"The Disappearing Spoon" by Sam Kean goes through the entire periodic table with fun and often very funny vignettes about each of the elements.
this post was submitted on 23 Oct 2023
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Asklemmy
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There are some book/literature focused instances that might have communities you could be interested in.
A general "books" instance: https://literature.cafe/
And the instance I'm on (https://sffa.community) for science fiction/fantasy stuff
We are talking non fiction here?
Yes, though I don't mind finction books too :)
I don't really read much non-fiction, but if you want something entertaining and kinda sciencey look at the books "What if" and "How to" by the XKCD comic's author: https://what-if.xkcd.com/
Wow that's interesting!
It ignores a couple of important facts about Futurama to make the point is trying to make through a lens of today, though.
Ignoring the obvious "it's a cartoon" is that the ship in Futurama moves the universe around itself rather than moving through the universe. And the other being the article limits itself to today's technology, in general.
This is what I was thinking too based on OP's requirements.
I love his books! You might check out Joel Achenbach too - https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Joel-Achenbach/1162553
Have you read 1984 yet? Itβs a work of fiction, but very insightful.
The Tetris Effect by Dan Ackerman is a lot of fun, a pretty breezy read, and is fairly unbelievable for how true the story is. It involves (in varying amounts) programming, science, and DIY, mostly from an early-80s perspective (since a lot of it is about the development of the game), plus some corporate espionage and Soviet meddling.
Nonfiction oldies that still hold up: The Cuckoo's Egg by Clifford Stoll and The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder.
"Phantoms in the Brain" by V.S. Ramachandran.
Cant recommend a Canticle for Lebowitz enough. It was writen by a WWII bomber and talks about a post apocalyptic United States and how a group of monks preserve the flame of knowledge under the guise of religion to protect knowledge. Extremly well written and reads like a modern scifi novel even though the author only ever wrote the one book. Seriously its one of those books i think everyone should read, extremely impactful and powerful.
Check out Snowcrash. Not the best book ever written, but is definitely interesting and is a major influence for Mark Zuckerberg. (Which if you do read the book may lead you to think he has very little reading comprehension imo)
Here is a decision tree for NPR's best scifi/fantasy books. I just started crossing these out with the phone's image editor when I finish one.
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson. It's a bit coming-of-age but it's lite, interesting, tech sci-fi.
Only other i read that is close is the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov.
I really enjoyed The Powder Mage trilogy by Brian McClellan. Black powder style weaponry and some types of people get magical powers from ingesting black powder. I was a bit skeptical at first, but it really hooked me pretty quick
Prisoner of Trebekistan by Bob Harris. It's about the Jeopardy! champion's life and journey through the game, and shares his memorization techniques. It's quite funny and insightful.
I thought Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World's First Digital Weapon was a really interesting read for nonfiction
AI 2041 by Kai-Fu Lee.
If black mirror was a book this would be it. It blends the current and upcoming AI/tech trends with sci-fi that allows you to explore different worlds and give you perspective on how they can really affect us. There is an analysis at the end of each story and explainds the tech used and where we are in terms of achieving that tech.
Good luck on your reading journey!