Best nonfiction books for general knowledge

[Sandman138]

Patterns in the Mind: Language and Human Nature - Ray Jackendoff

The Literary Mind: The Origins of Thought and Language - Mark Turner

Genetic Programming: On the Programming of Computers by Means of Natural Selection - John Koza

The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World's Most Powerful Company Really Works--and How It's Transforming the American Economy - Charles Fishman

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America - Barbara Ehrenreich

The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World - Alan Greenspan

Anything by Milton Friedman

Anything by H. L. Mencken

 

[redmarvel]

The Money Tree - I don't remember who wrote it though.

 

[EdRyder]

The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World's Most Powerful Company Really Works--and How It's Transforming the American Economy - Charles Fishman

Oooo
I want to hear more on this.I think we need a whole thread dedicated to the evil that is Wal Mart

 

[BAH HUMBBUG!]

Anything by Hunter S. Thompson

 

[SuBe]

 

[Whirlysplat]

Blind Watchmaker: Dawkins
Last three minutes: Paul Davies
Anything by Rushdie
Anything by Feynman
The Bible
A sports almanac

 

[Bubonic]

The Bible.

Best nonfiction books.

 

[Whirlysplat]

Best nonfiction books.

hahahahahaha, you saw what I did there! That might be your opinion and mine, however, many would disagree with both of us.

 

[Bubonic]

hahahahahaha, you saw what I did there! That might be your opinion and mine, however, many would disagree with both of us.

ya, it was funny

I find it more generally offensive to try to pass it off as a work of nonfiction then it is to call it out.
Granted, there is plenty of general knowledge in the bible, basic human mores that were around long before guidebooks for controlling large populations were needed.

 

[SuBe]

ya, it was funny

I find it more generally offensive to try to pass it off as a work of nonfiction then it is to call it out.
Granted, there is plenty of general knowledge in the bible, basic human mores that were around long before guidebooks for controlling large populations were needed.

That, and the New Testament has some facts that History can back up.

 

[Whirlysplat]

ya, it was funny

I find it more generally offensive to try to pass it off as a work of nonfiction then it is to call it out.
Granted, there is plenty of general knowledge in the bible, basic human mores that were around long before guidebooks for controlling large populations were needed.

Probably a good point!

 

[Bubonic]

That, and the New Testament has some facts that History can back up.

Whatever, Jurassic Park has a few facts that history can back up.
Indeed, there were dinosaurs.
Not according to the bible though.

 

[Addendum]

That, and the New Testament has some facts that History can back up.

Except for no evidence of an earthquake during passover in the roman province of Judea during the first century, no evidence of the dead rising from their graves during that same time, and no evidence for the existence of Nazareth before the third century CE, nor was Nazareth included in the list of cities of Galilee by Josephus or the list of towns of Galilee in the Talmud.

 

[Addendum]

But back to the topic of books,

I also recommend A Brief History of Time, The Blind Watchmaker, and the books of the good Dr. Hunter S. Thompson.

Included with those:

The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
Unweaving the Rainbow by Richard Dawkins
Worse than Watergate by John Dean
Conservatives without Conscience by John Dean
Broken Government by John Dean
Homo Politicus by Dana Milbank
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

 

[Franklin Richards]

Cash by Johnny Cash
When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops by George Carlin
The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks

 

[Addendum]

 

[Steve Rogers]

I've gotten more into reading lately, but I haven't done any extensive nonfiction reading. What nonfiction books have you read in your lifes that have given you more insight than others? I really don't have much of a knowledge of nonfiction literature. I'm talking along the lines of Sigmund Freud, Carl Gustav Jung, Friedrich Nietzche, philosophers, poets, etc.

Any recommendations?

A World of Ideas. It was the only book from college I didn't sell back at the end of the semester. It was a collection of writings from/about Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King, Socrates, Jesus, the Buddha, Jung, Freud and a lot of other brilliant thinkers. I highly recommend it. Since it is a college text book, you might be able to find it cheap on line somewhere. Someone told me there is a website where students sell used text books.

 

[04nbod]

I've gotten more into reading lately, but I haven't done any extensive nonfiction reading. What nonfiction books have you read in your lifes that have given you more insight than others? I really don't have much of a knowledge of nonfiction literature. I'm talking along the lines of Sigmund Freud, Carl Gustav Jung, Friedrich Nietzche, philosophers, poets, etc.

Any recommendations?

Macchiavelli- The Prince

 

[BAH HUMBBUG!]

Taoist Yoga: Alchemy & Immortality by Charles Luk and Lu K'uan Yu

The Declaration Of Independence: By Thomas Jefferson

Really read it, I think Thomas Jefferson would be ashamed at what the USA has come to stand for.