On the Loadstone and Magnetic Bodies by William Gilbert, 1600

A contemporary of Shakesphere his experiments in Magnetism were not to be improved for 200 years.

Micrographia by Robert Hooke, 1665

He was the rock on which the Royal Society of London was built. He described not only the microscopic world but also geology and the nature of light etc, some of his ideas were apparently borrowed by Newton

On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin, 1859

Charles Darwin is Charles Darwin. It will be nice to find a print that has a larger font.

Fragments of Science by John Tyndall, 1871

Its wide ranging topics include the nature of heat and light, spectroscopy, glaciology and the composition of sun. A contemporary of Aldous Huxley and equally popular.

Six Easy Pieces, by Richard P. Feynman, Addison-wesley, 1994

Feynman is Feynman.

Credits

Taken from Dr. John Gribbin as laid out in WSJ, April 14th, 2007