Philip Ball, Designing the Molecular World: Chemistry at the Frontier, 1996 "Ball explains how chemists are exploiting new technologies to make enzyme catalysts for industry, to develop new synthetic superconductors, to fabricate high-strength plastics from liquid-crystal polymers, to control the effects of pollution on the environment, and to create revolutionary drugs based on nucleic acids rather than proteins"
Tom Shachtman, Absolute Zero, 1999. A History of the quest for low temperatures including the theory that refridgeration was responsible for the westward expansion of the US.
Ann Sayre, Rosalind Franklin and DNA
A sympathetic biography of the woman who supplied the data which
led to the discovery of the DNA double helix.
James Watson, The Double Helix
Watson's gossipy account of the discovery of the DNA double helix.
An interesting contrast with Ann Sayre's book.
Horace Judson, The Eighth Day of Creation
A more objective account of the discovery of the DNA double helix,
the Central Dogma and gene regulation. Long, but worth reading
if you are interested in the development of molecular biology
Richard Preston, Hot Zone .--There are many books in the genre of viral epidemics, including The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus That Caused It. by Gina Bari Kolata (non-fiction).
Primo Levi, The Periodic Table Autobiographical essays about each element set in Italy during the rise of fascism during the author's chemistry studies.
Frank Herbert, Dune (and sequels). Excellent science fiction about life on a planet where water conservation is of absolute importance.