When I was in my early teens I used to spend my allowance money on magazines. I’d walk the five or six blocks to the grocery store and peruse their rather inadequate selection. And in the end I’d usually come home gripping a new copy of Popular Science, OMNI, or (when I was feeling particularly flush) Scientific American. Of course, I’d also find my way to the library and check out numerous incomprehensible tomes from the 500s that would occasionally enlighten my young mind — and also further cement my somewhat nerd-ish reputation. But as the years have worn on, numerous science textbooks having passed through my reading list in University, and with my time growing ever-more precious I can look back on some books I’ve enjoyed over the year and put together a short-list of ten books and/or authors I would recommend as a primer to any science-minded guy, particularly a dad with a newly minted brain in his care.

1. The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene

Published a couple years ago, Greene has a wonderful gift for sharing the complexities of physics and the universe through analogy and great storytelling. The first time the “light came on” for me with regard to the theory of relativity was when I was reading this book. “Oh. Well, okay then. That’s really neat, actually.” If you haven’t sampled this or his other work, both are worth your effort — and as of last week available as audio-books from Audible.

2. Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond

I picked this one up near the end of University and spent many long hours lugging it back and forth on the bus while commuting through Vancouver. It is award-winning, concise and clear science writing that anyone interested in explaining the strange forces that act upon societies and have made us what we are today should read.

3. The Way Things Work by David Macaulay

I’m stepping back to when I used to work in the library (yes, I’m really a nerd — though I met my wife-to-be there) and on breaks would squirrel this book away quite often to pick through it. It’s classified as a “juvenile reference” book — which usually means it’s for kids, but clever dads will get a kick out of it, too. I should also mention there is an updated version (that likely no longer includes a cut-away drawing of a 5 1/4 inch floppy drive) which I have yet to read. Hmmm…

4. A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking

Just because it’s a classic and you can’t say you’ve read a physics book until you’ve been through this one.

5. The Double Helix by James D. Watson

In high school, my grade twelve biology teacher had a class set of this book that she handed around one day and instructed us to read. That went up like a lead balloon, of course — but I read it. And fifteen years later would easily recommend it as a first-person narrative of the grit behind real research (at least in the 1950s.)

6. The Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan

This is where I plug the “skeptics” side of things. Anything by Sagan is likely to pass muster on a bit of science reading, but if you are looking to get through the classic introduction to critical thought and it’s application to the real world, look no further than this.

7. Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter

Frankly — honestly — I don’t know exactly why I’m recommending this book. It’s insanely dense and difficult to understand. It is abstract and bizarre, blending a pursuit of understanding a blend of mathematics, art, and music through an odd mix of explanation and Lewis-Carroll-esque narrative. And I’ve never got through the whole thing, start to finish. But someday I will. And someday I’d like to have a conversation with someone else who has.

8. Flatterland by Ian Stewart

I know, I know. This is but a mere sequel to the classic “Flatland” and pales in comparison. I picked up Flatterland whilst living out West and (really) read it cover to cover in only a few days. And for some reason my brain still wanders back to the analogies and explanations presented in it whenever I have cause to ponder multi-dimensional physics. (It happens more often than you might imagine.)

9. The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins

Dawkins has sparked a lot of controversy lately, but years before he was the poster-child for the secular counterculture — before I was even born — Dawkins wrote a little book on genetics. From my follow-up reading since, the whole books is full of great ideas, but the most quoted chapter in that book is one where he dives into an analogy of genetics based around the concept of the propagation of information in the human mind. It was a relatively new concept, but essentially marks the introduction of the concept of “memes.”

10. On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin

And finally, the reason for this post. Yes, I’ve read it. One cannot call oneself a University-educated biologist and NOT have read it, understood it, and have seen how it fits so neatly into the living world. It’s one-hundred and fifty years old this month and, no, it’s not a vast left-wing conspiracy. No, it does not diminish the depth and wonder of the universe. And no, it’s not just an “idea” — it’s one of the fundamental tenets of modern biology upon which our understanding of medicine, agriculture, and the interaction of complex ecosystems is based. Just read it.