I think they (books like Freakonomics, Tipping Point, etc) mostly emerge from the desperation that economics as a science gets far behind explaining the real world, new economy, new normal by the day. Not that I`m saying there is a need for new economics theory but there is a certain need for someone wise enough to interpret what is going on under dynamically changing environment without blurring others` minds with complicated calculations. Maybe economics is entering into public life just as physics or chemistry did centuries ago. Everyone knows that when s/he drops an apple, it would fall due to gravity even if s/he never took a science lesson in his/her life.

You right of course, what I’m trying to say is that Einstein and other geniuses works are valuable because they entered people’s daily lives, people other than academicians understand their findings without any technical background. But in economics (maybe because it is too early for such a new science) that’s not the case. It’s far above people’s understanding. That’s why I find those people’s work important. They are not genius and probably will never be as valuable as any mathematician but it is good to see some people showing practical uses of what theory suggests and interpret it to ordinary people.