Reddit reviews The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science

It's an older article, but very good. Natalie Angier is an excellent writer and very sharp.

I recently picked up her newest The Canon. It's very good so far.

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Whirligig-Beautiful-Basics-Science/dp/0547053460/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239744372&sr=1-1

I remember NPR mentioning this book on science friday a couple months ago. I took a cursory glance at it when i happened upon it at barnes and noble one day but neglected to purchase it.

• The Canon by Natalie Angier.
  
  This is a fast-paced, beautifully written, introduction to the sciences- there's a chapter each devoted to scientific theory, probability, measurement, physics, chemistry, evolutionary and molecular biology, geology, and astronomy. It's written entirely for laymen in an engaging way, and from 2007, so the information is quite current.
  
  For instance, from the evolutionary bio chapter:
  > Evolution is neither organized nor farsighted, and you wouldn't want to put it in charge of planning your company's annual board meeting, or even your kid's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. As biologists like to point out, evolution is a tinkerer, an ad-hocker, and a jury-rigger. It works with what it has on hand, not with what it has in mind. Some of its inventions prove elegant, while in others you can see the seams and dried glue.
  
  
• I don't have The Drunkard's Walk by Leonard Mlodinow in front of me, but it's a good introduction to probability, with a bunch of real-world examples, and also good explanations of the theory. It changed the way I think about statistics.