Books like The Violinist's Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code
12 books with a reading profile close to The Violinist's Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code by Sam Kean. Outward-looking; a moderate read.
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1
At Home: A Short History of Private Life
by Bill Bryson
Also outward-looking · history, analytical
Bill Bryson uses his 1851 Norfolk rectory as a physical map to trace how the modern domestic world evolved.
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2
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal
Also outward-looking · history, analytical
Eric Schlosser tracks the evolution of the American fast food industry from its roots as localized drive-ins to a global economic force.
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3
How Music Works
by David Byrne
Also outward-looking · history, analytical
David Byrne argues that musical composition is driven by external constraints rather than pure internal inspiration.
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4
The Premonition: A Pandemic Story
Also outward-looking · history, analytical
Michael Lewis chronicles the efforts of a clandestine group of scientists and public health officials who spent years preparing for a viral outbreak before COVID-19 surfaced.
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5
A Short History of Nearly Everything
by Bill Bryson
Also outward-looking · history, analytical
Bill Bryson tracks the development of human understanding from the Big Bang to the arrival of modern civilization.
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6
Nuclear War: A Scenario
Also outward-looking · history, analytical
Annie Jacobsen constructs a minute-by-minute timeline of a fictional nuclear exchange triggered by a North Korean strike on Washington, D.C.
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7
The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World
Also outward-looking · history, analytical
Steve Brusatte traces the evolutionary trajectory of dinosaurs from their emergence as small, peripheral specialists in the Triassic period to their ultimate dominance and sudden extinction.
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8
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
by Erik Larson
Also outward-looking · history, analytical
Erik Larson weaves together the true accounts of two men who shaped Chicago during the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition.
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9
EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS
by John Green
Also outward-looking · history, analytical
John Green tracks the history and persistence of tuberculosis, a bacterial infection that has killed more humans than any other pathogen.
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10
BIOLOGICAL WAR
Also outward-looking · history, analytical
The author of “Nuclear War” describes potential outcomes of biological warfare, including mass death and societal breakdown.
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11
Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith
by Jon Krakauer
Also outward-looking · history, analytical
Jon Krakauer examines the 1984 murders of Brenda Lafferty and her infant daughter, committed by her brothers-in-law, Ron and Dan Lafferty.
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12
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
by David Grann
Also outward-looking · history, analytical
During the 1920s, the Osage Nation in Oklahoma became the wealthiest people per capita in the world after oil was discovered beneath their reservation.
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