#though non-fiction books of this sort were ridic expensive to buy when i was a kid esp where i live

[presumenothing]

Out of curiosity, if you could pick your 3 favorite non-fiction books, what would they be and why? (because you've mentioned it in tags once you can count Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman as a +1 to the three if you want haha)

(get to know me!)

[previously on: presume needs a bigger house and also a new bookshelf]

k I’ll admit that my real favs are mostly older books (in terms of when I read them at least) bc sentiment and not having the time/energy to read nonfiction regularly, but here we go:

The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure (originally by Hans Magnus Enzensberger, illus. Rotraut Susanne Berner, trans. Michael Henry Heim)me/math has always been my otp and reading this book did not help. complex mathematical concepts explained in accessible ways with beautiful illustrations to boot? hell yes. this book was my introduction to Fibonacci numbers and infinity and the Klein bottle all the variously magical things about math, which is fairly impressive since I was like 10 when I read it? so yeah 500/10 would recommend

A Short History of Nearly Everything (Bill Bryson)young me was, alas, not very interested in much besides math and science, and this book did a lot to change that, esp in terms of physical geography and also general history of science knowledge. it’s a lengthy book and not always the most interesting, I’ll admit, but 12yo me finished like half of it on a very long bus trip. also I found a hardcover illustrated copy in the public library a while back, so that was awesome

Murderous Maths DON’T MAKE ME CHOOSE A SINGLE ONE I LOVE THIS WHOLE SERIES (Kjartan Poskitt, illus. Philip Reeve)Do You Feel Lucky: The Secrets of Probability was the first book I read in the series, and it spiralled from there. important mathematical concepts explained in ridiculously funny ways with A++ comics to boot? also hell yes. where Number Devil gives a broad glimpses of things, MM goes right into the nitty gritty details while still being engaging, and I think it’s part of the reason why I had much less trouble understanding the concepts when I learned them in school... way down the road. (also I could get lost on their website forever. also also these books are the reason why I read factorials as “bang!” to this day ngl)

+1, thank – Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman (Richard Feynman, obvs)only recent-ish book on this list, but an excellent addition. the book meanders from Feynman’s (frankly ridiculous??) life to his thoughts on more serious matters and back again, and his enthusiasm for all things discovery really shines through the narration

as usual there’s probably others I’ve forgotten, but honourable mentions to: Horrible Science (Nick Arnold, illus. Tony de Saulles), Cooking for Geeks (Jeff Potter), and This Explains Everything (ed. John Brockman)