Better pick before I get in trouble...
Going to put this in
Science for now.
An unusual book in my opinion, that I feel lucky to have happened upon at a used bookstore.
Written by an author perhaps more famous for the fantastic.
It is,
The Ancient Engineers,
by L. Sprague de Camp
"An astonishing look back at the ancient wonders of the world and their creators."
"Mr. de Camp has the trick of being able to show technology engaging in feats as full of derring-do as those of Hannibal's army. History as it should be told."
Isaac Asimov
New York Times Book review
For me, as someone who is as far from an engineer as could be, I found this book very interesting. I have always wondered how things work and my brain has generally been unable to fathom complex technology.
To take this trip back in time and learn how seemingly simple things now were first invented all over the world. Further how quite complex things were done thousands of years ago.
Starting from the beginnings of machine making in irrigation, the book explains levers, pulleys and moves on to complex military machines and clocks. Think building a road is straightforward (pun intended)? Learn how much went into a Roman road, and you'll know why they lasted so long.
Torsion weapons, bridges, walls, seigecraft, bireme versus trireme rowing, water clocks, pipe organs, bilge pumps, etc.
Maybe it's just me, but to learn how these things were done, by what people and when; was eye opening to me. To know how to build a proper Sumerian dwelling may be important in the not too distant future.