Favorite Books

In no particular order...
Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind
  • Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind
  • by V.S. Ramachandran and Sandra Blakeslee (1998)
  • Fascinating book written for lay people about bizarre neurological disorders, and what they tell us about human behavior. For example, what makes perfectly sane people deny their - obvious- paralysis, and how in the world can this denial be temporarily relieved by a squirt of ice water?

Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior
  • Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior
  • by Temple Grandin (2005)
  • Intriguing book on how animals communicate, and how they perceive and react to the world around them. Points out similarities in how autistics and animals react to sensory input. Includes observations on several physical markers that can indicate an animals' temperament. Read this before adopting any animals! Check out Dr. Grandin's blog, too.

Mapping Fate: A Memoir of Family, Risk, and Genetic Research

The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature
  • The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature
  • by Matt Ridley (1993)
  • Hilarious book with all sorts of interesting tidbits about human behavior and biological phenomena. Read this book to find out why women are more likely to conceive when they are having affairs, and why newborns are usually said to resemble dad. Other favorite books by Matt Ridley include "Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters", and "The Origins of Virtue".

The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time

The Selfish Gene
  • The Selfish Gene
  • by Richard Dawkins (1976)
  • Classic book about Dawkins' idea that multicellular adults such as ourselves are mere vehicles for the reproduction of DNA. Beware that Dawkins is brilliant and very witty (a modern-day Oscar Wilde), but also a fundamentalist atheist. You have been warned!

Sex and The Origins of Death
  • Sex and The Origins of Death
  • by William R. Clark (1996)
  • While scrubbing the ring around your bathtub, have you ever pondered the fact that bacteria don't die unless killed?

Time, Love, Memory: A Great Biologist and His Quest for The Origins of Behavior

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales
  • The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales
  • by Oliver Sacks (1970)
  • From the same person who inspired the movie "Awakenings". True stories of bizarre neurological disorders. Sacks has authored lots of books, including "Uncle Tungsten" with a wealth of information on the elements in the Periodic Table.

The Joy of Pi
  • The Joy of Pi
  • by David Blatner (1997)
  • Delightful little book about man's obsession with the number pi.

The Parrot Who Owns Me: The Story of a Relationship

Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA
  • Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA
  • by Brenda Maddox (2002)
  • Biography of Rosalind Franklin, a Jewish woman scientist around the time of World War II. The great question is: had she not died of cancer at age 37, would she have been awarded the Nobel Prize in favor of Maurice Wilkins for her X-ray crystallography work on the structure of DNA?

Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life
  • Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life
  • by Daniel C. Dennett (1995)
  • Not an easy read, but well worth the effort. A comprehensive account of the theory of evolution and which parts we still quibble about. Dennett is a prolific writer. Check out his other books too, such as the audacious "Consciousness Explained", and "Freedom Evolves". His latest is called "Breaking The Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon".

Finding Darwin's God: A Scientist's Search for Common Ground Between God and Evolution

War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning
  • War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning
  • by Chris Hedges (2003)
  • Controversial book about what it takes for a nation to go to war. Read between the lines, and you will glimpse the biological impulse for imitation and cooperation... Read this, then embark on an intellectual journey to topics like memes, free will and artificial intelligence...

Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny

The Lexus and The Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization

As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl
  • As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl
  • by John Colapinto (2001)
  • Heart-breaking story of David Reimer. Also see http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/reimer (print) and http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1894187 (audio - powerful piece).

Jacobson's Organ and The Remarkable Nature of Smell


Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief

The Song of The Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinctions

At The Bench: A Laboratory Navigator

Basic Laboratory Methods for Biotechnology: Textbook and Laboratory Reference

Natural Obsessions: Striving to Unlock The Deepest Secrets of The Cancer Cell
  • Natural Obsessions: Striving to Unlock The Deepest Secrets of The Cancer Cell
  • by Natalie Angier (1999)
  • Gives a pretty accurate look at what it is like working in a research lab. Check out chapter 9, which talks about my mentor, Dr. Mien-Chie Hung, from my post-doc days. Dr. Hung is now chairman of the Dept. of Molecular and Cellular Oncology at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (http://www.bcrfcure.org/rese_meet_hung.html).

Beyond Therapy: Biotechnology and the Pursuit of Happiness
  • Beyond Therapy: Biotechnology and the Pursuit of Happiness
  • by President's council on bioethics (2003)
  • What is normal, and what needs to be medicated? If you or anyone you know has ever considered taking Ritalin, antidepressants, or performance-enhancing drugs, this book is food for thought.

Biography of a Germ
  • Biography of a Germ
  • by Arno Karlen (2000)
  • Humanized journey of a Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease.

	 The Genome War: How Craig Venter Tried to Capture The Code of Life and Save The World


Insomniac
  • Insomniac
  • by Gayle Greene (2008)
  • Chronic insomnia is not for sissies. Written from the perspective of a patient with a keen interest in research, this is a must-read for insomniacs, those who love them, those who (try to ) treat them, and anyone interested in sleep science.

	 Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs.

The Most Dangerous Animal: Human Nature and the Origins of War.
  • The Most Dangerous Animal: Human Nature and the Origins of War.
  • by David Livingstone Smith (2007)
  • This very well-written book will not only delve into the biological impulse for war, and the biological basis of the self-deception necessary for waging war, it will also answer juicy questions such as "Why do women call the shots when it comes to sex?". Read this as a companion to Chris Hedges' "War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning" above.

	 Unstrange Minds: Remapping the World of Autism
  • Unstrange Minds: Remapping the World of Autism
  • by Roy Richard Grinker (2008)
  • The premise of this book is that there is no autism "epidemic", but rather that increased awareness and increased assignment of the autism medical code for insurance or school purposes have made it seem so. A touching look at autism across North American, South American, Indian and Asian cultures.

This is your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession
  • This is your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession
  • by Daniel J. Levitin (2007)
  • Where else are you going to find a book recommended by world-renowned neurologists like Dr. Oliver Sacks, and world-class musicians such as Sting and David Byrne? This book by musician/sound engineer/music producer-turned-scientist Daniel J. Levitin will have you humming, tapping, and maybe even singing out loud as you learn about the ways composers exploit our hard-wired biological musical tendencies. Great fun!

Only a Theory: Evolution and the Battle for America's Soul
  • Only a Theory: Evolution and the Battle for America's Soul
  • by Kenneth R. Miller (2008)
  • With our public school science standards in constant danger, this book is a must-read for anyone in Texas! The premise of this book by (practicing Christian) Kenneth R. Miller is that the "Intelligent Design" (ID) movement is undermining American science education and threatening America's position as the greatest scientific nation in the world. ID is not serious science but rather the creationism wolf in sheep's clothing. By definition, intelligent design implies an intelligent designer. And of course an intelligent designer implies a divine creator... Even so, what if ID really were a bona fide scientific theory? How can we use it to explain the fossil record? How do we explain all those extinctions, and the fact that many species seem related to other species? Why do we carry broken genes, and why do we share matching mutations with other species? And what about the idea of "irreducible complexity" as "proof" of ID? Does irreducible complexity really exist, or can we spot descent with modification instead?

Alex & Me
  • Alex & Me
  • by Irene M. Pepperberg (2008)
  • "How a Scientist and a Parrot Uncovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence - and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process". Alex, the African Grey parrot in this story may have started out as an Avian Language EXperiment, but ended up a charming, sometimes cranky, and often mischievous companion to researcher Irene Pepperberg, shattering just about every pre-conceived notion about animal intelligence and emotion in the process. Despite Alex' fame, finding research funding proved to be a never-ending struggle for Dr. Pepperberg; amazingly, much of the groundbreaking work was done with student volunteers on a shoestring budget. See http://brightcove.newscientist.com/services/link/bcpid1873822884/bctid1902498604 for a video of Alex in action.

Madness: A Bipolar Life
  • Madness: A Bipolar Life
  • by Marya Hornbacher (2009)
  • An amazing window into the mind of someone on the far end of the bipolar spectrum.

	 Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's

	 Reaching the Animal Mind: Clicker Training and What It Teaches Us about All Animals

Life
  • Life
  • by Keith Richards (2010)
  • At first sight, a highly entertaining 40-year romp into the world of rock 'n roll. Upon closer inspection, a fascinating peek into the mind of an addict, and a testament to the never-ending power of minimization and denial. Poor Marlon.