Become an Expert in the Field of Science & Nature with an Old-Fashioned Education — My Personal List of 100+ Books

Nature | John Muir | Plants | Insects | Birds | Animals | Thorton Burgess | Among the Animal People | Astronomy | General Science | USGS Publications | Specific Science

Nature

The Land of Little Rain

The Trail Book
by Mary Hunter Austin
Gutenberg Texts

Peter Parley’s Wonders of Sea & Sky
DjVu text from Internet Archive

Wonders of Earth, Sea and Sky
Young Folks’ Library, Volume XI (of 20)
Holden, Edward Singleton
Gutenberg Text

A Book of Natural History
Young Folks’ Library, Volume XIV (of 20)
Jordan, David Starr
Gutenberg Text

Let’s Collect Rocks and Shells
by Shell Union Oil Corporation
Gutenberg Text

On the Seashore

Within the Deep
by R. Cadwallader Smith
Gutenberg Text

The Stories Mother Nature Told Her Children

The Seven Little Sisters who Live on the Round Ball that Floats in the Air
Multiple Formats at Black Mask
by Jane Andrews
Gutenberg Texts
Appropriate for 1st to 3rd grade

Ways of Wood Folk

Secret of the Woods

Wilderness Ways
by William Joseph Long
Gutenberg Texts

The Elements of Geology
by William Harmon Norton
Gutenberg Text
7th to 10th grade

The Student’s Elements of Geology
by Sir Charles Lyell
Gutenberg Text
10th to 12th Grade

Madam How and Lady Why
by Charles Kingsley
Gutenberg Text
Geology for beginners; Grammar Grades
Multiple Formats at Black Mask

Town Geology
by Charles Kingsley
Gutenberg Text

Nature Near London
by Richard Jefferies
Gutenberg Text

Woodside, Or Look, Listen And Learn
by Caroline Hadley
Gutenberg Text

John Muir

The Grand Cañon of the Colorado

The Mountains of California

Steep Trails

Stickeen

Travels in Alaska

The Yosemite

Plants

Outlines of Lessons in Botany, Part I, from Seed to Leaf
For the Use of Teachers, or Mothers Studying with their Children
by Jane H. Newell
Gutenberg Text

The School Book of Forestry
by Charles Lathrop Pack

Studies of Trees
Jacob Joshua Levinson
Gutenberg Text
the HTML version has illustrations, great reference

Home Vegetable Gardening — a Complete and Practical Guide to the Planting
by F. P. Rockwell
Gutenberg Text

The Culture of Vegetables and Flowers From Seeds and Roots
by Sutton and Sons
Gutenberg Text

Manual of Gardening (Second Edition)
by L. H. Bailey
Gutenberg Text

Wild Flowers
An Aid to Knowledge of Our Wild Flowers and Their Insect Visitors

Wild Flowers Worth Knowing
by Neltje Blanchan
Gutenberg Text

Wildflowers of the Farm
by Arthur Owens Cooke
Gutenberg Texts

Insectivorous Plants
by Charles Darwin
Gutenberg Text

Hardy Perennials and Old Fashioned Flowers
by John Wood
Gutenberg Texts

Insects

The Insect Folk
by Margaret Warner Morley
Gutenberg Text
K-2

The History of Insects
by Unknown
Gutenberg Text
appropriate for 1st to 4th grade

Bramble-Bees and Others

The Life of the fly;
with which are interspersed some chapters of autobiography

The Life of the Spider

The Mason-Bees

More Hunting Wasps

Wonders of Instinct,
The Chapters in the Psychology of Insects
Gutenberg Texts
by Jean-Henri Fabre

The Life of the Bee
by Maurice Maeterlinck
Gutenberg Text

The Life-Story of Insects
by Geo. H. Carpenter
Gutenberg Text

Birds

Child’s Book of Water Birds
by Anonymous
Gutenberg Text

Burgess Bird Book for Children
by Thornton W. Burgess

Bird Neighbors
by Neltje Blanchan
Gutenberg Text

Citizen Bird
Scenes from Bird-Life in Plain English for Beginners
by Elliott Coues and Mabel Osgood Wright
Gutenberg Text

Animals

The Burgess Animal Book for Children
by Thornton W. Burgess

The Minds and Manners of Wild Animals, A Book of Personal Observations

Our Vanishing Wild Life Its Extermination and Preservation
by William T. Hornaday
Gutenberg Texts

Squirrels and Other Fur-Bearers
by John Burroughs
Baldwin Text

True Stories about Dogs and Cats
by Eliza Lee Cabot Follen
Gutenberg Text

Concerning Cats
by Helen M. Winslow
Gutenberg Text

Dogs and All About Them
by Robert Leighton
Gutenberg Text

Stories about the Instinct of Animals, Their Characters, and Habits
by Bingley
Gutenberg Text

Thorton Burgess

The Adventures of Grandfather Frog

The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat

The Adventures of Johnny Chuck

The Adventures of Lightfoot the Deer

The Adventures of Mr. Mocker

The Adventures of Old Mr. Toad

The Adventures of Paddy the Beaver

The Adventures of Poor Mrs. Quack

The Adventures of Prickly Porky

The Adventures of Reddy Fox

The Adventures of Unc’ Billy Possum

Bowser the Hound

Happy Jack

Mother West Wind ‘Why’ Stories

Mother West Wind “Where” Stories

Mrs. Peter Rabbit

Old Granny Fox

Old Mother West Wind

Whitefoot the Wood Mouse
Gutenberg Texts
1st to 4th grade level, read aloud to younger children, allow older children to read for themselves

Among the People

Among the Forest People

Among the Farm-Yard People

Among the Meadow People

Among the Pond People

Among the Night People
by Clara Dillingham Pierson
Baldwin Project HTML
Read aloud to grades K to 3

Astronomy

History of Astronomy
by George Forbes
Gutenberg Text

Recreations in Astronomy
With Directions for Practical Experiments and Telescopic Work
by Henry White Warren
Gutenberg Text

Side-Lights on Astronomy and Kindred Fields of Popular Science
by Simon Newcomb
Gutenberg Text

Great Astronomers
by Sir Robert S. Ball
Gutenberg Text

Curiosities of the Sky
by Garrett P. Serviss
Gutenberg Text

General Science

General Science
by Bertha M. Clark
Gutenberg Text

Great Inventors & Their Inventions
by Frank P. Bachman
Gutenberg Text

War Inventions
by Charles R. Gibson
Baldwin Project

Stories of Inventors
by Russell Doubleday
Gutenberg Text

A Catechism of Familiar Things
by Anonymous
Gutenberg Text

ABC’s of Science
by Charles A. Oliver
Gutenberg Text

Chambers’s Elementary Science Readers
by Various
Gutenberg Text

The Fairy-Land of Science
by Arabella B. Buckley
Gutenberg Text
3rd to 6th grade reading level

The Story Book of Science
by Jean Henri Fabre
Baldwin Project
3rd to 5th grade reading level

The Scientific American Boy
by A. Russell Bond
Gutenberg Text

History of Science,
by Williams and Williams
Volume 1 | Volume 2 | Volume 3 | Volume 4
Gutenberg Texts
Start in High School; read 1 volume each year

USGS Publications

Many USGS Books

Earthquake Science Explained — A Series of Ten Short Articles for Students, Teachers, and Families
Compiled by Matthew A. d’Alessio
USGS Publication

The Life Cycle of a Mineral Deposit — A Teacher’s Guide for Hands-On Mineral Education Activities
By Dave Frank, John Galloway, and Ken Assmus
USGS Publication

Deserts, Geology and Resources
by A. S. Walker
USGS Publication

The Southern Appalachians: A Changing World, Teacher’s Guide

Birth of the Mountains, Companion Guide
USGS Publications

Volcanoes
Robert I. Tilling
USGS Publication

Other

The Story of a Piece of Coal
by Edward A. Martin
Gutenberg Text

The Chemical History of a Candle
by Michael Faraday
Gutenberg Text

The Story of Germ Life
by H. W. Conn
Gutenberg Text

Flying Machines: construction and operation;
a practical book which shows, in illustrations, working plans and text,
how to build and navigate the modern airship
by Octave Chanute; William James Jackman; Thomas Herbert Russel
Gutenberg Text

Marvels of Modern Science
by Paul Severing
Gutenberg Text

A Practical Physiology
by Albert F. Blaisdell
Gutenberg Text
Highschool Level

Physiology and Hygiene for Secondary Schools
by A.M. and Francis M. Walters
Gutenberg Text
Highschool Level

An Introduction to Chemical Science
by Rufus Phillips Williams
Gutenberg Text
Highschool Level

Hygienic Physiology:
with Special Reference to the Use of Alcoholic Drinks and Narcotics
Gutenberg Text

The New Physics and Its Evolution
by Lucien Poincare
Gutenberg Text
11th to 12th grade level

The Mechanical Universe
Physics for Seniors or Freshmen in College
Caltech

Relativity: the Special and General Theory

Sidelights on Relativity
Albert Einstein
Gutenberg Texts

The History of the Telephone
by Herbert Newton Casson
Gutenberg Text

Heroes of the Telegraph

The Story of Electricity
by John Munro
Gutenberg Text

The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects
by Edward J. Ruppelt
Gutenberg Text