Science and Inquiry discussion

Occasionally I read fiction books that highlight science. I am not talking about science fiction, necessarily. Some fiction books actually contain a lot of science, that you can actually learn from. As an example, many of the novels by Neal Stephenson are packed with science. The book Zodiac is a tongue-in-cheek thriller in which chemistry plays a central role. You can learn a lot about chemical pollution from this book. Another example is The Martian by Andy Weir, which is packed with engineering and science.

If you know of other novels in which the science is factually explained, add a comment!

I had a younger phase when I used to read a lot of medical thrillers by Robin Cook and Ken McClure.

I also have enjoyed a few medical thrillers, like Robin Cook. There are also some environmental thriller that I've had my eye on, like The Water Knife, and one by Erin Brockovich. I haven't read these so I can't attest to the quality of the science but I think it's an interesting genre.

There're quite a few good recommendations here too (if you can filter through the non-fiction and sci-fi titles): https://www.mmu.ac.uk/engage/what-we-...

A classic from long ago, The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton. Worth revisiting in light of today's world.

As you may have noticed, I usually review non-fiction books. That's because non-fiction books are more structured than other forms of edutainment (& thus, easier for me to review). However, I feel so strongly about the following educational fiction books that I had to make exceptions for them:

-Mash's "How to Keep Dinosaurs" (which is terrible: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ).

-Schwabacher's "The Magic School Bus Flies with the Dinosaurs" (which is terrible: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ).

-Henry's "RAPTOR: The Life of a Young Deinonychus" (which is terrible: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ).

-Miller/Blasing's "Dinosaur George and the Paleonauts: Raptor Island" (which is terrible: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ).

-Stan/Jan's "The Berenstain Bears and the Dinosaurs" (which is terrible: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ).

-White's Dinosaur Hunter: The Ultimate Guide to the Biggest Game (which is great: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ).

The Lady Trent Memoirs by Marie Brennan is one of my all time favorite books. It's about a woman natural historian of dragons in a world quite similar to our own. It's high fantasy, but there isn't magic and Marie Brennan does a truly spectacular job exploring issues that arise with Natural History.

I also enjoy The Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers. It's "slice of life" about various humans in space. Each book is a standalone, but they are all connected via characters.

A list of "climate fiction" compiled by Jeff VanderMeer, author of Annihilation and Hummingbird Salamander:

https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/2...

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir is great, and also The Three Body Problem!

In reference to my previous post ( https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... ), I've since reviewed the following educational fiction books:

-Howard's Dinosaur Empire!: Journey through the Mesozoic Era (which is great: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ).

-Stamper's "Dinosaur Detectives (The Magic School Bus Science Chapter Book #9)" (which is terrible: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ).

-Stout's The New Dinosaurs (which is great: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ).

-Chuang/Yang's Age of Dinosaurs (which is great: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ).

-Cole's "Allosaurus: The Life and Death of Big Al" (which is very bad: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ).