The Science of Discworld II: The Globe

Why it’s on the list: Pratchett with the mathematician Ian Stewart and the biologist Jack Cohen, arguing that humans are less Homo sapiens than Pan narrans, the storytelling chimpanzee — that narrative, not reason, is the species’ distinctive cognitive equipment. Alternating chapters of fiction and science.

Where I saw it: In the reply thread to @SpencrGreenberg’s question, “What non-fiction book taught you the most about how the world (or how humanity or society) really works?” (June 5, 2025) — a crowd-sourced list Kyle recovered by hand and saved to his Apple Note “Books To Read”; the full set of replies lives on A question for you — What non-fiction… (tweet). It was listed there as “The Science of Discworld II: The Globe”.

Connections

• Storytelling — the book’s thesis: narrative as the human cognitive adaptation.
• Science — popular science written as an argument with a novel attached.
• Open Source Knowledge — the format exists to smuggle real science past the reader’s resistance.
• A question for you — What non-fiction… (tweet) — the thread this recommendation came from.