Science · Similar reads
Books like The Sports Gene
The best books like The Sports Gene are Born to Run, Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, and Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. The Sports Gene by David Epstein is about athletic genetics, human performance, nature vs nurture. If that's what drew you in, here are 12 books that share its DNA — each summarized on Superbook, and ready to chat with in the app.
- Born to Run
01
Christopher McDougall · Health
Born to Run begins as a personal injury investigation.
A kindred science read.
Read the summary → - Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
02
Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
David Epstein · Science
Range is David Epstein's argument against the ten-thousand-hours gospel.
A kindred science read.
Read the summary → - Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
03
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
Angela Duckworth · Psychology
Duckworth's central claim is that talent is overrated.
A kindred science read.
Read the summary →
- The Story of the Human Body
04
Daniel Lieberman · Health
The Story of the Human Body is Daniel Lieberman's account of how evolutionary biology can explain the chronic diseases that plague modern populations.
A kindred science read.
Read the summary → - A Brief History of Time
05
Stephen Hawking · Science
A Brief History of Time is Stephen Hawking's attempt to explain the biggest questions in physics — where the universe came from, how it behaves, and where it might be going — to readers with no scientific training.
A kindred science read.
Read the summary → - The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature
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The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature
Steven Pinker · Science
The Blank Slate is Steven Pinker's comprehensive attack on what he calls the three linked doctrines that dominated twentieth-century thinking about human nature: the Blank Slate (the mind begins without innate content and is formed entirely by experience), the Noble Savage (humans are naturally peaceful and corrupted only by civilization), and the Ghost in the Machine (the mind is separable from the body and exempt from natural laws).
Both dig into nature vs nurture.
Read the summary → - Natural Born Heroes
07
Christopher McDougall · History
Natural Born Heroes is Christopher McDougall's follow-up to Born to Run, and it attempts something equally ambitious: to argue that heroism is a trainable physical and psychological skill, and that the human body contains natural capacities for endurance, power, and resilience that modern life has systematically atrophied.
Both dig into human performance.
Read the summary → - A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution
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A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution
Jennifer A. Doudna and Samuel H. Sternberg · Science
A Crack in Creation is Jennifer Doudna and Samuel Sternberg's account of how CRISPR-Cas9 works, what it can do, and why its possibilities should give everyone pause.
A kindred science read.
Read the summary → - A Pattern Language
09
Christopher Alexander · Science
A Pattern Language is an extraordinary attempt to describe, in systematic form, the conditions that make human habitats feel alive.
A kindred science read.
Read the summary → - A Philosophy of Software Design
10
A Philosophy of Software Design
John Ousterhout · Science
John Ousterhout's central claim in this book is that the greatest limitation in software development is our ability to manage complexity, and that almost every problem in large systems can be traced back to complexity that was unnecessary and could have been prevented.
A kindred science read.
Read the summary → - A Short History of Nearly Everything
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A Short History of Nearly Everything
Bill Bryson · Science
A Short History of Nearly Everything is Bill Bryson's attempt to understand the scientific story of everything — from the Big Bang to the emergence of modern humans — by spending three years talking to scientists and reading science history.
A kindred science read.
Read the summary → - A Universe from Nothing
12
Lawrence M. Krauss · Science
A Universe from Nothing is Lawrence Krauss's argument that modern physics has resolved, or at least reframed, the ancient philosophical question of why there is something rather than nothing.
A kindred science read.
Read the summary →
Books like The Sports Gene: quick answers
What are the best books like The Sports Gene?
The best books like The Sports Gene by David Epstein are Born to Run by Christopher McDougall, Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth, The Story of the Human Body by Daniel Lieberman, A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking, plus 7 more below. Each was chosen for themes it shares with The Sports Gene, such as athletic genetics, human performance, nature vs nurture.
What should I read after The Sports Gene?
A natural next read after The Sports Gene is Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. A kindred science read. Other strong choices are Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth, The Story of the Human Body by Daniel Lieberman.
What books are similar to The Sports Gene by David Epstein?
The Sports Gene centers on athletic genetics, human performance, nature vs nurture. Books with a similar feel include Born to Run by Christopher McDougall, Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth, The Story of the Human Body by Daniel Lieberman, A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking, The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker — all free to read and chat with on Superbook.
