Teenagers. What books to get them to pique their interest in physics? Classics? art history? In this Five Books series, we ask high school teachers to recommend books to inspire teenagers in their various subjects. If you're just looking for general nonfiction rather than a specific subject, don't miss our recommendations of the best nonfiction books for teens.
There really are an increasing number of amazing nonfiction books pitched at the teen age group, that difficult time between childhood and adulthood when kids are growing out of kids' books, but find many grownup books boring/too hard to understand.
The Best Physics Books for Teenagers, recommended by Kate Lee (St Paul's Girls' School)
What are the best books for getting a teenager into physics? Kate Lee, Head of Physics at St Paul’s Girls School, recommends books about NASA, space travel, and the Big Bang—and puzzles the question of why it is so hard for young women to stay in physics as a profession.
The Best Classics Books for Teenagers, recommended by Olly Murphy (Wycombe Abbey)
Caesar, Cicero, Achilles, Socrates, Plato: millennia later, we still talk about them. Olly Murphy, classics teacher at Wycombe Abbey, one of England’s top girls’ schools, recommends books and explains why classics remains one of the most exciting subjects for teenagers to study.
The Best Art History Books for Teenagers, recommended by John Harrison (Eton College)
Which are the best books to get a teenager excited about art history? We turned to veteran art history teacher John Harrison, formerly head of the art history department at Eton College, for his top five picks of the most illuminating and accessible books for getting a broad overview of the history of art.
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1
Metaphysical Horror
Leszek Kolakowski (trans. by Agnieszka Kolakowska) -
2
Mortal Questions
by Thomas Nagel -
3
A Short History of Ethics
by Alasdair MacIntyre -
4
Modernism as a Philosophical Problem: On the Dissatisfactions of European High Culture
by Robert B. Pippin -
5
The Spiritual Dimension: Religion, Philosophy and Human Value
by John Cottingham
The best books on Philosophy for Teens, recommended by Andrew Brower Latz (Manchester Grammar School)
The best books on Philosophy for Teens, recommended by Andrew Brower Latz (Manchester Grammar School)
Dr Andrew Brower Latz, the head of philosophy at Manchester Grammar School, one of Britain’s leading secondary schools, talks about why it’s important to study philosophy and recommends five books to get an interested teen started.
