Books like The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America’s Favorite Planet
12 books with a reading profile close to The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America’s Favorite Planet by Neil deGrasse Tyson. Outward-looking and clear-cut; a moderate read.
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1
One Summer: America, 1927
by Bill Bryson
Also outward-looking and clear-cut · history, accessible
Bill Bryson chronicles the rapid cultural and technological shifts in American life during five months in 1927.
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2
Chaos: Making a New Science
by James Gleick
Also outward-looking · history, data driven
James Gleick chronicles the emergence of a new physics centered on non-linear systems and unpredictable behavior.
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3
Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest
Also outward-looking and clear-cut · history, accessible
Stephen E.
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4
The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War
by Erik Larson
Also outward-looking and clear-cut · history, accessible
Erik Larson chronicles the five months between Abraham Lincoln’s election and the surrender of Fort Sumter.
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5
The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements
by Sam Kean
Also outward-looking and clear-cut · history, accessible
Sam Kean organizes the history of the world through the chemical elements, moving beyond the sterile rows of the periodic table to reveal the human chaos behind scientific discovery.
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6
Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void
by Mary Roach
Also outward-looking and clear-cut · data driven, accessible
Mary Roach investigates the uncomfortable physical realities of long-duration spaceflight by focusing on the terrestrial laboratories where scientists simulate extraterrestrial life.
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7
D-Day, June 6, 1944: The Battle for the Normandy Beaches
Also outward-looking and clear-cut · history, accessible
Stephen Ambrose reconstructs the Allied invasion of France through hundreds of oral histories from the men who fought on the ground.
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8
The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History
Also outward-looking and clear-cut · history, accessible
Robert M.
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9
Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture
by Ross King
Also outward-looking and clear-cut · history, accessible
In 1418, the architects of Florence faced a structural crisis: the massive central opening of the Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral remained uncovered, as no known building method could support a dome of such scale withou…
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10
Lost in Shangri-la: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II
Also outward-looking and clear-cut · history, accessible
In 1945, a transport plane nicknamed the Gremlin Special crashed into a remote valley in Dutch New Guinea, leaving only three survivors: WAC corporal Margaret Hastings, Sergeant Kenneth Decker, and Lieutenant John McCol…
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11
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex
Also outward-looking and clear-cut · history, accessible
In the winter of 1820, a massive sperm whale repeatedly rammed and sank the whaleship Essex in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
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12
Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History
by Erik Larson
Also outward-looking and clear-cut · history, accessible
Erik Larson reconstructs the 1900 hurricane that leveled Galveston, Texas, focusing on meteorologist Isaac Cline and the technical failings of the fledgling U.S.
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