you’re successful. Speaking of sleep, did you know that failing to do so could be fatal? Read about an Italian family afflicted with this rare prion disorder in The Family That Couldn’t Sleep: A Medical Mystery by D.T. Max (2007).
Are you an animal lover? Dive in to Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Uncovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence–and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process by Irene M. Pepperberg (2009). If you’re into really uncommon beasts, read the fascinating tale of a “living dinosaur” in A Fish Caught in Time: The Search for the Coelacanth by Samantha Weinberg (2001). And if you like real dinosaurs, check out the battle of the bones that began with the discovery of Tyrannosaurus Sue: The Extraordinary Saga of the Largest, Most Fought Over T-Rex Ever Found by Steve Fiffer and Robert Bakker (2000).
Like medical mysteries? Grab a copy of The Case of the Frozen Addicts: How the Solution of an Extraordinary Medical Mystery Spawned a Revolution in the Understanding and Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease by J. William Langston and Jon Palfreman (1996). It clearly illustrates the dangers of taking illicit drugs manufactured by unknown individuals under questionable conditions.
Albert Einstein is probably regarded as the most famous scientist in history, but what became of his (ordinary sized) brain after he died? Find out by reading Driving Mr. Albert: A Trip Across America with Einstein’s Brain by Michael Paterniti (2000).
Concerned about what your neighbor is tinkering with in his garage all hours of the day and night? Relax. It’s likely something much less dangerous than the device crafted by The Radioactive Boy Scout: The True Story of a Boy and His Backyard Nuclear Reactor by Ken Silverstein (2004).
Are you a sports nut? Want to know how distinct alleles and mutations specifically contribute to athletic performance in certain individuals and groups? Check out the stories about running, skiing, jumping, and swinging a baseball bat in The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance by David Epstein (2013).
Interested in what motivates certain individuals? Learn more by reading Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink (2011), or check out Bounce: Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham, and the Science of Success by Matthew Syed (2011).
Infectious diseases are back in the news these days, with “debates” about the benefits and risks associated with different vaccines. Want to read the true story about how the MMR vaccine is NOT associated with the development of autism? Pick up a copy of The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear by Seth Mnookin (2011). If you watched Ken’s Burns’s excellent PBS series The Roosevelts, and you want to know more about polio and how the March of Dimes got started, check out Polio: An American Story by David M. Oshinsky. As with the early days of many vaccination programs, problems cropped up that threatened to derail this hugely important public health breakthrough. Details about what went wrong and how this led to 200,000 people being injected with live polio virus are clearly recounted in The Cutter Incident: How America’s First Polio Vaccine Led to the Growing Vaccine Crisis by Paul A. Offit (2007).
If you’re having difficulty remembering the names of all of these books, learn how to do it better by creating “memory palaces.” Instructions for doing so can be found in the wonderfully named Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer. It details an interesting yearly competition I never knew took place: the U.S. Memory Championship, and focuses on tricks you can use to improve your memory.
All of the books I’ve read by doctors Atul Gawande and Jerome Groopman provide beautifully written accounts about medicine and the doctor-patient relationship. Finally, a much more extensive list of book recommendations can be found on this page of my website.
Have your own recommendations? Please list them below. Happy summer reading!
