A Short History
Best Book Read in a Long Time: A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. Accessible, well-written dips into all things science from astronomy, physics, ecology, biology, evolution, and everything in between. But the thing that makes this book SO great is all the great back stories about the scientists making the discoveries. It's encouraging to know that in most instances, scientists and science in general is all based on assumptions and theories which will ultimately be proved wrong when the next smarter person comes along with new ideas and theories. And the stories about those scientists are hilarious. Really, it's surprising that a book about such dry stuff can be so engaging. Definitely worth a read.
It's definitely one of the best books I read all year. I bought it thinking it would be one of those nonfiction "pick it up every now and then and read a chapter or two" books, but instead I just devoured it as quickly as I could. Bill Bryson has a real gift for explaining the seemingly unexplainable, I think...who knew that I would ever semi-understand what quantum physics is all about?
If you liked this you'd probably also like the "Don't know much about..." series by Kenneth C. Davis. There are several: History, Civil War, Bible, Geography and Universe.
My favorite is the "Don't know much about history" because I really don't know enough.
The Bible one was very good too. It tries to tie the Bible to actual history as we understand it.