Recommended science and maths reads for a geek

[bizzylizzy]

Any science and maths geeks out there. I'm looking for Christmas presents for my husband who is interested in fairly advanced astronomy, astro physics, mathematics .. you get the idea. Has anyone read any recently published science books they can recommend. He's just been reading a book on superstring theory for example.

I'm not looking for simple populist books here, but books that are fairly taxing and requiring a degree of knowledge.

Thanks very much everyone.

[Clanad]

This is a good source for ideas... the comments section are usually populated by knowledgable people...

http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Administ rivia/booklist.html

[bizzylizzy]

Thank you for this. The only problem is, these are 'classic' reads. Because the advances in these subjects are so swift, I was looking for recently published books that he might not have read already. But thank you for taking the time to respond.

[kettledrum]

2 very interesting books that I can recommend - both by Dr Rodney Holder - an ordained C of E priest who writes them from a Christian viewpoint - are;
Nothing but Atoms and Molecules
God, the Multiverse and Everything.

[Buenchico]

My love of mathematics accounts for a couple of sets of letters after my name, so I feel that I'm on 'home territory' here.

The problem with seeking out non-populist books in mathematics (and probably in astronomy and astrophysics as well) is that most developments in mathematics don't fill an entire book. They're usually represented by a short paper, taking no more than a few pages, in a specialist magazine.

If someone was seeking to find a suitable present for me, I hope that they would be looking at something like 'The Art of the Infinite'. Yes, it's fairly populist but it seeks to explore the connection between mathematics and 'real life'. It's a tenner for the paperback or 20 quid for the hardback:
http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0 ,,9780141008868,00.html

However, what I'd really like would be a subscription to 'New Scientist' magazine. �20.50 for 3 months (13 weekly issues) or �82 for a year (51 issues):
http://www.magazine-group.co.uk/magazine-group /categories/general-interest/3547/new-scientis t.thtml

Chris

[Clanad]

Akin to Buenchico's suggestion but related to Astrophysics, I appreciate my copies of Astrophysical Journal... here's a listing of current articles and always on the cutting edge so to speak:

http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/ApJ/journal/c ontents/ApJ/v649n2.html

... and here's the subscription link:

http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/ApJ/subscribe .html

[vehelpfulguy]

A book he may enjoy, as it covers a lot of ground but is also an enjoyable read, is

A short history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Short-History-Nearly-E verything/dp/0552997048/sr=8-2/qid=1164013115/ ref=pd_ka_2/202-6760281-0855802?ie=UTF8&s=book s

Read the review on the Amazon to see if it is appropriate.

Perhaps not as a "main" book but as a stocking filler (or from one of your children if you have any)

[vehelpfulguy]

I just went into Amazon and searched on "superstring" and a load of books were listed.

I found one with this catchy title:

The Equivalence of Elementary Particle Theories and Computer Languages: Quantum Computers, Turing Machines, Standard Model, Superstring Theory, and a Proof That Godel's Theorem Implies Nature Must Be Quantum

[fairkatrina]

If you want to get him a book that recounts the history of every branch of science right to the present day (chemistry, physics, biology, astronomy, geology, archeology etc) you can't get much better than Bill Bryson's 'A Short History of Nearly Everything.'