Book Lists

In an effort to share some darn good science books, we've compiled a Quirks Reading List. These are books that we have featured on the program, and whose authors we have interviewed. Whether you're looking for the biology of a dung beetle, the evolution of T. rex or the history of an invention, you'll find it here.

• Watching Giants by Elin Kelsey was featured on our June 27, 2009 episode.
  
  
• Animals Make us Human by Temple Grandin was featured on our February 21, 2009 episode.
  
  
• Fruitless Fall by Rowan Jacobsen was featured on our January 24, 2009 episode.
  
  
• Alex and Me by Irene Pepperberg was featured on our January 10, 2009 episode.
  
  
• Caribou and the North by Justina Ray was featured on our December 20, 2008 episode.
  
  
• Dark Banquet by Bill Schutt was featured on our November 15, 2008 episode.
  
  
• Mean and Lowly Things by Kate Jackson was featured on our September 20, 2008 episode.
  
  
• The Ferocious Summer by Meredith Hooper was featured on our May 10, 2008 episode.
  
  
• Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin appears on our Feb 23, 2008 episode.
  
  
• Baboon Metaphysics by Dorothy Cheney appears on our Dec 22, 2007 episode.
  
  
• Riddled With Life by Marlene Zuk appears on our May 26, 2007 episode.
  
  
• Silence of the Songbirds by Dr. Bridget Stutchbury appears on our April 14, 2007 episode. (Published by HarperCollins, 2007).
  
  
• The Chickens Fight Back: Pandemic Panics and Deadly Diseases that Jump from Animals to Humans by David Waltner-Toews appears on our April 7, 2007 episode. (Published by Greystone Books, 2007).
  
  
• The Elephant's Secret Sense by Caitlin O'Connell appears on our March 17, 2007 episode. (Published by Simon & Schuster, 2007).
  
  
• A Natural History of Families by Scott Forbes appears on our May 13, 2006 episode. (Published by Princeton University Press, 2006).
  
  
• Waiting for the Macaws by Terry Glavin appears on our April 8, 2006 episode. (Published by Penguin Canada, 2006).
  
  
• Headless Males Make Great Lovers and Other Unusual Natural Histories, by Dr. Marty Crump. Published by The University of Chicago Press, 2006. February 18, 2006.
  
  
• Theatre of the Mind: Raising the Curtain on Consiousness, by Jay Ingram. Published by Harper Collins, 2005. November 12, 2005.
  
  
• Teen Brain, Teen Mind: What Parents Need to Know to Survive the Adolescent Years, by Dr. Ron Clavier. Published by Key Porter Books, 2005. March 19, 2005.
  
  
• Mind Hacks: Tips and Tools for Using Your Brain, by Tom Stafford and Matt Webb. Published by O'Reilly, 2004. March 5, 2005.
  
  
• 13 Dreams Freud Never Had: The New Mind Science, by Dr. Alan Hobson. Published by Pi Press, 2004. December 4, 2004.
  
  
• How Dogs Think: Understanding the Canine Mind, by Stanley Coren. Published by Free Press, 2004. October 16, 2004.
  
  
• Eating Apes, by Dale Peterson. Published by University of California Press September 27, 2003.
  
  
• The Path To The Double Helix, by Robert Olby. Published by Dover Publications April 19, 2003.
  
  
• Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation, Olivia Judson: Metropolitan Books. Hardcover 2002. January 18 2003.
  
  
• The Botony of Desire: A Plant's Eye View Of The World, Michael Pollan Publisher: Random House New York, 2001. Paperback 2002. Decemebr 14 2002
  
  
• The Blank Slate, The Modern Denial of Human Nature, Dr. Steven Pinker. Published by Viking/Penguin Books. November 9 2002
  
  
• Travels in the Genetically Modified Zone, Dr. Mark L. Winston. Published by Harvard University Press . September 21 2002
  
  
• The Breast Cancer Wars, Barron Lerner. Published by Oxford University Press. June 8 2002
  
  
• Lords of the Harvest: Biotech, Big Money, and the Future of Food, Dan Charles. Published by Perseus Books. February 16, 2002
  
  
• The Secret Life of Germs, Philip M. Tierno Jr. Published by Pocket Books. January 26, 2002
  
  
• Lichens of North America, Irwin Brodo. Published by Yale University Press. December 15, 2001
  
  
• In the Kingdom of Gorillas, Amy Vedder & Bill Weber. Published by Simon & Schuster. December 8, 2001
  
  
• Iceman, by Dr. Brenda Fowler. Published by The University of Chicago Press. October 6, 2001
  
  
• A Primate's memoir: A Neuroscientist's Unconventional Life Among the Baboons, by Dr. Robert Sapolsky. Published by Scribner and distributed in Canada by Distican. March 24, 2001
  
  
• The Quest for Immortality, by Jay Olshansky & Bruce Carnes. Dr. Olshansky took part in Q&Q on February 24, 2001. The item was called, The Limits to a Longer Life.
  
  
• Cracking the Genome, by Kevin Davies aired February 17, 2001
  
  
• Shots in the Dark: The wayward search for an AIDS vaccine, by Jon Cohen - Mr. Cohen took part in our lead item on February 3, 2001
  
  
• Genome: the autobiography of a species in 23 Chapters, by Matt Ridley. Mr. Ridley came to talk to Q&Q about his book, and about the controversy surrounding the mapping of the human genome on March 25, 2000.
  
  
• Is Menstruation Obsolete?, written by Elsimar M. Coutinho, with Sheldon J. Segal, and published by Oxford University Press raised many eyebrows with its suggestions about female biology. June 24, 2000.
  
  
• The Scientist in the Crib by Dr. Alison Gopnik and published by William Morrow, examines how children learn during the first three years of their lives. We spoke with Dr. Gopnik on January 15, 2000.
  
  

• Rocketeers by Michael Belfiore January 12, 2008.
  
  
• Measuring Mother Earth: How Joe the Kid became Tyrrell of the North. by Heather Robertson. December 15, 2007.
  
  
• Francis Crick: Discoverer of the Genetic Code by Matt Ridley. Published by HarperCollins, 2006. November 11, 2006.
  
  
• King of Infinite Space: Donald Coxeter, the Man Who Saved Geometry by Siobhan Roberts. Published by Anansi Press, 2006. November 4, 2006.
  
  
• Broken Genius: The Rise and Fall of William Shockley by Joel Shurkin. Published by Macmillan, 2006. June 24, 2006.
  
  
• First Man: The Life of Neil Armstrong by Dr. James R. Hansen. Published by Simon and Schuster, 2005. December 17, 2005.
  
  
• The Lunar Men: Five Friends Whose Curiosity Changed the World by Jenny Uglow . Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002. December 20, 2003.
  
  
• Newton: The Making of Genius by Dr. Patricia Fara. Published by Columbia University Press, 2002. March 8, 2003.
  
  
• Rosalind Franklin - The Dark Lady Of DNA by Brenda Maddox. Published by Harper Collins. April 19, 2003.
  
  
• Watson and DNA by Victor K. McElheny. Published by Perseus Publishing. April 19, 2003.
  
  
• Possessing Genius: The Bizarre Odyssey of Einstein's Brain by Carolyn Abraham. Published by Viking and distributed by Penguin Books. December 15, 2001.
  
  
• The Coldest March: Scott's Fatal Antarctic Expedition by Susan Solomon. Published by Yale University Press. December 15, 2001.
  
  

• Einstein's Telescope by Evalyn Gates. March 14, 2009.
  
  
• Physics for Future Presidents by Richard Muller. January 17, 2009.
  
  
• In Search of Time by Dan Falk. October 25, 2008.
  
  
• Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku. March 22, 2008.
  
  
• Postcards from Mars by Dr. Jim Bell. Published by Dutton Press, 2006. December 16, 2006.
  
  
• Too Far From Home by Chris Jones. Published by Anansi Press, 2007. May 5, 2007.
  
  
• The Trouble With Physics by Dr. Lee Smolin. Published by Houghton Mifflin Books, 2006. September 23, 2006.
  
  
• The Quantum Zoo: A Tourist's Guide to the Neverending Universe by Marcus Chown. Published by The National Academies Press, 2006. June 17, 2006.
  
  
• Programming the Universe by Dr. Seth Lloyd. Published by Random House, 2006. April 22, 2006.
  
  
• Warped Passages by Dr. Lisa Randall. Published by Harper Collins, 2005. November 5, 2005.
  
  
• Touch the Sun by Noreen Grice. Published by National Academies Press, 2005. February 5, 2005.
  
  
• Big Bang by Dr. Simon Singh. Published by Harper Collins, 2004. January 29, 2005.
  
  
• Einstein's Cosmos by Michio Kaku. January 8, 2005.
  
  
• The Einstein Almanac by Alice Calaprice. January 8, 2005.
  
  
• A Traveler's guide to Mars: The Mysterious Landscapes of the Red Planet by Dr. William K. Hartmann. Published by Workman Publishing, 2003. February 07, 2004.
  
  
• Where is Everybody? Fifty Solutions to the Fermi Paradox and the Problem of Extraterrestrial Life by Dr. Stephen Webb. Published by Springer-Verlag New York, Incorporated, 2003. December 20, 2003.
  
  
• The Extravagant Universe by Dr. Robert P. Kirshner. Published by Princeton University Press. June 28, 2003.
  
  
• Entanglement by Dr. Amir Aczel. Published by Rain Coast Books. December 14, 2002.
  
  
• Universe On A T-Shirt by Dan Falk, published by Penguin. October 26, 2002.
  
  
• A New Kind Of Science by Stephen Wolfram, published by Stephen Wolfram. September 28, 2002.
  
  
• The Riddle of the Compass by Amir Aczel, published by Harcourt Books. November 24, 2001.
  
  
• Off the Planet by Jerry Linenger and Dragonfly by Bryan Burrough. Both authors took part in our February 10, 2001 item, The Miracle of Mir.
  
  
• The Elegant Universe by Dr. Brian Greene, published by W.W. Norton.
  Dr. Greene is a professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University in New York, and he spent ten years working on the unified theory of superstrings, presented in this book. We spoke with Dr. Greene on November 4, 2000.
  
  
• The Sun in the Church by Dr. John Heilbron, published by Harvard University Press.
  The Sun in the Church claims the Roman Catholic Church gave more financial and social support to the study of astronomy - than all other institutions of the time. The author also claims the great cathedrals of Europe were actually some of the world’s most sophisticated solar observatories. We spoke with Dr. Heilbron on April 22, 2000.
  
  
• Rare Earth, written by two American scientists, paleontolgist Peter Ward and astronomer Donald Brownlee, and published by Copernicus, challenges the notion that there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. We spoke with Ward and Brownlee on Q&Q on March 11, 2000.
  
  
• The Code Book by Simon Singh. Published by Doubleday.
  As long as people have had secrets there have been people trying to uncover them. Which has lead to more and more complex ways of hiding messages. Today we call this cryptography. Singh's book, looks at the history of the science, from early work to modern computers. There's an interview with the author on the December 18, 1999 Book Show.
  
  

• The Big Thaw by Ed Struzik was featured on our June 27, 2009 episode.
  
  
• Heatstroke by Anthony Barnosky was featured on our May 16, 2009 episode.
  
  
• Keeping Our Cool by Andrew Weaver was featured on our September 13, 2008 episode.
  
  
• The Geography of Hope by Chris Turner was featured on our June 21, 2008 episode.
  
  
• The Hot Topic by David King & Gabrielle Walker was featured on our April 26, 2008 episode.
  
  
• The Great Warming by Brian Fagan appears on our March 1, 2008 episode.
  
  
• The Last Wild Wolves: Ghosts of the Great Bear Rainforest by Ian McAllister appears on our December 15, 2007 episode.
  
  
• The Unnatural History of the Sea by Callum Roberts appears on our Oct. 20, 2007 episode.
  
  
• Hot Air by Mark Jaccard appears on our Sept. 29, 2007 episode.
  
  
• The World Without Us by Alan Weisman appears on our Sept. 8, 2007 episode.
  
  
• Storm World by Chris Mooney appears on our June 23, 2007 episode.
  
  
• The Weather Makers: How We Are Changing the Climate and What it Means for Life on Earth by Dr. Tim Flannery appears on our March 25, 2006 episode.
  
  
• Sustainable Fossil Fuels: The Unusual Suspect in the Quest for Clean and Enduring Energy by Dr. Mark Jaccard appears on our March 4, 2006 episode. (Published by Cambridge University Press, 2005).
  
  
• Tree: A Life Story by David Suzuki and Wayne Grady appears on our December 4, 2004 episode. (Published by Douglas & McIntyre).
  
  
• Boiling Point: Who’s to Blame for Global Warming? by Ross Gelbspan appears on our October 23, 2004 episode. (Published by The Perseus Book Group).
  
  
• Power to the People, How the Coming Energy Revolution Will Transform an Industry, Change our Lives and Maybe Even Save the Planet by Vijay Vaitheeswaran appears on our March 13, 2004 episode. (Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux).
  
  
• Out of Gas: The End of the Age of Oil by Dr. David Goodstein appears on our March 13, 2004 episode. (Published by W.W. Norton & Company).
  
  
• When Smoke Ran Like Water by Dr. Devra Davis appears on our November 23, 2002 episode. (Published by Basic Books).
  
  
• Good News for a Change by David Suzuki appears on our April 06, 2002 episode. (Published by Stoddart Publishing).
  
  
• The Future Of Life by E.O. Wilson appears on our March 16, 2002 episode. (Published by Knopf Canada).
  
  
• The Skeptical Environmentalist by Dr. Bjorn Lomborg. Dr. Lomborg appears on ourSeptember 29, 2001 episode (Published by Cambridge University Press)
  
  
• The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History by Dr. Brian Fagan Dr. Fagan came to Q&Q to talk about the book on January 27, 2001 (Published by Basic Books)
  
  

• Darwin's Island by Steve Jones, February 7, 2009 show.
  
  
• The Reluctant Mr. Darwin by David Quammen, February 7, 2009 show.
  
  
• What Bugged the Dinosaurs? by George Poinar, April 12, 2008 show.
  
  
• Evolution For Everyone by David Sloan Wilson, June 23, 2007 show.
  
  
• Out of Thin Air by Dr. Peter Ward, 2006, published by Joseph Henry Press December 16, 2006 show.
  
  
• Our Inner Ape by Frans de Waal, 2005 December 17, 2005 show.
  
  
• The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Life by Richard Dawkins, Published by McArthur & Company, 2004 December 4, 2004 show.
  
  
• The Urban Cliff Revolution: New Findings on the Origins and Evolution of Human Habitats by Dr. Doug Larson et al., Published by Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2004 September 25, 2004 show.
  
  
• Upright: The Evolutionary Key to Becoming Human by Dr. Craig Stanford, Published by Houghton Mifflin, 2003 February 28, 2004 show.
  
  
• Life's Solution: Inevitable Humans in a Lonely Universe by Dr. Simon Conway Morris, Published by Cambridge University Press, 2003 December 20, 2003 show.
  
  
• Nature Via Nurture by Matt Ridley, Publisher: Harper Collins, 2003 May 10, 2003 show.
  
  
• The Journey of Man: Our Genetic Odyssey by Spencer Wells, Publisher: University Press, 2003 May 03, 2003 show.
  
  
• Parasite Rex. by Carl Zimmer Publisher: Simon and Schuster, 2000. Touchstone Paperback 2001. December 16, 2000 show.
  
  
• Mapping Human History. by Steve Olson Publisher: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. Available in paperback by May 2003.December 14, 2002 show.
  
  

• Becoming Batman by Paul Zehr. December 20, 2008.
  
  
• Where's My Jetpack? by Daniel Wilson. June 23, 2007.
  
  
• The Science of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Michael Hanlon. Featured on our May 7, 2005 show.
  
  
• The Science of Harry Potter: How Magic Really Works, by Dr. Roger Highfield. Featured on our December 14, 2002 show.
  
  
• Under The Ice, by Dr. Kathy Conlan. Publisher: Kids Can Press. Featured on our December 14, 2002 show.
  

• How to Build a Dinosaur by Jack Horner. June 27, 2009.
  
  
• Ghost Mountains and Vanished Oceans by Ron Clowes. May 30, 2009.
  
  
• Embracing the Wide Sky by Daniel Tammet. April 4, 2009.
  
  
• Imagining Head-Smashed-In by Jack Brink. December 20, 2008.
  
  
• Kluge by Gary Marcus. April 19, 2008.
  
  
• Shock Therapy by Edward Shorter. March 8, 2008.
  
  
• Mistakes Were Made (but not by me) by Carol Tavris. January 19, 2008.
  
  
• Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes. November 17, 2007.
  
  
• A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines by Dr. Janna Levin, published by Knopf Canada, 2006. December 16, 2006.
  
  
• This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Dr. Daniel Levitin, published by Dutton Adult, 2006. December 9, 2006.
  
  
• Struck by Lightening: The Curious World of Probabilities by Dr. Jeffrey Rosenthal, published by Harper Collins Canada, 2005. December 17, 2005.
  
  
• The Drug Trial, by Dr. Miriam Shuchman. Published by Random House, 2005. May 28, 2005.
  
  
• Cold Dark Matter by Alex Brett, published by Dundurn Press, 2005. May 21, 2005.
  
  
• Electric Universe: The Shocking True Story of Electricity by David Bodanis, published by The Crown Publishing Group, 2005. April 23, 2005.
  
  
• The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less by Dr. Barry Schwartz, published by HarperCollins, 2003. May 1, 2004.
  
  
• The Essential Difference by Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen, published by Basic Books. November 15, 2003.
  
  
• The Politics of Excellence: Behind the Nobel Prize in Science by Robert Marc Friedman, published by W. H. Freeman & Company. October 11, 2003.
  
  
• Lost World by Tom Koppel published by Atria Books. September 20, 2003.
  
  
• Krakatoa by Simon Winchester published by Harper Collins. June 28, 2003.
  
  
• Lost Discoveries - The Ancient Roots of Modern Science by Dick Teresi Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2002 . April 26, 2002.
  
  
• Science, Money, and Politics: Political Triumph and Ethical Erosion by Daniel S. Greenberg Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 2001. December 14, 2002.
  
  
• Unweaving the Rainbow:Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder by Richard Dawkins. Published by Houghton Mifflin Co.
  
  
• What Remains to be Discovered: Mapping the Secrets of the Universe, the Origins of Life and the Future of the Human Race, by John Maddox and published by the Free Press.
  
  
• A Brief History of Science edited by John Gribbin and published by Key Porter Books, 1998.