Non-fiction for world-building

[nancylebov]

What do Europeans call the platypus?

Handy hints about ways to use language differences for world-building.

Blind Descent-- searching for the deepest caves on earth. Caves are weirder than you might think. You can get electrocuted if lightning strikes a stream on the surface.

The Expressiveness of the Body and the Divergence of Greek and Chinese Medicine-- more about cultural difference, not to mention historical change. I'd thought of Daoism as a thing, but of course, it has a history.

Any recommendations for non-fiction that's promising for world-building?

Comments

[zana16]

The Future Eaters is a great book about how climate, nutrient density, and volcanic activity shaped the cultures of Oceania. And Jared Diamond's books are great for world-building, along the same veins of The Future Eaters in terms of saying what the natural world will build into a culture (and what it won't).