Good Books
Here are some fun books with a math/science emphasis. Sorry, no novels.
Math Books
The Planiverse by A.K. Dewdney
This is a wonderful book about a hypothetical 2-dimensional universe. It is much better than Flatland by Abbott, because it gives plausible and detailed explanations of 2-dimensional cosmology, physics, chemistry, geology, weather, biology, sociology, art, music, politics, machinery, computers, etc. Unlike flatland, in which the characters are polygons that float around on a plane, the planiverse characters are flesh and blood and live on the circumference of a circular planet which orbits a circular sun. The Planiverse has a fun storyline with a 2-dimensional protagonist.
Infinity and the Mind by Rudy Rucker
This explains the different levels of infinity. It goes way beyond Cantor's levels of infinity, which is where most treatments of infinity stop.
Mathematical Puzzles: A Connoisseur's Collection by Peter Winkler
These puzzles are really intriguing. All the puzzles are simply stated, but the answers are sometimes advanced. For example, "How many figure eights can be drawn on the plane?" The answer, of course, is infinity, but which infinity?
From One to Zero by Georges Ifrah
This is an informative history of number systems from all the world's cultures. It has a lot of diagrams.
The Recursive Universe by William Poundstone
This describes how to build elaborate systems in John Horton Conway's mathematical game called Life. For example, it shows how 13 "gliders" can collide to build a "glider gun" which will then start shooting out a stream of gliders. It goes on to give the basic plan for building a general purpose computer within the game of Life, using streams of gliders to represent streams of bits.
General Science Books
Powers of Ten by Philip and Phylis Morrison and the Office of Charles and Ray Eames
This is an ordered sequence of beautiful pictures and detailed descriptions of things in the universe at all different size scales. It starts with the very large scale in which galaxies appear as dots, and zooms in by factors of ten, zooming right through a picnic in the park, until it ends at the very small scale in which subatomic particles fill the page.
Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology by Isaac Asimov
This contains absorbing summaries of the lives and achievements of the 1000 greatest scientists of all time, in chronological order.
Physics Books
The Flying Circus of Physics by Jearl Walker
This is my favorite book. This is a fantastic collection of hundreds of physics puzzlers, many taken from everyday life. It is full of thought-provoking questions about: superballs, silly putty, tops, and yo-yos; boiling water, dripping faucets, and blowing bubbles; rain, rainbows, snow, lightning, and tornados; bicycles, cars, boats, airplanes, and spaceships; magnets, electricity, radio, and television. It has answers, but it is more fun if you try to figure it out for yourself, and resist looking at the answer right away. Some of these simple questions are so deep that scientists don't know the answers yet. Wonder-full.
Quantum Reality by Nick Herbert
Quantum physics is the most amazing thing in the universe. This is the best book I've seen about quantum physics for the layman. Herbert presents the facts and all the different major philosophical interpretations of the facts.
Biology Books
From the Beginning: The Story of Human Evolution by David Peters
You know we evolved from fish, but did you know which kind of fish? This has detailed drawings and descriptions of all the creatures which are the direct ancestors of humans (or the closest known relative of each ancestor). It traces our descent from single cells to worms, fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, primates, and homonids. Meet your great-great-great-great-grandpapa!
Giants of Land, Sea, & Air — Past & Present by David Peters
This has spectacular color illustrations of the largest animals of all kinds, both living and extinct. All the pictures in the book are drawn to the same scale. There are a lot of animals here which you probably have never seen before, such as Doedicurus, an extinct armadillo-like glyptodont with a 5.5-foot-high shell!
Strange Creatures by David Peters
This is full of amazing color illustrations of the strangest creatures in the world, both living and extinct. There are a lot of animals here which you probably have never seen before, and may not want to see again!
History Books
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond
This sweeping but easy-to-read book attempts to explain the fundamental causes for the overall pattern of the story of civilization. Specifically, it answers the question: What caused Europeans to dominate the world? Why did Africans, Asians, or Native Americans not colonize Europe, instead? This profoundly anti-racist book makes a convincing case that the root cause is the unique geography of the Mediterranean, which produced a natural environment with several plant and animal species suitable for farming.
Art Books
Inversions by Scott Kim
Gorgeous and extremely ingenious symmetrical designs made with words or names which can be read both right-side-up and upside-down or mirror-reversed.