[constant thinker]

Ok usually this is a topic people say you have to decide for youself, but I need some help.

I need a good book, but is has to have some criteria.
1) It has to be something that you can read some here and some there. I'm horrible at reading books straight through for many reasons.
2) Can't be politically biast to Republicans or Democrats, different countries, pro-war/pro-peace, etc.
3) No biographies unless this one is some special.
4) It needs to be a book that you can actually read. It can't be like a book with just a list of chemistry expirements. Although those are cool books for referenceing or when your bored and nothing text "booky".

Also has anybody read The Da Vinchi Code? If you have is really a good book with intresting things in it and not just one guys opinions about Da Vinchi and his works.

[mike]

Yes I read the Da Vinci Code and yes I liked it. What about other Dan Brown novels?

Last book I read was biography, Ian Thorpe, sorry.

[Kenichi]

As for chemistry related books, which is mostly what I read nowadays I'd suggest...

anything by Dr. Joe Schwarcz  "The fly in the ointment" "Radar, hula hoops, and playful pigs" "That's the way the cookie crumbles"(<-----I think the current featured book on this site maybe it's changed)  Those books are composed of dozens of essays (only 3-10 pages in length each) about science (mainly chemistry) in everyday life.  These books are especially neat since you can flip to anywhere in there and learn about something different.  No need to read in order from cover to cover.  If your not into just reading it straight through, I find they work great as bathroom books...I got one in each of the bathrooms in the house!

another good once I just finished reading is "The Last Sorcerers: the path from alchemy to the periodic table" by Richard Morris.  The book goes through the lives of all the scientists who contributed to the evolution of the science of chemistry.  It doesn't just say what they did or contributed, it goes into their lives with all sorts of interesting stories and anecdotes.  As it turns out those guys were quite fascinating and led some pretty querky lives. It helps if you read this book without jumping around to maintain the flow of the book.  I wasn't able to put it down once I bought it though, so it shouldnt really be too much of  a problem even if you don't like to read it in order.  

Finally, "Napoleon's Buttons" by Penny Le Couteur and Jay Burreson.  how 17 molecules changed history.  That's exactly what it is.  A chemical twist to all those history lessons.  For example,  Napoleon's army was ill prepared for the weather they faced in Russia.  Even moreso by the fact that their clothes were falling off! All the buttons on all the uniforms of Napoleon's army was made from tin which becomes brittle and crumbles in cold temps.  So the fact that the french army's uniforms were falling apart probably contributed to their defeat in Russia.  

As for books non related to chemistry I'd say  A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess.  A bit graphic, but a real good underlying message.  

hope that was somewhat helpful to you

[Kenichi]

I read Angels and Demons by Dan Brown.  I felt that it was too much like the Da Vinci Code.  Another mystery in some European city involving a secret organization, the villian being the least suspected person and a beautiful woman who just happens to be an expert in the field that Langdon needs to solve the mystery...Sure, it was entertaining, and good as long as you remember it's fiction. As a Christian I had a bit of a problem when everyone around my area starting taking it to be the truth when they read the Da Vinci Code.  Not a horrible book, but not a great one in my opinion either

[jdurg]

For me a classic will always be 'Dracula' by Bram Stoker, or 'Richard III' by Shakespeare.

[constant thinker]

another good once I just finished reading is "The Last Sorcerers: the path from alchemy to the periodic table" by Richard Morris.  

I heard about that book.

I recently finished reading "Buzzed: The Straight Facts About the Most Used and Abused Drugs From Alcohol to Ecstasy, 2nd edition". It's 279 pages in length excluding the glossary and pictures. This is a good book for anybody that is curious about drugs from the illicit ones to the common drugs. The second edition talks has section in the back about brain basics, drug basics, addiction, and the legal issues. In my opinion the book is very factual and unbiased. By unbiased it neither directly says don't do drugs or do drugs. It does state that some drugs are more dangerous than others hitting to avoid them if you can. Limpet Chicken would like this book, but he probably knows most of the things in it.

I think I'll start with "The Da Vinchi Code". Then when I finish that I'll read "The Last Sorcerers: The Path from Alchemy to the Periodic Table".

Thanks guys.

[Kenichi]

Enjoy, just keep in mind with the Da Vinci Code you are reading a FICTION book.  Please don't parade around denouncing the Christian faith (like a good part of my hometown did) after reading it.
Another cool thing to check out as well is in the JCE (journal of chemical education) the Chemical Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.  They are mysteries in which Sherlock and Watson attempt to solve by the use of chemistry.  The stories are only about four pages long and take only a little while to read.  There is a break in the story before the solution is uncovered and you are asked to solve it.  A cool one I just finished was on a prison break in which the escaped used electrolysis to move iron from one bar to another on his cell window.  He had the use of an electric light (good behavior in the prison) and had lots of vinegar (fish and chips was served at the prison).  Eventually he connected the two bars in a channel he dug out of the masonry and dumped the vinegar into it, hooked up the wires from the light to the bars forming anodes and cathodes and Voila! the escape was made.  Pretty nifty stuff. Might be worth a look.

[constant thinker]

I'll keep all of those things in mind. I'll have to look up the Sherlock and Watson thing.

Is there a link to it online, Kenichi?

[Kenichi]

Can't access it online unless you have an account with JCE, but I went to the science library at Colgate and photocopied it.

[Dude]

I don't waste time reading fictional books.  Most science fiction writers are too fantasy based and neglect basic physics principles.  Horror and drama fiction books are too formulaic.  My advice would be to read "For the Love of Insects" (a book about the chemistry and behavior of insects and a chronology of how a professor developed the interest and how experiments were devised).  If you live in the US, I would recommend "The Long Emergency" ( a well-researched pessimist book about energy usage).

Hey,

Who keeps stealing my "scooby snacks"?

[limpet chicken]

I reccomend PIHKAL: phenethylamines I have known and loved, and its companion book TIHKAL: the continuation by Alexander Shulgin, I was disturbed from my peacefully opiated/benzo'ed state yesterday, by my parents, to find a pizza and these two books dumped by my side, just about managed to eat the pizza and keep my eyes open, tried to read some of PIHKAL, but that was too much to handle.

Today, I actually start reading them Shulgin is a genius, definately ranks up there with the likes of Albert Hoffman, and  other brilliant minds in their fields.

[Donaldson Tan]

Icons, by Frederick Forsyth

A power-hungry right-wing Russian politician aided by a hardcore ex-KGB Officer, attempts to come to takeover the Russian government, through his popularity, to establish his dictatorship. British and American covert agencies uncover the plot and unofficially recruit a retired SIS chief and an ex-CIA agent to stop the Russian and his ruthless lieutenant. The first part of the book builds up the character of the protagonist, the CIA Agent Jason Monk and how he humanely recruits Russian spies for the CIA and their ultimate destruction by the KGB because of the American spy Aldrich Ames who gave away the most significant American agents to the KGB for money. The second part describes the accidental discovery of the plot by the British and American covert agencies and how they recruit a retired SIS chief, a Cold War veteran, to take care of the issue.

[Borek]

Jeffrey Archer - my favourite is "Kane and Abel", although his short stories are great too.

15 years ago I was a great Tom Clancy fan - I still think his books are worth reading.

No idea which books by Andrzej Stasiuk were translated to English, but if you will have a chance to read "How did I become a writer" or "Hebron walls" or "Going to Brabadag" - try. Although that's completely different literature.

[Kenichi]

I just finished another terribly crude, yet hillarious book called I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell by Tucker Max.  They author, who is actually a Duke law school grad, recounts all the crazy drunk adventures that he and his friends experienced.  The stories are short and are guaranteed to leave you laughing/crying/cursing in disgust.  Entertaining although crude.  Some of his stories are accessable on Tuckermax.com but I would recommend just buying the book.