Love Life Unfolding? Readers share 100 books like Life Unfolding...

By Jamie A. Davies,

Here are 100 books that Life Unfolding fans have personally recommended if you like Life Unfolding. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of The Brain: The Story of You

W. A. Harris Author Of Zero to Birth: How the Human Brain Is Built

From my list on the evolution and development of the brain.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have wondered about what goes on in the brains of animals and people since I was a youth. My research career began by studying how some genes affect behavior. Little surprise, it turns out, that many such ā€œbehavioralā€ genes influence the way the brain is built. So, I began to study brain development using embryos from a variety of experimental laboratory animals and developed a university course on this topic. When I retired, I decided to share what I learned. The other books on this list are great examples of readable books that would likely be exciting to anyone else interested in the story of how the human brain is built.

W.'s book list on the evolution and development of the brain

W. A. Harris Why did W. love this book?

This book picks up brilliantly from where Zero to Birth leaves off. Itā€™s the story of how the brain encodes the reality of the world outside the womb, how our experiences change the brain, and how we acquire knowledge, skills, and sociability.

I found this book to be extremely readable. Itā€™s full of fascinating and illustrative examples of how the human brain continues to change to function effectively in the real world. 

By David Eagleman,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked The Brain as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'This is the story of how your life shapes your brain, and how your brain shapes your life.'

Join renowned neuroscientist David Eagleman on a whistle-stop tour of the inner cosmos. It's a journey that will take you into the world of extreme sports, criminal justice, genocide, brain surgery, robotics and the search for immortality. On the way, amidst the infinitely dense tangle of brain cells and their trillions of connections, something emerges that you might not have expected to see: you.


Book cover of The Idea of the Brain: The Past and Future of Neuroscience

W. A. Harris Author Of Zero to Birth: How the Human Brain Is Built

From my list on the evolution and development of the brain.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have wondered about what goes on in the brains of animals and people since I was a youth. My research career began by studying how some genes affect behavior. Little surprise, it turns out, that many such ā€œbehavioralā€ genes influence the way the brain is built. So, I began to study brain development using embryos from a variety of experimental laboratory animals and developed a university course on this topic. When I retired, I decided to share what I learned. The other books on this list are great examples of readable books that would likely be exciting to anyone else interested in the story of how the human brain is built.

W.'s book list on the evolution and development of the brain

W. A. Harris Why did W. love this book?

Not only does this book provide an up-to-date account of where science is at in terms of our basic understanding of how the brain works, but it also succeeds in putting this knowledge into a compelling history of basic discoveries. I really enjoyed this aspect of Cobb's book and tried to incorporate it into my book. 

So, I found it to be an excellent introduction to neuroscience and a great book about the process of how science progresses in jumps. It engenders real excitement in this still very lively field of study and celebrates the key advances in our conceptual understanding of the brain.

By Matthew Cobb,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked The Idea of the Brain as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Shortlisted for the 2020 Baillie Gifford Prize

A New Statesman Book of the Year

This is the story of our quest to understand the most mysterious object in the universe: the human brain.

Today we tend to picture it as a computer. Earlier scientists thought about it in their own technological terms: as a telephone switchboard, or a clock, or all manner of fantastic mechanical or hydraulic devices. Could the right metaphor unlock the its deepest secrets once and for all?

Galloping through centuries of wild speculation and ingenious, sometimes macabre anatomical investigations, scientist and historian Matthew Cobb reveals howā€¦


Book cover of The Vital Question: Energy, Evolution, and the Origins of Complex Life

Graham Shields Author Of Born of Ice and Fire: How Glaciers and Volcanoes (with a Pinch of Salt) Drove Animal Evolution

From my list on science in action written by scientists.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a scientist who has worked at the coal face of the debate around the origin of animals and ā€˜Snowball Earthā€™ his entire career, using a combination of experimental and descriptive science. Over three decades, I have witnessed first-hand how careful attention to detail in study after study has removed doubt from once provocative, even crazy, ideas that are now widely accepted. I love reading popular science from the perspective of the hands-on scientist who has witnessed the debate first-hand and contributed to received knowledge by conceiving new experiments, amassing data, and, more than often, in entirely unexpected ways through sheer curiosity.

Graham's book list on science in action written by scientists

Graham Shields Why did Graham love this book?

I cherish this book as I can dip into any part of it and will always learn something new.

I have always been fascinated by the origin of things, and there is nothing more fundamental than the origin of life itself. Nick Lane is on the front line of such research and brings a lot to bear down on this question, from his own laboratory experiments to theoretical biochemistry, all without a hint of condescension. Nick wants to take the reader with him on a personal journey to discover why we are here, and this is a journey I wouldnā€™t miss for the world.

By Nick Lane,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked The Vital Question as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Earth teems with life: in its oceans, forests, skies and cities. Yet there's a black hole at the heart of biology. We do not know why complex life is the way it is, or, for that matter, how life first began. In The Vital Question, award-winning author and biochemist Nick Lane radically reframes evolutionary history, putting forward a solution to conundrums that have puzzled generations of scientists.

For two and a half billion years, from the very origins of life, single-celled organisms such as bacteria evolved without changing their basic form. Then, on just one occasion in four billionā€¦


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Book cover of Tap Dancing on Everest: A Young Doctor's Unlikely Adventure

Tap Dancing on Everest by Mimi Zieman,

Tap Dancing on Everest, part coming-of-age memoir, part true-survival adventure story, is about a young medical student, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor raised in N.Y.C., who battles self-doubt to serve as the doctorā€”and only womanā€”on a remote Everest climb in Tibet.

The team attempts a new route upā€¦

Book cover of This Explains Everything: Deep, Beautiful, and Elegant Theories of How the World Works

Geoffrey A. Moore Author Of The Infinite Staircase: What the Universe Tells Us About Life, Ethics, and Mortality

From my list on engineers who want to take a break and think big.

Why am I passionate about this?

As any software developer knows, architecture matters. This applies to metaphysics as much as it does to physics. Traditional metaphysics, based on sacred texts that are thousands of years old, is burdened with a considerable amount of tech debt. My goal was to refresh the topic by presenting a metaphysics of entropy, followed by a metaphysics of Darwinism, followed by a metaphysics of memes. The ground covered is the sameā€”how did we get from the dawn of creation to the present dayā€”but the path through the territory is modern, not ancient. I have sought to show that this pathway is fully supportive of traditional ethics, the values we have cherished for thousands of years.  

Geoffrey's book list on engineers who want to take a break and think big

Geoffrey A. Moore Why did Geoffrey love this book?

Brockman has collected a portfolio of big ideas that warrant profound explanations, and each one provides an intellectual journey that both teaches and delights. 

The reader is continually reminded that depth, beauty, and elegance play the same role in theories as they do in software architecture. They signal quality, reliability, and sustainability. 

By John Brockman,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked This Explains Everything as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In This Explains Everything, John Brockman, founder and publisher of Edge.org, asked experts in numerous fields and disciplines to come up with their favorite explanations for everyday occurrences. Why do we recognize patterns? Is there such a thing as positive stress? Are we genetically programmed to be in conflict with each other? Those are just some of the 150 questions that the world's best scientific minds answer with elegant simplicity. With contributions from Jared Diamond, Richard Dawkins, Nassim Taleb, Brian Eno, Steven Pinker, and more, everything is explained in fun, uncomplicated terms that make the most complex concepts easy toā€¦


Book cover of Life's Ratchet: How Molecular Machines Extract Order from Chaos

Geoffrey A. Moore Author Of The Infinite Staircase: What the Universe Tells Us About Life, Ethics, and Mortality

From my list on engineers who want to take a break and think big.

Why am I passionate about this?

As any software developer knows, architecture matters. This applies to metaphysics as much as it does to physics. Traditional metaphysics, based on sacred texts that are thousands of years old, is burdened with a considerable amount of tech debt. My goal was to refresh the topic by presenting a metaphysics of entropy, followed by a metaphysics of Darwinism, followed by a metaphysics of memes. The ground covered is the sameā€”how did we get from the dawn of creation to the present dayā€”but the path through the territory is modern, not ancient. I have sought to show that this pathway is fully supportive of traditional ethics, the values we have cherished for thousands of years.  

Geoffrey's book list on engineers who want to take a break and think big

Geoffrey A. Moore Why did Geoffrey love this book?

The essence of complexity is to extract new capabilities from existing subsystems to generate outcomes that emerge from their interactions. The ratchet principle is core to all innovation at scale.

Essentially, all systems are built upon the underpinning of prior systems, which is why you can still find business processes coded in Assembler running on mainframes.

By Peter Hoffmann,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Life's Ratchet as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Life is an enduring mystery. Yet, science tells us that living beings are merely sophisticated structures of lifeless molecules. If this view is correct, where do the seemingly purposeful motions of cells and organisms originate? In Life's Ratchet , physicist Peter M. Hoffmann locates the answer to this age-old question at the nanoscale.Below the calm, ordered exterior of a living organism lies microscopic chaos, or what Hoffmann calls the molecular storm,specialized molecules immersed in a whirlwind of colliding water molecules. Our cells are filled with molecular machines, which, like tiny ratchets, transform random motion into ordered activity, and create theā€¦


Book cover of Endless Forms Most Beautiful: The New Science of Evo Devo

W. A. Harris Author Of Zero to Birth: How the Human Brain Is Built

From my list on the evolution and development of the brain.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have wondered about what goes on in the brains of animals and people since I was a youth. My research career began by studying how some genes affect behavior. Little surprise, it turns out, that many such ā€œbehavioralā€ genes influence the way the brain is built. So, I began to study brain development using embryos from a variety of experimental laboratory animals and developed a university course on this topic. When I retired, I decided to share what I learned. The other books on this list are great examples of readable books that would likely be exciting to anyone else interested in the story of how the human brain is built.

W.'s book list on the evolution and development of the brain

W. A. Harris Why did W. love this book?

This is a wonderful book by one of the great pioneers of Evo-Devo. The title comes from the last lines of Darwinā€™s classic Origin of the Species, and the book fittingly illustrates how the theory of evolution is related to the development of plants and animals. 

The lessons in this book are fundamental to my appreciation of biology and provide excellent context to the evo-devo stories in my book.

By Sean B. Carroll,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Endless Forms Most Beautiful as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

For over a century, opening the black box of embryonic development was the holy grail of biology. Evo Devo-Evolutionary Developmental Biology-is the new science that has finally cracked open the box. Within the pages of his rich and riveting book, Sean B. Carroll explains how we are discovering that complex life is ironically much simpler than anyone ever expected.


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Book cover of From One Cell: A Journey into Life's Origins and the Future of Medicine

From One Cell by Ben Stanger,

Everybody knows that all animalsā€”bats, bears, sharks, ponies, and peopleā€”start out as a single cell: the fertilized egg. But how does something no bigger than the period at the end of this sentence give rise to the remarkable complexity of each of these creatures?

FROM ONE CELL is a diveā€¦

Book cover of Principles of Brain Evolution

W. A. Harris Author Of Zero to Birth: How the Human Brain Is Built

From my list on the evolution and development of the brain.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have wondered about what goes on in the brains of animals and people since I was a youth. My research career began by studying how some genes affect behavior. Little surprise, it turns out, that many such ā€œbehavioralā€ genes influence the way the brain is built. So, I began to study brain development using embryos from a variety of experimental laboratory animals and developed a university course on this topic. When I retired, I decided to share what I learned. The other books on this list are great examples of readable books that would likely be exciting to anyone else interested in the story of how the human brain is built.

W.'s book list on the evolution and development of the brain

W. A. Harris Why did W. love this book?

This is a truly excellent book on brain evolution, mostly from the vertebrate and mammalian perspective.  It is quite academic, though I found it much easier to read than most university-level textbooks. The flow is logical, and it covers a huge range of issues from a conceptual point of view.

I really enjoyed learning about how different animals evolved to possess different mental skills and capacities and how these abilities are linked to particular structures in the brain, such as the cerebral cortex. 

By Georg F. Striedter,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Principles of Brain Evolution as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Brain Evolution is a complex weave of species similarities and differences, bound by diverse rules or principles. This book is a detailed examination of these principles, using data from a wide array of vertebrates but minimizing technical details and terminology. It is written for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and more senior scientists who already know something about 'the brain,' but want a deeper understanding of how diverse brains evolved.
The book opens with a brief history of evolutionary neuroscience, then introduces the various groups of vertebrates and their major brain regions. The core of the text explores: what aspects ofā€¦


Book cover of Stem Cells: Scientific Facts and Fiction

Jonathan Slack Author Of Stem Cells: A Very Short Introduction

From my list on stem cells from a scientist who studies them.

Why am I passionate about this?

I spent my career in developmental biology: the science of how embryos develop. My main discovery was the discovery of one of the signals that controls development, called the fibroblast growth factor. Stem cell biology grew up on the basis of previous discoveries in developmental biology, and now, every day, people around the world use fibroblast growth factor among other substances to control the development of their stem cells. From 2007-2012 I was Director of the Stem Cell Institute at the University of Minnesota, so I got a good inside view of the whole field.

Jonathan's book list on stem cells from a scientist who studies them

Jonathan Slack Why did Jonathan love this book?

This is a beautiful book written by a great team from Utrecht in the Netherlands. It starts with a potted introduction to cell and developmental biology. I like this because, as a developmental biologist myself, I know that it is the basic science underpinning stem cell biology. It explains embryonic stem cells and cloning. Before covering transplantation therapy it explains about immune rejection of grafts and how this is dealt with. Unlike most books on stem cells, it covers non-therapeutic applications such as the study of human development or the use of stem cell-derived cells for safety testing of drugs.

The first and second editions had fabulous colour pictures all the way through. Sadly the 3rd edition has been downgraded to black and white.

By Christine L. Mummery, Anja Van de Stolpe, Bernard Roelen , Hans Clevers

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Stem Cells as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Stem Cells: Scientific Facts and Fiction, Third Edition, provides a state-of-the-art overview on the field of stem cells and their current applications. The book incorporates the history and firsthand commentaries in the field from clinical and research leaders, covering interesting topics of note, including the first clinical trials to treat Parkinson disease, macular degeneration, and corneal replacement, the cloning of monkeys, the organoid field, and CRISPR-edited genomics. In addition, coverage of adult, embryonic stem cells and iPS cells is included. This new edition distinguishes itself from the multiplicity of websites about stem cells with a broad view of the field.


Book cover of Where Song Began: Australia's Birds and How They Changed the World

Benjamin Oldroyd Author Of Beyond DNA: How Epigenetics is Transforming our Understanding of Evolution

From my list on popular science books on biological evolution.

Why am I passionate about this?

I first read Richard Dawkinsā€™ The Selfish Gene in 1980. It blew me away and precipitated my transformation from bee breeder into evolutionary geneticist. Later, I realised almost all evolutionary biologists of my generation were similarly drawn to their careers by Dawkinsā€™ book. Why? People like Dawkins have the astonishing ability to transform complex theories into engaging narratives, to ferret out weird and wonderful examples from nature, and to exploit them for their explanatory power. My "best books" all have this in common. Big ideas about evolution and genetics illustrated by examples. I think they are the best kind of ā€˜pop scienceā€™ in that they are written for lay people, yet they inspire professionals.

Benjamin's book list on popular science books on biological evolution

Benjamin Oldroyd Why did Benjamin love this book?

Quick, whatā€™s the most melodious sound in the English countryside? Is it the nightingale or the skylark, perhaps? Maybe the coo-coo?

Songbirds are quintessentially northern hemisphere species, and their songs permeate literature, not just in Europe but also in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Of course, birds evolved in the global north. Right? Wrong! Low argues that songbirds, parrots, and pigeons first evolved in Australia and have spread out across the world.

Itā€™s a controversial view, but as a proud Aussie, Iā€™m happy to believe it. Even if itā€™s wrong, Low writes about birds with a passion that only the truly obsessed can pull off. If you love birds, youā€™ll love this book.

By Tim Low,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Where Song Began as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An authoritative and entertaining exploration of Australia's distinctive birds and their unheralded role in global evolution

Renowned for its gallery of unusual mammals, Australia is also a land of extraordinary birds. But unlike the mammals, the birds of Australia flew beyond the continent's boundaries and around the globe many millions of years ago. This eye-opening book tells the dynamic but little-known story of how Australia provided the world with songbirds and parrots, among other bird groups, why Australian birds wield surprising ecological power, how Australia became a major evolutionary center, and why scientific biases have hindered recognition of these discoveries.ā€¦


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Book cover of The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever

The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier,

The coaching book that's for all of us, not just coaches.

It's the best-selling book on coaching this century, with 15k+ online reviews. BrenƩ Brown calls it "a classic". Dan Pink said it was "essential".

It is practical, funny, and short, and "unweirds" coaching. Whether you're a parent, a teacher,ā€¦

Book cover of The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology

Nicholas Maes Author Of Laughing Wolf

From my list on to understand (and survive) modernity.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a classicist (Greek and Latin) and a serious student of history. Modernity has obsessed me for the last 10 years, how it unfolds, what its implications are, whether it generates more gains than losses, whether itā€™s changing us profoundly and whether we can dodge it or not. Because of this interest (which I lecture on often) I am fascinated to see modernityā€™s gleanings in earlier times and always curious to see what other critics make of it. Because its effects will only grow down the road, the task of understanding its mechanisms and outcomes is one of extreme urgency, as these books illustrate in different ways.

Nicholas' book list on to understand (and survive) modernity

Nicholas Maes Why did Nicholas love this book?

This book is one of the nuttiest Iā€™ve read in its imaginings of a modern world on steroids. The part that teases most is that its predictions might come true.

I know our smartphones and laptops have changed our world, but cures that would extend longevity ad infinitum? Neural interfaces that would connect us directly to the internet? Nanobots that would reduce the cost of goods to zero?

Because the topic of modernity has come to engross me so, the big question always is, ā€œHow far will it carry us?ā€ The answer to which (according to Kurzweil) is much farther than you can possibly imagine and much sooner than you think. One should have oneā€™s mind blown every couple of years, and Kurzweil does exactly that.

By Ray Kurzweil,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked The Singularity Is Near as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Startling in scope and bravado." -Janet Maslin, The New York Times

"Artfully envisions a breathtakingly better world." -Los Angeles Times

"Elaborate, smart and persuasive." -The Boston Globe

"A pleasure to read." -The Wall Street Journal

One of CBS News's Best Fall Books of 2005 * Among St Louis Post-Dispatch's Best Nonfiction Books of 2005 * One of Amazon.com's Best Science Books of 2005

A radical and optimistic view of the future course of human development from the bestselling author of How to Create a Mind and The Singularity is Nearer who Bill Gates calls "the best person I know atā€¦


Book cover of The Brain: The Story of You
Book cover of The Idea of the Brain: The Past and Future of Neuroscience
Book cover of The Vital Question: Energy, Evolution, and the Origins of Complex Life

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Interested in evolution, evolutionary biology, and natural selection?

Evolution 157 books