Cosmos by the late, great, Carl Sagan
Not the most intellectually challenging, I know, but that was the point of the book and I was only 12 years old when I read it. It opened my mind up to the scientific method and increased my burgeoning curiosity about the universe.
OK, I didn't quite make it to the stature of Brian Cox or Martin Rees and I didn't even study cosmology. But I have had jobs where I've had to do real scientific experiments (conceived and designed by me) to add weight to a hypothesis, and the sense of satisfaction from doing such undertakings in a proper valid and repeatable manner is something I'll take to my grave :)

Thank you Mr Sagan!
( P-MONKE We're all fucked, Sun 8 Jan 2012, 14:19, 2 replies)

I brought that in from the garage this morning
I was sorting through books to take to the charity shop, and that one survived the shop and came back into house. I feel the same about all of Isaac Asmimov's non-fiction work. Although it's not too challenging (as you say, that's the very beauty of it), it really helps to see how exciting it can be to find out about things. See also Feynman.

For really beautiful science writing (not so much explanation, though), the very best is Loren Eisely. Absolutely incredible, and nothing makes me so proud to be a human like him. A perfect antidote to the days when the news shows that humans don't look so great.
( Norbert Lightowler, Sun 8 Jan 2012, 17:12, closed)

Cheers for the recommendations
I'll bookmark this for later.
( P-MONKE We're all fucked, Sun 8 Jan 2012, 18:21, closed)