francl

Deborah Blum’s book reminds me that molecules are powerful witnesses, if only we have the skills to interrogate them, and sometimes they are killers. [source]

8

Napoleon's Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History

Penny LeCouteur, Jay Burreson

4.5

Though many factors have been proposed to explain the failure of Napoleon's 1812 Russian campaign, it has also been linked to something as small as a button - a tin button, the kind that fastened everything from the greatcoats of Napoleon's officers to the trousers of his foot soldiers. When temperatures drop below 56°F, tin crumbles into powder. Were the soldiers of the Grande Armée acutee fatall

9

How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence

Michael Pollan

4.5

Preview Summary

Could psychedelic drugs change our worldview? One of America's most admired writers takes us on a mind-altering journey to the frontiers of human consciousness

When LSD was first discovered in the 1940s, it seemed to researchers, scientists and doctors as if the world might be on the cusp of psychological revolution. It promised to shed light on the deep mysteries of consciousness, as well as offer

Recommended by Daniel Goleman, Yuval Noah Harari, Andrew Weil, and 5 others.

Daniel Goleman

Author

Michael Pollan masterfully guides us through the highs, lows, and highs again of psychedelic drugs. How to Change Your mind chronicles how it’s been a longer and stranger trip than most any of us knew. [source]

Yuval Noah Harari

Historian

Changed my mind, or at least some of the ideas held in my mind. [source]

Andrew Weil

Michael Pollan assembles a great deal of information here on the history, science, and effects of psychedelics. I found his frank recounting of his recent experiences with LSD, psilocybin, and toad venom most revealing. They appear to have softened his materialistic views and opened him to the possibilities of higher consciousness. He did, indeed, change his mind. [source]

10

Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World

Mark Miodownik

4.5

A New York Times Bestseller

An eye-opening adventure deep inside the everyday materials that surround us, packed with surprising stories and fascinating science

Why is glass see-through? What makes elastic stretchy? Why does a paper clip bend? Why does any material look and behave the way it does? These are the sorts of questions that Mark Miodownik is constantly asking himself. A globally-renowned

Recommended by Bill Gates.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

Mark Miodownik’s personal and professional obsession, as he explains in his book Stuff Matters, is basic materials we often take for granted such as paper, glass, concrete, and steel -- as well as new super-materials that will change our world in the decades ahead. I’m pleased to report that he is a witty, smart writer who has a great talent for imparting his love of this subject. As a result, Stuff Matters is a fun, accessible read. [source]

11

Cosmos

Carl Sagan

4.5

Preview Summary

Cosmos has 13 heavily illustrated chapters, corresponding to the 13 episodes of the Cosmos television series. In the book, Sagan explores 15 billion years of cosmic evolution and the development of science and civilization. Cosmos traces the origins of knowledge and the scientific method, mixing science and philosophy, and speculates to the future of science. The book also discusses the underlying

Recommended by Richard Branson, Ante Shoda, Anurag Ramdasan, and 1 others.

Richard Branson

Founder/Virgin Group

Today is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. [source]

Ante Shoda

It explains 14 billion years of the evolution of the universe, a sort of engineering experiment on the largest possible scale. It spans all scales of space and time, describing everything from the largest scales of the universe to the smallest scales of molecules and atoms. It’s a good book for putting everything in perspective. [source]

Anurag Ramdasan

This book helped draft a great perspective on the world and the universe at large and made me a fan of the Cosmos!

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12

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Flavia de Luce, #1)

Alan Bradley

4.5

It is the summer of 1950–and at the once-grand mansion of Buckshaw, young Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, is intrigued by a series of inexplicable events: A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Then, hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he takes his dying breath.

For Flavia, who is

13

The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer

Siddhartha Mukherjee

4.5

Preview Summary

Alternate Cover Edition ISBN 1439107955 (ISBN13: 9781439107959)

The Emperor of All Maladies is a magnificent, profoundly humane “biography” of cancer—from its first documented appearances thousands of years ago through the epic battles in the twentieth century to cure, control, and conquer it to a radical new understanding of its essence.

Physician, researcher, and award-winning science writer, Sid

Recommended by Bill Gates and Timothy J. Jorgensen.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

I loved this brilliant book about cancer. [source]

Timothy J. Jorgensen

A tremendous amount of cancer biology comes through in that book through the eyes of the victims and the people up close and personal. [source]

14

Periodic Tales: The Curious Lives of the Elements

Hugh Aldersey-Williams

4.5

Everything is made of them, from the furthest reaches of the universe to this book that you hold in your hands, including you. Like you, the elements have lives: personalities and attitudes, talents and shortcomings, stories rich with meaning. You may think of them as the inscrutable letters of the periodic table but you know them much better than you realise. Welcome to a dazzling tour through hi

Cover unavailable

15

Uncle Tungsten

Oliver Sacks

4.5

In Uncle Tungsten Sacks evokes, with warmth and wit, his upbringing in wartime England. He tells of the large science-steeped family who fostered his early fascination with chemistry. There follow his years at boarding school where, though unhappy, he developed the intellectual curiosity that would shape his later life. And we hear of his return to London, an emotionally bereft ten-year-old who fo

16

Organic Chemistry

Jonathan Clayden, Nick Greeves, Stuart Warren, Peter Wothers

4.5

This new and innovative text helps students develop a deeper understanding of organic chemistry. It treats the subject as a coherent whole, complete with numerous logical connections, consequences, and an underlying structure and "language." Employing an approach based on mechanism and reaction type, the book empasizes understanding ideas rather than merely memorizing facts. It shows students how

17

The Martian

Andy Weir

4.4

Note: Alternate-Cover Edition for this ASIN can be found here

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.

Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there.

After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even i

Recommended by Ev Williams, Craig Barrett, Dan Christensen, and 2 others.

Craig Barrett

Former CEO/Intel

This book didn’t really change my mind, but rather reinforced the concept of the power of the individual. At a time when we depend more and more on big institutions to solve our business and social problems the real solutions are crafted by individual actions and initiative. This is true in the business world, where ideas from individual researchers or entrepreneurs can create mega companies overnight, and in the social sector, where such actions as high performing charter schools run circles around a moribund K-12 education system. Best we all remember that the next meaningful advances will come from individual initiative rather than massive governmental programs. After all, Google, Facebook, Uber, microloans and countless other success stories were not products of big government. [source]

Dan Christensen

@EconTalker @cable_co1 The Martian... hey it can’t all be economics and it’s a great book [source]

Fabrice Grinda

I have lots of books to recommend, but they are not related to my career path. The only one that is remotely related is Peter Thiel’s Zero to One. That said here are books I would recommend. [source]

18

The Alchemy of Air: A Jewish Genius, a Doomed Tycoon, and the Scientific Discovery That Fed the World but Fueled the Rise of Hitler

Thomas Hager

4.4

A sweeping history of tragic genius, cutting-edge science, and the discovery that changed billions of lives—including your own.

At the dawn of the twentieth century, humanity was facing global disaster. Mass starvation, long predicted for the fast-growing population, was about to become a reality. A call went out to the world’s scientists to find a solution.
This is the story of the two enormously

Recommended by Rajiv Shah.

Cover unavailable

19

Nature's Building Blocks: An A-Z Guide to the Elements

John Emsley

4.4

What is the most common element in the universe? Can you name the noble gases? Everything we see around us is made of chemical elements, but most of us know little about them.
Penned by award-winning science writer John Emsley, Nature's Building Blocks explains the what, why and wherefore of the chemical elements. Arranged alphabetically, from Actinium to Zirconium, it is a complete guide to all 1

20

The Cartoon Guide to Chemistry

Larry Gonick and Craig Criddle

4.4

If you have ever suspected that "heavy water" is the title of a bootleg Pink Floyd album, believed that surface tension is an anxiety disorder, or imagined that a noble gas is the result of a heavy meal at Buckingham Palace, then you need The Cartoon Guide to Chemistry to set you on the road to chemical literacy.

You don't need to be a scientist to grasp these and many other complex ideas, because

21

Pihkal: A Chemical Love Story

Alexander Shulgin

4.4

phen-ethyl-amine \fen-'eth-al-a-,men\ n. [phenyl fr. F. phène, fr. Gk. phainein, to show (from its occurrence in illuminating gas)+ ethyl ( + yl) + amine fr. NL ammonia] 1: A naturally occurring compound found in both the animal and plant kingdoms. It is an endogenous component of the human brain. 2: Any of a series of compounds containing the phenethylamine skeleton, and modified by chemical cons

Recommended by James Fadiman.

James Fadiman

There are two great beings that invented psychedelics: God and Sasha Shulgin. This book is filled with how to do various synthesis. [source]

22

What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions

Randall Munroe

4.3

Randall Munroe left NASA in 2005 to start up his hugely popular site XKCD 'a web comic of romance, sarcasm, math and language' which offers a witty take on the world of science and geeks. It now has 600,000 to a million page hits daily. Every now and then, Munroe would get emails asking him to arbitrate a science debate. 'My friend and I were arguing about what would happen if a bullet got struck

Recommended by Bill Gates, Astro Teller, Fabrice Grinda, and 1 others.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

The subtitle of the book is “Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions,” and that’s exactly what it is. People write Munroe with questions that range over all fields of science: physics, chemistry, biology. Questions like, “From what height would you need to drop a steak for it to be cooked when it hit the ground?” (The answer, it turns out, is “high enough that it would disintegrate before it hit the ground.”) Munroe’s explanations are funny, but the science underpinning his answers is very accurate. It’s an entertaining read, and you’ll also learn a bit about things like ballistics, DNA, the oceans, the atmosphere, and lightning along the way. [source]

Astro Teller

The kids are obsessed with this. They can quote it from memory. They’ve learned probably more science from this book than they have from their science class in the last two years. [source]

Fabrice Grinda

I have lots of books to recommend, but they are not related to my career path. The only one that is remotely related is Peter Thiel’s Zero to One. That said here are books I would recommend. [source]

23

Silent Spring

Rachel Carson

4.3

Preview Summary

Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring was first published in three serialized excerpts in the New Yorker in June of 1962. The book appeared in September of that year and the outcry that followed its publication forced the banning of DDT and spurred revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land, and water. Carson’s passionate concern for the future of our planet reverberated powerfully througho

Recommended by John Kerry.

John Kerry

I’d start with Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, which looked at how pesticide use was harming, and in some cases killing, animals and humans, and really was the first book of its kind to illustrate this environmental destruction. I’ve been so involved in the environment for years and years and that has been a great guideline – it was really the awakening, if you will, to the environmental movement and to the progress we’ve made over the last quarter century or more. [source]

Cover unavailable

24

The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag (Flavia de Luce, #2)

Alan Bradley

4.3

Flavia de Luce, a dangerously smart eleven-year-old with a passion for chemistry and a genius for solving murders, thinks that her days of crime-solving in the bucolic English hamlet of Bishop’s Lacey are over—until beloved puppeteer Rupert Porson has his own strings sizzled in an unfortunate rendezvous with electricity. But who’d do such a thing, and why? Does the madwoman who lives in Gibbet Woo

25

The Double Helix

James Watson

4.3

By identifying the structure of DNA, the molecule of life, Francis Crick and James Watson revolutionized biochemistry & won themselves a Nobel Prize. At the time, Watson was only 24, a young scientist hungry to make his mark. His uncompromisingly honest account of the heady days of their thrilling sprint against other world-class researchers to solve one of science's greatest mysteries gives a daz

Recommended by Peter Attia, Matt Ridley, Adam Hart-Davis, and 1 others.

Peter Attia

Founder/Attia Medical

One of the books that considers to be an important read for people interested in his career path. [source]

Matt Ridley

An astonishing literary achievement, and it was about the greatest scientific discovery of the 20th century. [source]

Adam Hart-Davis

They made a brilliant guess and the result was that they and Maurice Wilkins shared a Nobel Prize and Rosalind Franklin didn’t, which was very unfair. [source]

26

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

Thomas S. Kuhn

4.3

Preview Summary

A good book may have the power to change the way we see the world, but a great book actually becomes part of our daily consciousness, pervading our thinking to the point that we take it for granted, and we forget how provocative and challenging its ideas once were—and still are. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions is that kind of book. When it was first published in 1962, it was a landmark eve

Recommended by Mark Zuckerberg, Tim O'Reilly, Danielle Morrill, and 3 others.

Mark Zuckerberg

Founder/Facebook

It's a history of science book that explores the question of whether science and technology make consistent forward progress or whether progress comes in bursts related to other social forces. I tend to think that science is a consistent force for good in the world. I think we'd all be better off if we invested more in science and acted on the results of research. I'm excited to explore this theme further. [source]

Tim O'Reilly

Founder/O'Reilly Media

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, by Thomas Kuhn. Kuhn introduced the term "paradigm shift" to describe the changeover from Ptolemaic to Copernican astronomy. But the book is far more than a classic in the history of science. It's also a book that emphasizes how what we already believe shapes what we see, what we allow ourselves to think. I've always tried to separate seeing itself from the stories I tell myself about what I see. Pattern recognition is impeded if you are trying to overlay an existing pattern on the facts rather than letting the facts sit quietly until they tell their own story. That's General Semantics again. [source]

Andra Zaharia

I’ve gone through quite a few experiences brought on or shaped by what I’ve learned from books. A particularly unexpected one happened in college when our public relations teacher asked us to read a book called The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn. As a humanities student, you can imagine that I wasn’t thrilled I’d have to read a book on science, but what followed blew my mind at the time. In the book, Kuhn argues that human knowledge does not accumulate incrementally, but increases in leaps, through paradigm shifts which are brought on by crises and scientific revolutions. This was one of the first books that prompted me to think about how I want to evolve in the context of all the fast-paced changes happening around me. [source]

27

On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen

Harold McGee

4.3

Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking is a kitchen classic. Hailed by Time magazine as "a minor masterpiece" when it first appeared in 1984, On Food and Cooking is the bible to which food lovers and professional chefs worldwide turn for an understanding of where our foods come from, what exactly they're made of, and how cooking transforms them into something new and delicious. Now, for its twentieth

Recommended by Chris Young, Henry Dimbleby, Rose Levy Beranbaum, and 1 others.

Chris Young

My career starts with this book in many ways. There wouldn’t be any of this modern cooking movement without this book, I don’t think. [source]

Henry Dimbleby

He looks at the science of making a mayonnaise, and how much egg yolk you need to make a certain amount. [source]

Rose Levy Beranbaum

He explains how cooking works and gives you the freedom to create your own things, to know when things go wrong. [source]

28

Oxygen: The Molecule That Made the World

Nick Lane

4.3

In Oxygen, Nick Lane takes the reader on an enthralling journey as he unravels the unexpected ways in which oxygen spurred the evolution of life and death. He shows how oxygen underpins the origin of biological complexity, the birth of photosynthesis, the sudden evolution of animals, the need for two sexes, the accelerated aging of cloned animals like Dolly the sheep, and the surprisingly long liv

Cover unavailable

29

I Am Half-Sick of Shadows (Flavia de Luce, #4)

Alan Bradle

4.3

It's Christmastime, and the precocious Flavia de Luce - an eleven-year-old sleuth with a passion for chemistry and a penchant for crime-solving - is tucked away in her laboratory, whipping up a concoction to ensnare Saint Nick. But she is soon distracted when a film crew arrives at Buckshaw, the de Luces' decaying English estate, to shoot a movie starring the famed Phyllis Wyvern. Amid a raging bl

Cover unavailable

30

A Red Herring Without Mustard (Flavia de Luce, #3)

Alan Bradley

4.3

Award-winning author Alan Bradley returns with another beguiling novel starring the insidiously clever and unflappable eleven-year-old sleuth Flavia de Luce. The precocious chemist with a passion for poisons uncovers a fresh slew of misdeeds in the hamlet of Bishop's Lacey--mysteries involving a missing tot, a fortune-teller, and a corpse in Flavia's own backyard.

Flavia had asked the old Gypsy wom

Cover unavailable

31

Chemistry: The Central Science

Theodore L. Brown, Jr. H. Eugene LeMay, Bruce Edward Bursten, Julia R. Burdge

4.3

This text offers students an integrated educational solution to the challenges of the chemistry course with an expanded media programme that works in concert with the text, helping with problem solving, visualization and applications.

32

Salt: A World History

Mark Kurlansky

4.3

Preview Summary

From the Bestselling Author of Cod and The Basque History of the World

In his fifth work of nonfiction, Mark Kurlansky turns his attention to a common household item with a long and intriguing history: salt. The only rock we eat, salt has shaped civilization from the very beginning, and its story is a glittering, often surprising part of the history of humankind. A substance so valuable it served a

33

Organic Chemistry as a Second Language: First Semester Topics

David R. Klein

4.3

Readers continue to turn to Klein's Organic Chemistry as a Second Language: First Semester Topics, 3rd Edition because it enables them to better understand fundamental principles, solve problems, and focus on what they need to know to succeed. This edition explores the major principles in the field and explains why they are relevant. It is written in a way that clearly shows the patterns in orga

34

Physical Chemistry

Peter Atkins, Julio de Paula

4.2

With its modern emphasis on the molecular view of physical chemistry, its wealth of contemporary applications (in the new "Impact on" features), vivid full-color presentation, and dynamic new media tools, the thoroughly revised new edition is again the most modern, most effective full-length textbook available for the physical chemistry classroom.

NOW AVAILABLE IN SPLIT VOLUMES
For maximum flexibili

Cover unavailable

35

The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches (Flavia de Luce, #6)

Alan Bradle

4.2

On a spring morning in 1951, eleven-year-old chemist and aspiring detective Flavia de Luce gathers with her family at the railway station, awaiting the return of her long-lost mother, Harriet. Yet upon the train’s arrival in the English village of Bishop’s Lacey, Flavia is approached by a tall stranger who whispers a cryptic message into her ear. Moments later, he is dead, mysteriously pushed unde

Cover unavailable

36

As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust (Flavia de Luce, #7)

Alan Bradley

4.2

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Flavia de Luce—“part Harriet the Spy, part Violet Baudelaire from Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” (The New York Times Book Review)—takes her remarkable sleuthing prowess to the unexpectedly unsavory world of Canadian boarding schools in the captivating new mystery from New York Times bestselling author Alan Bradley.

Banished! is how twelve-year-old Flavia d

37

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women

Kate Moore

4.2

The incredible true story of the women who fought America's Undark danger

The Curies' newly discovered element of radium makes gleaming headlines across the nation as the fresh face of beauty, and wonder drug of the medical community. From body lotion to tonic water, the popular new element shines bright in the otherwise dark years of the First World War.

Meanwhile, hundreds of girls toil amidst the

38

Chemistry for Dummies, 2nd Edition

John T. Moore

4.2

Chemistry For Dummies, 2nd Edition (9781119293460) was previously published as Chemistry For Dummies, 2nd Edition (9781118007303). While this version features a new Dummies cover and design, the content is the same as the prior release and should not be considered a new or updated product.
See how chemistry works in everything from soaps to medicines to petroleum

We're all natural born chemists. E

39

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry

Neil deGrasse Tyson

4.2

Preview Summary

What is the nature of space and time? How do we fit within the universe? How does the universe fit within us? There’s no better guide through these mind-expanding questions than acclaimed astrophysicist and best-selling author Neil deGrasse Tyson.

But today, few of us have time to contemplate the cosmos. So Tyson brings the universe down to Earth succinctly and clearly, with sparkling wit, in tasty

Recommended by Vinod Khosla.

Vinod Khosla

Co-Founder/Sun Microsystem

Great, very quick overview of astrophysics. Easily accessible. [source]

40

The Feynman Lectures on Physics

Richard P. Feynman

4.2

The legendary introduction to physics from the subject's greatest teacher
"The whole thing was basically an experiment," Richard Feynman said late in his career, looking back on the origins of his lectures. The experiment turned out to be hugely successful, spawning a book that has remained a definitive introduction to physics for decades. Ranging from the most basic principles of Newtonian physics

Recommended by Bill Gates and David Bainbridge.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

You don't have to take a course to learn physics. If you're hardcore, read the Feynman book and do the problems. [source]

David Bainbridge

I think that he is one of the most intelligent people to live in the 20th century. Yet at the same time, surprisingly, he is an amazingly good teacher. This is quite an unusual combination. [source]

41

What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained

Robert L. Wolke

4.2

Do you wish you understood the science of foods, but don't want to plow through dry technical books? What Einstein Told His Cook is like having a scientist at your side to answer your questions in plain, nontechnical terms. Chemistry professor and syndicated Washington Post food columnist Robert L. Wolke provides over 100 reliable and witty explanations, while debunking misconceptions and helping

Cover unavailable

42

The Great Mental Models, Volume 2: Physics, Chemistry and Biology

Farnam Street

4.2

Preview Summary

Cover unavailable

43

Speaking from Among the Bones (Flavia de Luce, #5)

Alan Bradley

4.2

Eleven-year-old amateur detective and ardent chemist Flavia de Luce is used to digging up clues, whether they’re found among the potions in her laboratory or between the pages of her insufferable sisters’ diaries. What she is not accustomed to is digging up bodies. Upon the five-hundredth anniversary of St. Tancred’s death, the English hamlet of Bishop’s Lacey is busily preparing to open its patro

44

Caesar's Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us

Sam Kean

4.2

It's invisible. It's ever-present. Without it, you would die in minutes. And it has an epic story to tell.

In Caesar's Last Breath, New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean takes us on a journey through the periodic table, around the globe, and across time to tell the story of the air we breathe, which, it turns out, is also the story of earth and our existence on it.

With every breath, you litera

45

The Vital Question: Energy, Evolution, and the Origins of Complex Life

Nick Lane

4.2

Preview Summary

To explain the mystery of how life evolved on Earth, Nick Lane explores the deep link between energy and genes.

The Earth teems with life: in its oceans, forests, skies and cities. Yet there’s a black hole at the heart of biology. We do not know why complex life is the way it is, or, for that matter, how life first began. In The Vital Question, award-winning author and biochemist Nick Lane radicall

Recommended by Bill Gates.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

Nick is one of those original thinkers who makes you say: More people should know about this guy's work. He is trying to right a scientific wrong by getting people to fully appreciate the role that energy plays in all living things. Even if the details of Nick's work turn out to be wrong, I suspect his focus on energy will be seen as an important contribution to our understanding of where we come from. [source]

46

The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science

Richard Holmes

4.2

'The Age of Wonder' is Richard Holmes' first major work of biography for a decade. It has been inspired by the scientific ferment that swept through Britain at the end of the 18th century, and which Holmes now radically redefines as 'the revolution of Romantic Science'.

Recommended by Caspar Henderson, Ed Cooke, John Shepherd, and 1 others.

Caspar Henderson

Among Holmes’s qualities are is his warmth, his extraordinary depth of knowledge and the fluency in his writing. It’s just a really enjoyable read. [source]

Ed Cooke

Ed Cooke recommended this book in the book "Tools of Titans". [source]

John Shepherd

This is a cross-cultural book, all about how, even in the age of romanticism, science was an important part of cultural life. [source]

47

Genome: The Autobiography of a Species In 23 Chapters

Matt Ridley

4.2

The human genome, the complete set of genes housed in twenty-three pairs of chromosomes, is nothing less than an autobiography of our species. Spelled out in a billion three-letter words using the four-letter alphabet of DNA, the genome has been edited, abridged, altered and added to as it has been handed down, generation to generation, over more than three billion years. With the first draft of t

Recommended by Charles T. Munger, Charlie Munger, Mark Zuckerberg, and 2 others.

Mark Zuckerberg

Founder/Facebook

This book aims to tell a history of humanity from the perspective of genetics rather than sociology. This should complement the other broad histories I've read this year, as well as follow "Energy" well in focusing on science. I've wanted to read Matt Ridley's books for a while. His recent book "The Rational Optimist" about how progress and the economy evolve is also near the top of my ever-growing pile of books to read. [source]

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

Getting into the more evolution, science kind of books, I really highly, highly recommend picking up Genome … . [source]

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48

Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1)

Simone Elkeles

4.2

A fresh, urban twist on the classic tale of star-crossed lovers.

When Brittany Ellis walks into chemistry class on the first day of senior year, she has no clue that her carefully created 'perfect' life is about to unravel before her eyes. She's forced to be lab partners with Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, and he is about to threaten everything she's worked so hard for: he

49

Physical Chemistry: A Molecular Approach

Donald A. McQuarrie, John D. Simon

4.2

This book features a new approach to the teaching of undergraduate physical chemistry. It covers all relevant areas, including molecular spectroscopy, electronic structure computations, molecular beam methods and time-resolved measurements of chemical systems.

50

Uranium: War, Energy and the Rock That Shaped the World

4.1

62

The Elements of Murder: A History of Poison

John Emsley

4.1

Was Napoleon killed by the arsenic in his wallpaper? How did Rasputin survive cyanide poisoning? Which chemicals in our environment pose the biggest threat to our health today? In The Elements of Murder, John Emsley answers these questions and offers a fascinating account of five of the most toxic elements--arsenic, antimony, lead, mercury, and thallium--describing their lethal chemical properties

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63

Fundamentals Of Analytical Chemistry

Douglas A. Skoog, Donald M. West, et al.

4.1

Providing coverage of the principles and practices of quantitative chemistry, this book includes applications throughout industry, medicine, and the sciences.

64

The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge

Jeremy Narby

4.1

This adventure in science and imagination, which the Medical Tribune said might herald "a Copernican revolution for the life sciences," leads the reader through unexplored jungles and uncharted aspects of mind to the heart of knowledge.In a first-person narrative of scientific discovery that opens new perspectives on biology, anthropology, and the limits of rationalism, The Cosmic Serpent reveals

Recommended by Aubrey Marcus and Dan Engle.

Dan Engle

Amazing for me. [source]

65

Advanced Organic Chemistry: Part A: Structure and Mechanisms

Francis A. Carey, Richard J. Sundberg

4.1

Since its original appearance in 1977, Advanced Organic Chemistry has maintained its place as the premier textbook in the field, offering broad coverage of the structure, reactivity and synthesis of organic compounds. As in the earlier editions, the text contains extensive references to both the primary and review literature and provides examples of data and reactions that illustrate and document

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66

Cathedrals of Science: The Personalities and Rivalries That Made Modern Chemistry

Patrick Coffey

4.1

In Cathedrals of Science, Patrick Coffey describes how chemistry got its modern footing-how thirteen brilliant men and one woman struggled with the laws of the universe and with each other. They wanted to discover how the world worked, but they also wanted credit for making those discoveries, and their personalities often affected how that credit was assigned. Gilbert Lewis, for example, could be

67

Theo Gray's Mad Science: Experiments You Can Do at Home - But Probably Shouldn't

Theodore Gray

4.1

Author of the best-selling book The Elements Theodore Gray demonstrates essential scientific principles through thrilling daredevil experiments.

"What a magnificent book. It's gorgeous, playful, and draws you in." —Adam Savage, cohost of Mythbusters

"Theodore Gray…has attained a level of near superhuman geekery that the rest of us can only mutely admire." —Cecil Adams, "TheStraight Dope"

"Gray's e

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68

Concise Inorganic Chemistry

J. D. Lee

4.1

This edition is organized into six parts: theoretical concepts and hydrogen; the s-block; the p-block; the d-block; the f-block; and other topics (the nucleus and spectra). It concentrates on the commercial exploitation of inorganic chemicals date. Every chapter in the book has been revised and updated and follows the IUPAC recommendation that the main groups and the tranisition metals be numbered

69

Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants

John Drury Clark, Isaac Asimov

4.1

This newly reissued debut book in the Rutgers University Press Classics Imprint is the story of the search for a rocket propellant which could be trusted to take man into space. This search was a hazardous enterprise carried out by rival labs who worked against the known laws of nature, with no guarantee of success or safety. Acclaimed scientist and sci-fi author John Drury Clark writes with irrev

Recommended by Elon Musk.

Elon Musk

Founder/SpaceX

There is a good book on rocket stuff called Ignition! An informal history of liquid rocket propellants by John Clark, that’s a really fun one. [source]

70

Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments: All Lab, No Lecture

Robert Bruce Thompson

4.1

For students, DIY hobbyists, and science buffs, who can no longer get real chemistry sets, this one-of-a-kind guide explains how to set up and use a home chemistry lab, with step-by-step instructions for conducting experiments in basic chemistry -- not just to make pretty colors and stinky smells, but to learn how to do real lab work:

Purify alcohol by distillation Produce hydrogen and oxygen gas b

83

Superheavy: Making and Breaking the Periodic Table

Kit Chapman

4.0

An in-depth look at how elements are discovered, why they matter and where they will take us.

The science of element discovery is a truly fascinating field, and is constantly rewriting the laws of chemistry and physics as we know them. Superheavy is the first book to take an in-depth look at how synthetic elements are discovered, why they matter and where they will take us. From the Cold War nucle

Recommended by Stuart Cantrill.

Stuart Cantrill

It's a great book, and a signed copy would be even better... - tell @ChemistryKit what you would name a new element and why and you're in with a chance! https://t.co/cPXQme9uXF [source]

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84

Mauve: How One Man Invented a Colour That Changed the World

Simon Garfield

4.0

In 1856 eighteen-year-old English chemist William Perkin accidentally discovered a way to mass-produce color. In a "witty, erudite, and entertaining" (Esquire) style, Simon Garfield explains how the experimental mishap that produced an odd shade of purple revolutionized fashion, as well as industrial applications of chemistry research. Occasionally honored in certain colleges and chemistry clubs,

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85

The Grave's a Fine and Private Place (Flavia de Luce, #9)

Alan Bradley

4.0

Flavia is enjoying the summer, spending her days punting along the river with her reluctant family. Languishing in boredom, she drags a slack hand in the water, and catches her fingers in the open mouth of a drowned corpse.

Brought to shore, the dead man is found to be dressed in blue silk with ribbons at the knee, and wearing a single red ballet slipper.

Flavia needs to put her super-sleuthing skil

86

The Periodic Table: A Field Guide to the Elements

Gail Dixon

4.0

As one of the most recognizable images in science, the periodic table is ingrained in our culture. First drawn up in 1869 by Dmitri Mendeleev, its 118 elements make up not only everything on our planet but also everything in the entire universe.

The Periodic Table looks at the fascinating story and surprising uses of each of those elements, whether solid, liquid or gas. From the little-known uses o

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87

Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie

Barbara Goldsmith

4.0

Through family interviews, diaries, letters, and workbooks that had been sealed for over sixty years, Barbara Goldsmith reveals the Marie Curie behind the myth—an all-too-human woman struggling to balance a spectacular scientific career, a demanding family, the prejudice of society, and her own passionate nature. Obsessive Genius is a dazzling portrait of Curie, her amazing scientific success, and

Recommended by Michelle Francl.

Michelle Francl

To me, the strength of Goldsmith’s biography of Marie Curie is how it so clearly characterizes the depth of her obsession with her scholarly work in the face of almost unimaginable difficulties, from her struggles to afford her education in Paris to the loss of her beloved Pierre. [source]

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88

The Periodic Table: Elements with Style! (Basher Science)

Simon Basher, Adrian Dingle

4.0

Basher Science: The Periodic Table, Elements with Style! created and illustrated by Simon Basher, Written by Adrian Dingle:

The Periodic Table introduces budding chemists to the world of the elements as it's never been seen before. Designed to resemble popular networking Web sites, the pages of this book feature "homepages" for each of the chemical elements -- complete with witty and informative pr

89

Cancer as a Metabolic Disease: On the Origin, Management, and Prevention of Cancer

Thomas Seyfried

4.0

The book addresses controversies related to the origins of cancer and provides solutions to cancer management and prevention. It expands upon Otto Warburg's well-known theory that all cancer is a disease of energy metabolism. However, Warburg did not link his theory to the "hallmarks of cancer" and thus his theory was discredited. This book aims to provide evidence, through case studies, that canc

Recommended by Dominic D'Agostino.

Dominic D'Agostino

A really, really good book. It’s required reading for all my students. [source]

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90

Chemistry: A Very Short Introduction

Peter Atkins

4.0

In this Very Short Introduction Peter Atkins inspires us to look at chemistry through new eyes. Considering the remarkable achievements chemistry has made, he presents a fascinating, clear, and rigorous exploration of the world of chemistry - its structure, core concepts, and contributions to the material comfort and culture of the modern world.

91

Organic Chemistry I for Dummies

Winter

4.0

Organic Chemistry I For Dummies, 2nd Edition (9781119293378) was previously published as Organic Chemistry I For Dummies, 2nd Edition (9781118828076). While this version features a new Dummies cover and design, the content is the same as the prior release and should not be considered a new or updated product.

The easy way to take the confusion out of organic chemistry

Organic chemistry has a long-

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92

Asimov on Chemistry

Isaac Asimov

4.0

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93

Modern Quantum Chemistry: Introduction to Advanced Electronic Structure Theory

Attila Szabo, Neil S. Ostlund

4.0

The aim of this graduate-level textbook is to present and explain, at other than a superficial level, modem ab initio approaches to the calculation of the electronic structure and properties of molecules. The first three chapters contain introductory material culminating in a thorough discussion of the Hartree-Fock approximation.The remaining four chapters describe a variety of more sophisticated

94

The Female Brain

Louann Brizendine M.D.

4.0

This comprehensive new look at the hormonal roller coaster that rules women's lives down to the cellular level, "a user's guide to new research about the female brain and the neurobehavioral systems that make us women," offers a trove of information, as well as some stunning insights. Though referenced like a work of research, Brizedine's writing style is fully accessible. Brizendine provides a fa

Recommended by Brian Armstrong.

95

Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry

David L. Nelson

4.0

Clear writing and illustrations…Clear explanations of difficult concepts…Clear communication of the ways in biochemistry is currently understood and practiced. For over 35 years, in edition after bestselling edition, Principles of Biochemistry has put those defining principles into practice, guiding students through a coherent introduction to the essentials of biochemistry without overwhelming the

Cover unavailable

96

Advanced Organic Chemistry: Part B: Reaction and Synthesis

Francis A. Carey, Richard J. Sundberg

4.0

The control of reactivity to achieve specific syntheses is one of the overarching goals of organic chemistry. In the decade since the publication of the third edition, major advances have been made in the development of efficient new methods, particularly catalytic processes, and in means for control of reaction stereochemistry.
This volume assumes a level of familiarity with structural and mechan

97

Great Transformations: The Decoding of Life from Ancient Fossils to DNA Science

Neil Shubin

4.0

The author of the best-selling Your Inner Fish , now gives us a lively and accessible account of the great transformations in the history of life, that enable us to further understand whether our presence on this planet is an accident or inevitable.

The great transformations in the history of life brought about whole scale shifts in how animals live and how their bodies are organized: the evol

98

Inorganic Chemistry

Catherine E. Housecroft, Alan G. Sharpe, Catherine Housecroft, Alan Sharpe

4.0

This book's fresh writing style--combined with up-to-date coverage, numerous examples, worked exercises, and real-life applications--provides a critical introduction to modern inorganic chemistry. It offers superior coverage of all key areas, including descriptive chemistry, MO theory, bonding, and physical inorganic chemistry. Chapter topics are presented in logical order and include: basic conce

99

Chemistry (Quick Study Academic)

Inc. BarCharts

4.0

100

Periodic Table Advanced: a QuickStudy Laminated Reference Guide (QuickStudy Academic)

Mark Jackson PhD

4.0

Best-seller for over 20 years (updated when needed). This ultimate reference tool and lab partner for any student of science is durably laminated and written in a streamlined outline format designed to fit as much info as possible in this handy color-coded guide to the periodic table of the elements. Separate element property tables are broken out for the ease of locating trends while studying and