100 books like The Logic of Life

By Francois Jacob,

Here are 100 books that The Logic of Life fans have personally recommended if you like The Logic of Life. Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of The Gene: An Intimate History

Raghuveer Parthasarathy Author Of So Simple a Beginning: How Four Physical Principles Shape Our Living World

From my list on stretching your conception of biology.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always been fascinated by the quest to understand how nature works and to find patterns amid complexity. This drew me towards physics, which seemed unparalleled in its ability to uncover general rules. In contrast, biology seemed merely descriptive, and despite a fondness for wildlife, I stayed away from the subject in school. It turns out, however, that physics and biology are perfect companions; a whole field, biophysics, explores how physical principles are central to the workings of living things. I became a biophysicist, researching topics like the organization of gut microbes and teaching and writing about biophysics more broadly, at scales from DNA to ecosystems.

Raghuveer's book list on stretching your conception of biology

Raghuveer Parthasarathy Why did Raghuveer love this book?

Once upon a time, we were unaware of DNA. We could tell that taller parents have taller kids, we could select tomato plants for sweeter fruit, and we could even construct plausible relationships between long-extinct animals and their descendants. Still, the nature of the stuff from which these links are made and how it works or fails to work remained a mystery.

Solving this mystery is one of humanity’s most remarkable achievements, and Mukherjee tells the tale with style and humor, weaving in recollections of his family’s encounters with mental illness. Despite my familiarity with the end result, the modern picture of genes, I found much of the history surprising and surprisingly colorful, full of dead ends and creative leaps. The last third of the book, on complex traits like intelligence and illnesses like schizophrenia, isn’t quite as good as the rest, but that takes us to our second…

By Siddhartha Mukherjee,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Selected as a Book of the Year by The New York Times, The Economist, Independent, Observer and Mail on Sunday

THE NEW YORK TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER
BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK

`Dramatic and precise... [A] thrilling and comprehensive account of what seems certain to be the most radical, controversial and, to borrow from the subtitle, intimate science of our time... He is a natural storyteller... A page-turner... Read this book and steel yourself for what comes next'
Bryan Appleyard, Sunday Times

The Gene is the story of one of the most powerful and dangerous ideas in our…


Book cover of Eight Day of Creation: Makers of the Revolution in Biology

David W. Ussery Author Of Computing for Comparative Microbial Genomics: Bioinformatics for Microbiologists

From my list on the history of heredity and DNA.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love to hear stories about how people solve problems, and I have been curious about how science works since I was 12 years old. A decade later, when I was 22 years old, some of my friends joked that I "spoke DNA," and it’s true that I have been obsessed with trying to understand the physical structures of DNA for more than four decades now. I live my life vicariously through my students and help them to learn to tinker, troubleshoot, and recover from their failures.

David's book list on the history of heredity and DNA

David W. Ussery Why did David love this book?

I really enjoyed this book and have found it a wonderful reference, mapping the history of the quest for trying to figure out how biological information is stored (in the form of DNA in chromosomes), and how biological information flows from DNA to RNA to proteins.

The book is long and exhaustive, but it’s one of my favorites!

By Horace Freeland Judson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Eight Day of Creation as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of Who Wrote the Book of Life?: A History of the Genetic Code

David W. Ussery Author Of Computing for Comparative Microbial Genomics: Bioinformatics for Microbiologists

From my list on the history of heredity and DNA.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love to hear stories about how people solve problems, and I have been curious about how science works since I was 12 years old. A decade later, when I was 22 years old, some of my friends joked that I "spoke DNA," and it’s true that I have been obsessed with trying to understand the physical structures of DNA for more than four decades now. I live my life vicariously through my students and help them to learn to tinker, troubleshoot, and recover from their failures.

David's book list on the history of heredity and DNA

David W. Ussery Why did David love this book?

I love the way that this book puts solving the genetic code in the context of the development of the "information age" in the 1950s.

This book explains the origins of the popular (but wrong) idea that DNA is the "book of life" and some sort of advanced information system. I call this a ‘one-dimensional’ view of life (as opposed to a four-dimensional view, which takes into account not just sequence but secondary and tertiary structures and how they change with time).

I use this book in my introductory bioinformatics lectures to help get across the "new" concept that, contrary to popular cultural beliefs, DNA is not a language, nor is it a 'sophisticated computer code’. Biology is messy and complicated and very much contextual.

By Lily E. Kay,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Who Wrote the Book of Life? as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This is a detailed history of one of the most important and dramatic episodes in modern science, recounted from the novel vantage point of the dawn of the information age and its impact on representations of nature, heredity, and society. Drawing on archives, published sources, and interviews, the author situates work on the genetic code (1953-70) within the history of life science, the rise of communication technosciences (cybernetics, information theory, and computers), the intersection of molecular biology with cryptanalysis and linguistics, and the social history of postwar Europe and the United States.

Kay draws out the historical specificity in the…


Book cover of The Inside Story: DNA to RNA to Protein

David W. Ussery Author Of Computing for Comparative Microbial Genomics: Bioinformatics for Microbiologists

From my list on the history of heredity and DNA.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love to hear stories about how people solve problems, and I have been curious about how science works since I was 12 years old. A decade later, when I was 22 years old, some of my friends joked that I "spoke DNA," and it’s true that I have been obsessed with trying to understand the physical structures of DNA for more than four decades now. I live my life vicariously through my students and help them to learn to tinker, troubleshoot, and recover from their failures.

David's book list on the history of heredity and DNA

David W. Ussery Why did David love this book?

I love to hear stories from the people doing the work, making the discoveries, detailing how science works - sometimes false leads, sometimes by luck, and most importantly, by testing ideas and being careful to make sure that things are not proven wrong. Nothing is ever 100% certain in science, but things that are falsifiable and have stood the test of time are more believable.

I remember being surprised to slowly realize that solving the genetic code was not done by computer scientists but by the experimentalists (biochemists) who used trial and error to see what proteins are made from various combinations of different DNA sequences (for example, a DNA strand that contains only A’s makes a protein with only lysine, so the triple ‘AAA’ makes lysine).

By Jan Witkowski (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Inside Story as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A collection of reprinted articles from the review journal Trends in Biochemical Sciences (TiBS) focusing on the central dogma of molecular biology--DNA makes RNA makes protein. The biographical and autobiographical articles graphically describe the great discoveries in the field from an insider's perspective.


Book cover of A Guinea Pig’s History of Biology

Sam Kean Author Of The Icepick Surgeon: Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science

From my list on the wonders of biology.

Why am I passionate about this?

Sam Kean is the New York Times bestselling author of five books, including The Bastard Brigade, The Dueling Neurosurgeons, and The Disappearing Spoon. He edited The Best American Nature and Science Writing in 2018, and his stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times Magazine, and Slate. His work has been featured on NPR’s “Radiolab,” “Science Friday,” “All Things Considered,” and “Fresh Air,” and his podcast, The Disappearing Spoon, debuted at #1 on the iTunes charts for science podcasts.

Sam's book list on the wonders of biology

Sam Kean Why did Sam love this book?

A topsy-turvy look at biology from the point of view of the animals (and plants) that make it possible. Richly detailed and full of engrossing characters, from Darwin’s time up to the genetically engineered marvels of today.

By Jim Endersby,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Guinea Pig’s History of Biology as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved," Darwin famously concluded The Origin of Species, and for confirmation we look to...the guinea pig? How this curious creature and others as humble (and as fast-breeding) have helped unlock the mystery of inheritance is the unlikely story Jim Endersby tells in this book.

Biology today promises everything from better foods or cures for common diseases to the alarming prospect of redesigning life itself. Looking at the organisms that have made all this possible gives us a new way of understanding how we got here--and perhaps of thinking…


Book cover of She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity

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 Dawkins’ 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 Dawkins’ 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 ‘pop science’ 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?

Is it nature or nurture that makes a person? Well, it depends on the trait. Many things (e.g., number of noses or biological sex) are genetically determined. Other traits like IQ are about 50/50 genes and environment. Still others, like language, are entirely environmental. 

Humans are fascinated by genetic determinism and its contributions to race, gender, feeble-mindedness, disease. Witness the popularity of 23 and Me. Zimmer’s wonderful book gives an even-handed and sometimes brave account of the history of our obsession with heredity and some of the terrible things that have emerged from it: eugenics, forced sterilization, concern about human "mongrels," the concept of racial purity.

I was fascinated by the details he dug up, explaining the life experiences of individual people who fell afoul of government programs to "improve" the human population. 

By Carl Zimmer,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked She Has Her Mother's Laugh as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2018 BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION

'Elegantly written, wittily constructed . . . My science book of the year.' Robin McKie, Observer, 'Best Books of 2018'

She Has Her Mother's Laugh presents a profoundly original perspective on what we pass along from generation to generation. Charles Darwin played a crucial part in turning heredity into a scientific question, and yet he failed spectacularly to answer it. The birth of genetics in the early 1900s seemed to do precisely that. Gradually, people translated their old notions about heredity into a language of genes. As the technology for studying…


Book cover of The Better Half: On the Genetic Superiority of Women

Rui Diogo Author Of Meaning of Life, Human Nature, and Delusions: How Tales about Love, Sex, Races, Gods and Progress Affect Our Lives and Earth's Splendor

From my list on understand human nature and sexuality.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an unusual scientist in the sense that I have doctorates in both biology and anthropology, so I am very interested in the dichotomy between what our bodies truly want (biology) and how we are supposed to behave, or tell others to behave, in our cultural settings (cultural anthropology). Amazingly, studies show that we spend more time and attention in our lives living for others for what they think of us, than doing what we truly want, and that we often regret that, when we are close to dying. These books make us reconsider that way of living, so we can change this before it is too late. 

Rui's book list on understand human nature and sexuality

Rui Diogo Why did Rui love this book?

The book is surprising not only because of the very strong amount of scientific data compiled showing that in terms of health and also various other traits, women do indeed often outperform men but also because it shows that many of the discoveries related to those scientific data were actually done by women, contrary to the false or at least biased stories we often read about, in the literature.

One of the strengths of the book is precisely how it talks about these untold stories in science and how it connects them to the main topic being discussed. I have this book assigned to my undergraduate biology course at Howard University.

By Sharon Moalem,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Better Half as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From an award-winning medic and scientist, the game-changing case that genetic females have greater resilience, immunity, endurance and more, compared with males

'A powerful antidote to the myth of a "weaker sex"' Gina Rippon, author of The Gendered Brain

From birth, genetic females are better at fighting viruses, infections and cancer. They do better at surviving epidemics and famines. They live longer, and even see the world in a wider variety of colours. These are the facts; they are simply stronger than men at every stage of life. Why? And why are we taught the opposite?

Drawing on his wide-ranging…


Book cover of The Truth Project

Deborah Crossland Author Of The Quiet Part Out Loud

From my list on YA that made me cry.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have loved story since I was little, and I’ve curated a life where it has always taken center stage in some or another. I was a high school English teacher for ten years, and have been a college professor for eight. But what really inspires me to write the books I do is my PhD in mythological studies. As a mythologist, I’m lucky enough to be able to see why stories resonate with us for so long and use those same themes and metaphors to write my own. 

Deborah's book list on YA that made me cry

Deborah Crossland Why did Deborah love this book?

This story is told in such an unusual way!

Medema writes in-verse as well as uses emails, texts, and Google searches to tell the story of a teen who finds out that yes, she really is the odd one out in her family because her dad is not actually her father. She and the heart-wrenching Kodiak Jones take us through what it means to find the people you love, whether they are actual blood-relations or not. If you’re not sobbing at the end of this book…

By Dante Medema,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Truth Project as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

"A heart-wrenching quest for identity every YA reader will relate to, and a deep dive into the meaning of family." -Ellen Hopkins, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Debut author Dante Medema explores the emotional fallout after a teenage girl discovers she is the product of an affair. Told through a series of poems, text messages, and emails, this contemporary YA is perfect for fans of Gaby Dunn and Allison Raskin.

Seventeen-year-old Cordelia Koenig intended to breeze through her senior project. While her peers stressed, Cordelia planned to use the same trace-your-roots genealogy idea her older sister used years prior.…


Book cover of Seeing Voices

Tony Sandy Author Of Logic List English: Rhyming Word etc. - Vol 1 A

From my list on honest communication and language usage.

Why am I passionate about this?

What qualifies me to compile this list of books, probably goes back to my childhood and the confusion I felt about human society and its conflict in word usage, compared to actual meaning. This fascination with psychology and linguistics, culminated in me reading perhaps hundreds of books, some of which are included here. My mother described me as a quiet baby and a child who would only say something, if they thought it was important, possible indicators of autism and the little professor syndrome of silent observation and study.

Tony's book list on honest communication and language usage

Tony Sandy Why did Tony love this book?

Here we have another of Oliver Sacks' brilliant books, the subject this time being the deaf. My brother’s wife is profoundly deaf as is her brother (heredity disease). He had a cochlear implant but she refused one and knowing my brother I can’t blame her. To me the most fascinating part of the book is the development of sign language and how different forms appeared in different countries. The creation of deaf schools, like the one started by Alexander Graham Bell, whose parents were both profoundly deaf, caused controversy because he didn’t believe in sign language and tried to force his pupils to use only speech in communication. As they had no feedback for sound, this was unbelievably stupid in my opinion as you can only change what you sense and can make sense of. Those who sign can ‘speak’ rapidly and clearly by ‘visual’ means, whereas those who try…

By Oliver Sacks,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Oliver Sacks has been described (by "The New York Times Book Review") as "one of the great clinical writers of the 20th century," and his books, including the medical classics Migraine and Awakenings, have been widely praised by critics from W. H. Auden to Harold Pinter to Doris Lessing. In his last book, "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat", Dr. Sacks undertook a fascinating journey into the world of the neurologically impaired, an exploration that Noel Perrin in the "Chicago Sun-Times" called "wise, compassionate, and very literate...the kind that restore(s) one's faith in humanity."Now, with "Seeing Voices",…


Book cover of Sex and Death: An Introduction to Philosophy of Biology

Samir Okasha Author Of Philosophy of Biology: A Very Short Introduction

From my list on the philosophy of evolution.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am Professor of Philosophy of Science at the University of Bristol. I am interested in most areas of contemporary philosophy, in particular the interplay between philosophy and the natural and social sciences. Much of my recent work has focused on evolutionary biology, a science that is replete with implications for traditional philosophical debates about human nature, knowledge, and our place in the world.

Samir's book list on the philosophy of evolution

Samir Okasha Why did Samir love this book?

This book is an engaging treatment of philosophical issues in biology, with a strong though not exclusive focus on evolution. Written by two leading practitioners, the book continues to be an excellent entry point into the subject despite being more than 20 years old. For any reader of my own book who wants more detail, Sterelny and Griffiths’ text is ideal. Chock full of real-life examples, the book offers an excellent model of how philosophy can engage with biology. Topics discussed include function and adaptation, reductionism, levels of selection, the “selfish gene” theory, and more. 

By Kim Sterelny, Paul E. Griffiths,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Is the history of life a series of accidents or a drama scripted by selfish genes? Is there an "essential" human nature, determined at birth or in a distant evolutionary past? What should we conserve-species, ecosystems, or something else?

Informed answers to questions like these, critical to our understanding of ourselves and the world around us, require both a knowledge of biology and a philosophical framework within which to make sense of its findings. In this accessible introduction to philosophy of biology, Kim Sterelny and Paul E. Griffiths present both the science and the philosophical context necessary for a critical…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in biology, philosophy, and genetics?

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