TOP TEN TUESDAY: Books on my School Shelf

Top Ten Tuesday, hosted at The Broke and the Bookish, this week is a Back to School special. I've chosen to list some of the books I have in my classroom, hoping to entice students to read. I should mention, however, that I teach high school physics, so the books I have on hand are primarily nonfiction and of the physics variety. I've read all the books listed and would recommend each of these to any reader. They are all readable, and interesting. I have (many) more books in my room, some of which are a little drier, but I left off a number of really good books! These are the books I pass out if someone has finished a test early, or if there is school-wide reading time.

Zap! Nikola Tesla Takes Charge by Monica Kulling, Illustrated by Bill Slavin

High school kids don't mind reading books for little kids. This is my newest acquisition and obsession as Tesla is one very interesting dude!

Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman

At one point, I used to read this book aloud to my grade twelve classes. That's another thing high school kids don't mind. This is an imagining of Einstein's dreams as he comes up with this theory of relativity. Each chapter is a version of how time could be, so becomes rather philosophical (What is time?) Stretches their brains.

E = mc2 by David Sodanis

This is an phenomenal biography of each component of the famous equation. Very readable and interesting, you will learn lots and like it

An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Col Chris Hadfield

I don't own this one, but when I get my hands on it, I'll add it to my room. We still see lots of Col Hadfield in little videos I show. This is an inspiring memoir of an amazing man!

How I Killed Pluto and Why it Had it Coming by Mike Brown

Brown found the planet that started the demotion process of Pluto. Perfect for amateur astronomers !

Packing for Mars by Mary Roach

You can't go wrong with Mary Roach who is not afraid to tackle any question about her subject, usually with plenty of humour. There is a section in here on inertia and the churning of internal organs that can go on with rapid sudden stops that I read to my class. (Until one girl nearly got sick from the graphic description!)

The Martian by Andy Weir

Another book that I don't own because I borrowed from the library, but I would love to have it in my classroom library. So much good science in this one.

Science Verse by John Scieszka

Another kids book that is easy to read and funny. As a cross-curricular book, famous poems are re-written from a science point of view.

The Quirks & Quarks Guide to Space by Jim Lebans

I read and reviewed this book back in 2008 and it is a good book to pass out to students as each of the 42 questions and answers are relatively short, so it's the kind of book you can pick up and read anywhere.

Dava Sobel books of any kind: Planets (I have 2 copies of this one), Longitude, A More Perfect Heaven: How Copernicus Revolutionized the Cosmos. Also, not pictured, but in my library, is Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love.

I think I've read all of Sobel's books at least once. I've loved them all.  Who ever does her cover designs deserves top marks. They are beautiful in real life.