The Totally Useless History of Science, by Ian Crofton

Summary: This book is a chronologically-organized series of blurbs about ridiculous scientific ideas, ideas that were ahead of their time, the research that might or might not have been in the running for an Ignoble Award, and other randomness from science through the ages.

Comments: I didn't have to get too far into this book before concluding that someone knows me too well (this was a Christmas present a few years back). I rather enjoyed all the useless facts this book has to share, and the chronological order seems like a rather good way to organize all of them.

The Master Algorithm, by Pedro Domingos

Summary: An overview of the different tribes within machine learning, with a focus on trying to unify them.

Comments: First, I have to say that I was looking for Machine Learning, A How-To For Dummies, and instead got Machine Learning, A Brief History. Which is really my fault for not paying more attention to what I was actually getting. But anyway. This book somehow manages to both be fairly technical and not require much, if any, background knowledge. So if that's something that interests you, I'd definitely recommend this book. On the other hand, I could definitely see most people who are interested in the gritty details also wanting some how-to info, which you're not going to find.