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19. The Journals of Lewis and Clark by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark (1814)

One of history's most famous tales of exploration began on May 14, 1804, when William Clark and his Corps of Discovery set off from the mouth of the Missouri River, beginning an epic 28-month journey west to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. (Meriwether Lewis joined the group two days later.) The Journals, a meticulous chronicle of their expedition, offer an unprecedented glimpse at unexplored, undeveloped America west of the Mississippi. Lewis, the group's naturalist and astronomer, and Clark, the surveyor, documented new species of wildlife (coyotes, jackrabbits, mule deer, and others), unfamiliar geology, and interactions with native peoples. A complete copy of the Journals and their companion material is heavy reading (the definitive Nebraska edition has 13 volumes), but an abridged version captures all the adventure in a palatably sized package.

20. The Feynman Lectures on Physics by* Richard P. Feynman, Robert B. Leighton, and Matthew Sands (1963)
Not only did physicist Richard Feynman win the 1965 Nobel Prize for his work on quantum electrodynamics, he once played bongos for a San Francisco ballet. The beloved book Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! recounts his raucous adventures, but these undergraduate physics lectures, presented over two years at Caltech in the 1960s, are Feynman's true gift to students at all levels. The first 94 lectures cover a wide swath of basic physics, from Newtonian mechanics to electromagnetism, while the final 21 venture into quantum mechanics. Feynman's characteristic humor and peerless explanations elevate these classroom lessons to enduring classics.

"Feynman, the prankster-genius, appeals no matter what field you're in. It helps to know some basic physics to approach his lectures, but he has such a luminous mind and is so good with metaphor that you can grasp a fair amount about what's going on in modern physics without formal understanding of complex math, up to a point." —psychiatrist Richard A. Friedman, Cornell University

21. Sexual Behavior in the Human Male by Alfred C. Kinsey et al. (1948)

The first of two books known collectively as the Kinsey Report, this treatise became an improbable best seller. With raw, technical descriptions of sexual acts, distilled from thousands of interviews, it documented for the first time what people really do behind closed doors. Many researchers consider the book flawed because of its sampling bias: Most of the men interviewed were young, white, and eager to participate. Nevertheless, the work remains an outstanding model of scientific bravery in the 20th century, with its insistence that sexual acts be described as healthy functions of the human body and that cultural taboos not stand in the way of science.

22. Gorillas in the Mist by Dian Fossey (1983)
In a richly hued portrait of the lives and behavior of African mountain gorillas, Fossey documents her 13 years dwelling in a remote rain forest amid these enigmatic animals. One of a trio of protégés picked by famed anthropologist Louis Leakey to conduct field studies of great apes, Fossey was determined, devoted, and often angry—over the apes' diminishing habitat and especially over the danger they faced from poachers (who may have been responsible for Fossey's 1985 murder). In Gorillas she leaves behind a scientific treasure, one rendered more poignant by her death in the service of these peaceful, intelligent beasts.

23. Under a Lucky Star by Roy Chapman Andrews (1943)

Roy Chapman Andrews made scientific history during the 1920s by leading five motorized expeditions into unexplored reaches of the Gobi desert. He emerged with the equivalent of paleontological gold: more than 350 new species (including the dinosaurs Protoceratops and Velociraptor), the first fossils of Cretaceous mammals, and the first nests of dinosaur eggs. He packed out plenty of wild tales, too, which are woven into this engaging autobiography. Rumors persist that the fedora-wearing, snake-hating, death-defying explorer may have served as the inspiration for Hollywood's Indiana Jones.

24. Micrographia by Robert Hooke (1665)
A revelation in its time, Micrographia exposed the previously hidden microscopic world. Hooke, an early developer of the compound microscope, used his device to peer at the eyes of flies, the stinger on a bee, hairs, bristles, sand particles, seeds, and more, noting every detail with both words and masterful illustrations. The original book is a hefty three pounds, so the digital versions now available are more convenient, but there is something to be said for flipping through a printed copy and discovering, like a hidden treasure, each drawing in its beautiful intricacy. (Available on CD-ROM.)

25. Gaia by James Lovelock (1979)

As an inventor of scientific instruments, James Lovelock may seem an unlikely figure to have launched a New Age, earth-mother environmental movement. Yet that's exactly what he accomplished with Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth. In it Lovelock laid out his daring idea that our planet is a single, self-regulating system, dubbed Gaia, wherein "the entire range of living matter on Earth, from whales to viruses, and from oaks to algae, could be regarded as constituting a single living entity, capable of manipulating the Earth's atmosphere to suit its overall needs." Lovelock has since refined the hypothesis, which many scientists criticized as quasi mystical, and notes that he never implied that Gaia was a sentient being.


—Book reviews by Jennifer Barone, Ann Bausum, Alan Burdick, Kyla Dunn, Kathryn Garfield, Josie Glausiusz, Eric Jaffe, Susan Kruglinski, Stephen Ornes, Corey S. Powell, Sarah Richardson, Jessica Ruvinsky, Kathy A. Svitil, and Anne Wootton.

Honorable Mentions

1. The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud (1900) While Freud's cognitive theories may not have held up to scrutiny, his work continues to have an enormous cultural impact—as evidenced by common use of the term Freudian slip or by any episode of The Sopranos.

2. The Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas (1974) We humans (well, some of us) have accepted Darwin's theory of evolution, yet we still stubbornly place ourselves apart from the rest of nature. In deeply informed and poetic chapters, Thomas argues against that tendency and illustrates the interconnectedness of all life on Earth. Because these were originally freestanding essays, though, the book has a slightly disjointed, repetitive feel.

3. The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James (1902) Founder of one of the first experimental psychology laboratories in the United States, James believed that the only way to evaluate religious beliefs was to test them empirically. Here he explores the primary mystical experiences that give rise to faith.

4. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas S. Kuhn (1962) In this classic, Kuhn argues that long stretches of "normal" scientific inquiry are punctuated by paradigm shifts: revolutions that overthrow the assumptions, values, and methods guiding investigation. By pointing out that intuition or aesthetics can determine which paradigm prevails, Kuhn caused something of a revolution himself.

5. A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking (1988) Dubbed the most widely unread best seller of all time, this book aimed to translate the complex physics of the universe into common language. Unfortunately, Hawking's definition of "common" turns out to be quite advanced.

6. Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond (1997) In a chronicle of human history, Diamond traces the imbalance of power between civilizations to the post–Ice Age era, when certain groups first domesticated plants and animals. This advance, he argues, lead directly to the tools of dominance: writing, government, weaponry, and immunity to deadly germs.

7. The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene (1999) The physicist explores the emerging field of string theory—a branch of physics that attempts to heal the vexing rift between general relativity and quantum mechanics. Problem is, many scientists now argue that string theory may not be a valid field at all.

8. The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes (1986) A beautifully crafted and definitive history examining the personalities and science behind humanity's most destructive weapon.

* Correction: We originally attributed The Feynman Lectures on Physics to Feynman alone. While he did deliver most of the lectures, Leighton and Sands wrote and oversaw creation of the book. Our apologies.

What do you think is the greatest science book of all-time? Cast your vote at our poll.