Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the first edition of the UYBFS book club! As much as we like writing about science, we enjoy reading about it, too, especially all the strange and interesting history behind many scientific discoveries that we now take for granted. There are a lot of great books out there, and here Editor David has collected a few of his favorites. Why not add some to your summer reading list? Dazzle your friends with trivia!

The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York – Deborah Blum. A fascinating history of thescience of forensic toxicology in the United States, this book is equal parts crime drama and history of science. Ever wonder about what makes “denatured” alcohol? Would you have guessed it has to do with Prohibition? How did we figure out all that CSI stuff that modern forensic scientists use to determine how someone died? It’s all in here, and it’s super cool.

The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements – Sam Kean. Most people have a general idea of what the Periodic Table looks like, and if you stayed awake in high school chemistry you may remember a few bits of trivia about the different elements on it, but do you know how scientists put together that table in the first place? And just how does someone discover an element? Why do elements have such weird names? Written in an easy style with bite-sized chapters, this book is great for anyone who enjoys trivia, history, and Victorian-era pranks involving spoons.

Silent Spring – Rachel Carson. This is the book that launched the modern environmental movement in the United States, and for good reason – Carson’s writing style is more literary than technical, more contemplative than documentary, and it blurs the line between scientist and artist. Easily the most famous of her four books, in Silent Spring Rachel Carson lays out the evidence for the toxic effects of the pesticide DDT on humans and animals. If you’ve ever sorted recycling, purchased organic fruits, or fretted over litter, then Carson’s passionate call for environmental stewardship will ring true to you.

Smoking Ears and Screaming Teeth: A Celebration of Scientific Eccentricity and Self Experimentation – Trevor Norton. The Victorian doctor Jack Haldane had two rules for his work: “never experiment on an animal if a man will do” and “never ask anyone to do anything you wouldn’t do yourself,” which seem like debatable but plausible rules until you realize that he and his father were experimenting to develop gas masks for World War 1. The title of this book refers to his reported experience after an experiment went a bit worse than he’d been expecting. The Haldanes aren’t the only brave (and occasionally foolish) scientists in this book. It’s a quick read with many hilarious, strange, and downright baffling stories of scientists putting their bodies on the line for their work. Warning: Do not try this at home!

Stiff – Mary Roach. Speaking of bodies, have you ever wondered what happens to you when you die? Not like, souls or anything, but specifically your body – what happens to that thing when you’re not using it anymore? Mary Roach is on the case! And in this book she uncovers the surprising, strange, and downright unusual realities that await our bodies once we’ve breathed our last. Whether you’re destined for a “body farm” for training forensic scientists or unceremoniously smuggled to a medical school for cadaver practice, your body will have a “life” of its own long after you’ve finished with it.

The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood – James Gleick. How do you tell someone you love them? Or anything else for that matter. Whether you’re speaking, typing, writing, or playing the drums, if you’re communicating with someone, you’re trying to convey information. In fact, most of us spend our days absorbing and generating far more information than any humans ever have in the past. But where does that information go? How does it get there? And what’s the best way to send it? James Gleick provides an excellent primer on the field of “information theory” which is the basis for human language, writing, computers, and all of modern life. A brilliant and engaging story of information, and thus the story of human life, love, and language.