Looking for fiction about science

[Poiuyt]

No, not science fiction. I'm not looking for aliens or space travel or anything like that. Just a book with a contemporary science setting. Books where the main character is a chemist or physicist or biologist. Any genre.

Thanks

[Duer 157099]

1. Robin Cook is good for that type of thing

Aside from that, non-fiction books about science, like the discovery of certain drugs, etc, can be just (if not more) interesting.

[Tesha]

8. He gets kind of formulaic, though after, oh, your first Robin Cook book. (NT)

[Duer 157099]

9. True dat n/t

[Ian David]

2. Forty Signs of Rain, by Kim Stanley Robinson is very good.

Forty Signs of Rain
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forty_Signs_of_Rain

[Rabblevox]

18. +1

[LongTomH]

26. "Forty Signs of Rain" is the first book in Robinson's "Science in the Capitol" series

The next ones are Fifty Degrees Below and Sixty Days and Counting. I'm reading Sixty Days and Counting now.

[Hokie]

3. How about the Republican party platform?

I had to say it. :evilgrin:

[Mojambo]

4. Some of Greg Bear's stuff might work

The stuff dealing with evolution. Darwin's Radio etc...

[Mz Pip]

5. I liked Death Match

by Lincoln Child. It's a thriller about artificial intelligence and computer matchmaking.

Here's a pretty good review of it.


http://www.mostlyfiction.com/spy-thriller/child.htm

[cbayer]

6. HIghly recommend "The Swarm" by Frank Schatzing

Extremely well researched and accurate... and a total spellbinder. It was a huge success in Europe, but never took off here for reasons I do not understand.



http://www.amazon.com/Swarm-Novel-Frank-Schatzing/dp/0060813261

"For more than two years, one book has taken over Germany's hardcover and paperback bestseller lists, reaching number one in Der Spiegel and setting off a frenzy in bookstores: The Swarm.
Whales begin sinking ships. Toxic, eyeless crabs poison Long Island's water supply. The North Sea shelf collapses, killing thousands in Europe. Around the world, countries are beginning to feel the effects of the ocean's revenge as the seas and their inhabi-tants begin a violent revolution against mankind. In this riveting novel, full of twists, turns, and cliffhangers, a team of scientists discovers a strange, intelligent life force called the Yrr that takes form in marine animals, using them to wreak havoc on humanity for our ecological abuses. Soon a struggle between good and evil is in full swing, with both human and suboceanic forces battling for control of the waters. At stake is the survival of the Earth's fragile ecology -- and ultimately, the survival of the human race itself.

The apocalyptic catastrophes of The Day After Tomorrow meet the watery menace of The Abyss in this gripping, scientifically realistic, and utterly imaginative thriller. With 1.5 million copies sold in Germany -- where it has been on the bestseller list without fail since its debut -- and the author's skillfully executed blend of compelling story, vivid characters, and eerie locales, Frank Schatzing's The Swarm will keep you in tense anticipation until the last suspenseful page is turned."

[phantom power]

7. Maybe Cryptonomicon

[pscot]

20. The Baroque Cycle

is larded with science and the history of science. Leibniz and Newton are major characters. Stephenson himself called it science fiction.

[Curmudgeoness]

10. Michael Crichton does some of this, but he turned me off

with State of Fear about global warming, where he attempted to debunk the theory and pretty much made the environmentalists the villians. So avoid that one if you choose.

Tess Gerritsen wrote some good medical mysteries, her first couple of books were good---Harvest and Life Support.

Just off the top of my head.

[SheilaT]

11. Lots of "hard" science fiction is fiction about science.

The problem with trying to browse s-f in the library or bookstore is that a lot of soft s-f and fantasy are completely intermixed, so it's hard to find the other stuff. Plus, in recent years not much hard science fiction is being published, alas.

Some of the best s-f writers are scientists in their day jobs, and when they write it's almost always novels about science.

Einstein's Bridge and Twistor, both by John Cramer have a lot of physics in them. If I recall correctly, they have main characters who are physicists.

[Fire Walk With Me]

25. "The Hercules Text" by Jack McDevitt is one like that.

It's a "first contact" story about the reception of alien data, and what happens to the numerous persons involved, from genius physicists, etc., including a priest, but it's done really well and doesn't single out any of them as ludicrous, just a balanced "what would happen if", and what people would do under such circumstances. How each react, and interact, is one of the strengths of the story. It's a first novel so it's not perfect, but I love all of Jack's work (although much of the rest is outside the scope of the OP).

Good luck!

[fadedrose]

12. THE SHAMAN SINGS by James D. Doss

This is a very untypical novel in the Moon Mysteries. It was clearly written to be a series about Scott Parrish, a cop, but the rest of the series has turned out to be mostly about Charlie Moon.

Anyway, a young woman works at a lab in Colorado and she makes a huge discovery in superconductors. She is murdered by somebody so that her discovery could then be stolen by someone who will get the credit.

It's a decent book, little plots going on here and there, but the science of the superconductors plays a major role.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0380724960/stopyourekilling

It's the best ah kin do.

[Poiuyt]

13. I found a great list

http://www.lablit.com/the_list

This seems to be exactly what I was looking for.

[fadedrose]

14. Good

Now I won't have another sleepless night worrying about you....;)

[Poiuyt]

15. I'm glad I could ease your mind!

Now I'll have to come up with a new challenge for you.

[fadedrose]

16. I looked up your link

And that is a great list. You were lucky to find it.

Anyhow, the Doss book wouldn't hurt, because Doss often slips in scientific stuff - he is retired from a technical position at the Los Alamos Labratory, and I think they're into secret stuff.

But mostly I wanted to tell you about Flavia deLuce. She's an 11-year old sleuth and chemist in Alan Bradley's mystery series about her.

She has a lab in her home equipped with all kinds of chemicals and test tubes and solves all kinds of crimes. Mention lipstick, and she knows what's in lipstick. She doctored a tube to give her sister a lip rash..

Her life seems to be solving mysteries and trying to figure out how to poison her sisters who both get on her nerves, although she won't actually hurt them, because just thinking about it gives her pleasure.

Please try Alan Bradley's series. You will not regret this one.

http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/B_Authors/Bradley_Alan.html

[Curmudgeoness]

19. Excellent list, although some that I have read are not

what I would consider science related.

One listed that I remember vividly from years ago and highly recommend is Strong Medicine by Arthur Hailey. But I have not read a Hailey novel that wasn't excellent.

[Sequoia]

24. Thanks a ton. Two of these are in the library right now.

So I will just march to the shelves and get them. Passage and She Climbed Across the Table.

[Rabblevox]

17. Science In The Capital trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson...

Set in the very near future, when global warming problems are getting terrifyingly real. (don't worry, despite being set in the future, they are NOT science fiction). Most of the books heroes work at the National Science Foundation, the three books are tightly focused on both the science of global warming, and the politics of trying to change directions.

Well researched, and Robinson knows how to tell a good story without getting TOO bogged down in details. I recommend them.

http://kimstanleyrobinson.info/w/index.php5?title=Science_In_The_Capital_trilogy

Edit to provide link

[pitohui]

28. robinson considers himself a science fiction writer

until i read this thread it never crossed my mind that you wouldn't consider these books science fiction since they are in fact science fiction by a leading science fiction writer who attributes his inspiration to another leading science fiction writer, philip k dick

it's science fiction pure and simple, washington dc is still above water or it was this week

[fadedrose]

21. Just finished an Alan Bradley book -

the 3rd in the "Flavia" series. Great book. I think of you every time I read one of these Bradley books. You MUST start the series if you still want scientific fiction leaning toward chemistry....Flavia is an 11-year old chemist who uses science to solve mysteries and torture her sisters.

The book is written in the first person with Flavia narrating, and it's the author, Alan Bradley, who is writing as a female child....really good, although I almost always hate books written by men as fist-person females. This is the exception.

[Poiuyt]

22. Thanks!

I was just reading about this series last night

[Lost-in-FL]

23. Copenhagen?

The only one I can remember.

[pitohui]

27. the echo maker by richard powers (neurology)

this is an extremely disturbing and powerful story

some of the characters are just folks, but a main character is a neuro scientist who got side tracked into the CNN pop science ghetto

the bird science in there is also decent, although there is no genuine ornithologist in the story, as there would be if it were set in louisiana, where we have that sort of fluff, it's set in nebraska, in a tourist area for the crane migration

he has done others about robotics etc. but i find his other books dry, this one is special

[MountainLaurel]

29. Not entirely contemporary

But Enigma is fiction about the effort in Britain to decode German U-boat transmissions, involving cryptologists and other scientists.

[DUgosh]

30. Camille Minichino

has written 8 Periodic Table Mysteries featuring retired physicist Gloria Lamerino

[Chemisse]

31. Bellwether, by Connie Willis, is about scientists and is a delightful novel.

I also enjoyed her Doomsday Book, which is a combination of science and history in a time travel format.

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Victor Waldman]

33. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

Brave New World - Aldous Huxley