Science books for a 13 year old please

[MerylSqueak]

My son's birthday is coming up and he's asked for more science books.

He's read the DK The Science Book and the Natural History Museum Why is Snot Green type books. He won't want anymore kiddish books. I got him the Absurd Scientific Advice book which he likes but he was put off at first by it's cartoons style.

He spends a lot of time on science podcasts and at the moment his dream job is terrafoming Mars and he's really into physics and space at the moment. He also used to be really into ecosystems but found it very upsetting thinking about climate change ( hence the interest in leaving this planet stuff I suppose) .

I'm wondering about John Gribbin's book on the development of quantum physics, or The Science of Everyday life but I'm not sure. He's bright and keen but not very bookish and I don't want to put him off.

I think there's a bit of a gap in non-fiction between kids books and adult books and it can be hard to find good books for this age.

At the lighter end of the spectrum there are books like the New Scientist series of the questions and queries books starting with 'Does Anything Eat Wasps?' Those are quite like 'The Science of Everyday Life'.

Or the more adult DK science books are good with all the photos.

Look at Adam Kay's books for children (definitely not his adult ones!) They have Kay's anatomy etc- they're quite light and horrible histories in style.

What if. I actually think this is a must. Any Randall Munroe stuff is great, but start at the beginning!

My D's is now 18 and still reads this! He must have read it a million times already. He has what if 2 and is reading slowly so he can savour it.

The Martian by Andy Weir.

Yes, Randall Munroe's What If books are amazing.

Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything

Another vote for Randall Munroe.

I was going to suggest the What if book, and there's a follow-up called What if 2. There's also one called How to.

DS has enjoyed all of these, and tells me that the author is called Randall Munro.

Sorry, I now see that I'm repeating other people 😄.

Thanks. I think the Absurd Scientific Advice is a Randall Munro.

There's definitely a gap between kid books and adult. He's too old for one and not old enough for the other.

I think the What ifs etc. are for adults, but 12yo DS is really enjoying them.

I don't know if it's still in paring but I really recommend a book called The Wonderful Mistake, by Lewis Thomas.

It's a series of articles collected in one volume by a cell biologist, but it's aimed at the general reader - easy to follow, quite humorous and at times utterly mind blowing.

Perhaps have a look at Marcus Chown - Tweeting The Universe - some scientific teaching in tweet sized chunks.

Yes, yes, yes. You beat me to it. This is by far the best introduction to science I have ever read. A wonderful book – joyful, filled with wonder, and written in crystal clear prose. It is one of my all-time favourites.

I would also recommend Carl Sagan's Cosmos. Oh, and The Quotable Feynman, which is a collection of inspiring and thrilling quotations from the works of Richard Feynman. The Feynman book would be perfect as he could dip in and out.

Larkstar mentioned Marcus Chown, and I agree.

Does he listen to The Infinite Monkey Cage?

I wouldn't discount popular science books for adults at 13. Dd is 14 and has been reading them for a few years. She's in to paleontology, anthropology etc so I'm not sure her recommendations would be any good but she has things like The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, Otherlands, Kindred, Written in Bone. Just a flavour of her shelves. Most are very accessible, they are written for the general public so are engaging. You can get Sapiens as a graphic novel which is fun.

One of the best things we did was when in London go book shopping in Foyles. She's a book worm anyway but I don't think she'd ever really realised quite how much there was published in history, engineering, natural sciences and so on. She loved looking around all the non fiction.

We subscribe to Oyla magazine too which is science based for older kids/younger teens. It gets thoroughly read between dd and her younger brother.

Surely you’re joking Mr Feynman. It’s an excellent book and definitely accessible to an interested teen.

YES!

And his newer one Project Hail Mary - my 12 year old DS has listened to the audiobook 3 times now. (As have I!)

Also, in case no ones recommended yet: Carlo Rovelli's Seven Brief Lessons In Physics for a non-fiction.

Surely you're joking mr feynman

Mutants by armand marie leroi

The man who knew only numbers by Paul hoffman

The physics of Star Trek by Lawrence krauss

All ones I really enjoyed reading from 13-16, I'll add more as I remember!!

The man who mistook his wife for a hat by Oliver sacks

Uncle tungsten by Oliver sacks

Longitude by Dava sobel

Bad Science by Ben Goldacre? Although Randall Monro is the absolute best!

Another vote for the What if books!

also there's a series of "cartoon guide to" books if he likes comics -
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cartoon-Guide-Physics/dp/0062731009/ref=pd_aw_fbt_img_sccl_1/262-5193098-3048905?pd_rd_w=rSBW4&content-id=amzn1.sym.74b36ee3-5024-453d-8d6a-4b5dad40302c&pf_rd_p=74b36ee3-5024-453d-8d6a-4b5dad40302c&pf_rd_r=WPVZ4HC01MM391ESR8JH&pd_rd_wg=oXSoN&pd_rd_r=f1f477c3-b547-4ddf-bc33-7a80a62d484d&pd_rd_i=0062731009&psc=1

There's also the cartoon history of the universe by Larry gonick that has a lot of science in it too, especially the first volume

Thanks very much to all of you. I've got a huge basket of books and they look very interesting. I'm very grateful.

I see Randall Munroe has been mentioned a lot. I bought his 'The Thing Explainer' for my husband who's into science and technology. It's a fantastic book.

This was recommended to me last week.