The most recommended books about gravity

Who picked these books? Meet our 13 experts.

13 authors created a book list connected to gravity, and here are their favorite gravity books.
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Book cover of Mozart's Starling

Tove Danovich Author Of Under the Henfluence: Inside the World of Backyard Chickens and the People Who Love Them

From my list on animals helping us understand ourselves.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a freelance journalist who started writing about animals after getting and falling in love with a flock of chickens. Animals are fascinating in their own right but the way we talk about them, and our relationships, shine a fascinating light on humans and what we value. My work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Country Living, and many others. 

Tove's book list on animals helping us understand ourselves

Tove Danovich Why did Tove love this book?

Starlings are everywhere and yet I hadn’t properly seen them until I picked up this book.

The author combines the history of our relationship with the starling, a reviled bird that is nevertheless so much like us, with an up-close view of the species through a pet starling named Carmen. This book will leave you enchanted by the chatty birds. 

By Lyanda Lynn Haupt,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Mozart's Starling as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

On May 27th, 1784, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart met a flirtatious little starling who sang (an improved version of!) the theme from his Piano Concerto Number 17 in G to him. Knowing a kindred spirit when he met one, Mozart wrote "That was wonderful" in his journal and took the bird home to be his pet. For three years Mozart and his family enjoyed the uniquely delightful company of the starling until one April morning when the bird passed away.

In 2013, Lyanda Lynn Haupt, author of Crow Planet, rescued her own starling, Carmen, who has become a part of her…


Book cover of Stalking the Wild Pendulum: On the Mechanics of Consciousness

Mitch Horowitz Author Of Daydream Believer: Unlocking the Ultimate Power of Your Mind

From my list on the extra-physical potentials of the mind.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm a PEN Award-winning historian of alternative spirituality and a writer-in-residence at the New York Public Library. I track the impact and substance of supernatural beliefs—a source of fascination since my Queens, NY, boyhood—in books including Occult America, The Miracle Club, and Uncertain Places. I often say that if you do not write your own history, it gets written for you—usually by people who may not care about or even understand the values that emanate from your work. Given my personal dedication to the spiritual search, I call myself a believing historian (which most historians of religion actually are). I labor to explore the lives, ideas, and practices behind esoteric spirituality.

Mitch's book list on the extra-physical potentials of the mind

Mitch Horowitz Why did Mitch love this book?

It is possible to understand a fact intellectually while being unable to viscerally believe it, such as the proven reality that time slows down in conditions of extreme velocity or gravity (thanks, Dr. Einstein). In a scholarly yet friendly and appealing manner, Bentov explains and illustrates some of these surreal realities, including the myth of linear time, the existence of multiple dimensions, and the infinitude of the psyche.

By Itzhak Bentov,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Stalking the Wild Pendulum as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In his exciting and original view of the universe, Itzhak Bentov has provided a new perspective on human consciousness and its limitless possibilities. Widely known and loved for his delightful humor and imagination, Bentov explains the familiar world of phenomena with perceptions that are as lucid as they are thrilling. He gives us a provocative picture of ourselves in an expanded, conscious, holistic universe.


Book cover of Understanding Architecture

Laura Dushkes Author Of The Architect Says: Quotes, Quips, and Words of Wisdom

From my list on architecture for non-experts.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I was young, my parents gave me a book of quotations. I was hooked. Now I’m the solo librarian for NBBJ, a design firm with 12 offices worldwide and I select and buy books for all 12 offices. I search for the best books to inspire the designers I work with. But I’m aware that not everyone who works for an architectural firm is an architect. We have people in accounting, facilities, tech services, and more. I try to have a selection of books for these people, too – people who are interested in architecture, but aren’t experts. I have a Master’s in medieval history and a Master's in Library and Information Science.

Laura's book list on architecture for non-experts

Laura Dushkes Why did Laura love this book?

I love this book for its approach to teaching about architecture. It’s not a textbook primer on the subject that starts with the ancient world and ends in the modern world. Instead, it covers the basic principles of architecture by covering themes, such as light, landscape, place, and matter. Each theme is illuminated by examples of buildings from the Egyptian pyramids to Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright. The text is easy to read and each example has ample photographs. Truly accessible to all.

By Robert McCarter, Juhani Pallasmaa,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Understanding Architecture as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Intended both as an introductory text for students and professionals in the field as well as an accessible read for the general public, Primer on Architecture (working title) addresses the basic principles of architecture and uncovers its ongoing influence in contemporary culture. The volume is organized in a series of chapters based on key architectural themes--space, time, matter, gravity, light, silence, dwelling, ritual, memory, landscape, and place--with an introductory essay for each chapter that includes a wide variety of historical examples from around the world followed by more in depth analyses of key buildings that further exemplify the theme of…


Book cover of The Last Star

Dave Jeffery Author Of A Quiet Apocalypse

From Dave's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Dystopia lover Humanitarian Mental health advocate Gamer Space cowboy

Dave's 3 favorite reads in 2023

Dave Jeffery Why did Dave love this book?

I love science fiction told with a ‘classical’ slant (for example Isaac Asimov and Arthur C Clarke) and The Last Star takes this approach but infuses it with a modern-day ethos.

An interstellar spacecraft—Drake—crosses the universe, its captain woken from stasis with a few other crewmembers, only to find the rest of their human cargo have been suffocated en route.

I think that Grimwood’s tale is told with such bleakness and detail, it makes for a beguiling read; from the very real friction between the crew as they battle the gravity of being the last few representatives of humanity, the mesmerizing ethical conflict of a genetically crafted ‘future-race’ to propagate humans as a species at the edge of the known universe, and then the poignant and shocking conclusion. I thought this was a cracking read. 

By Terry Grimwood,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Last Star as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Beware god-like aliens bearing gifts

Stasis and inorganic self-repair, new spacefaring technologies for humankind, yet more gifts from its closest extra-terrestrial ally, the Iaens. There are, it seems, no limits to humanity’s outward journey.
Then Lana Reed, Mission Commander of the interstellar colony seeder, Drake, awakes from her own stasis to discover that all but three of the vessel’s other tanks are dark, their occupants suffocated, screaming yet unheard in their high-tech coffins. But the stasis tanks are not all that is dark. The sensors return no readings from outside. The external vid-feeds show only unending blackness.
There are no…


Book cover of Raft

Su Vida Author Of Komoreby

From my list on lesser-known YA/NA with amazing science and futurism.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a massive nerd from a very young age, I have always gravitated towards science and sci-fi stories. When it comes to YA and NA novels, most tend to be dystopian fiction or borrow heavily from fantasy. Hard sci-fi scenarios and real scientific speculation are hard to come by. When well-researched science meets an awesome storyline, that is my definition of perfection—what I love reading and also what I strive for as a writer

Su's book list on lesser-known YA/NA with amazing science and futurism

Su Vida Why did Su love this book?

Raft is an amazing hard sci-fi story that one cannot help but binge-read. It's set in a fascinating, intricately-crafted universe that is sci-fi gold. It immerses readers in an alternate reality where the very laws of physics are different; the effects of which manifest in strange, unexpected ways throughout the story. There are dynamic characters, artistic unity, and real-life social parallels despite the story's dystopian society.

By Stephen Baxter,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Raft as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Stephen Baxter's highly acclaimed first novel and the beginning of his stunning Xeelee Sequence finally enters the SF Masterwork series!

A spaceship from Earth accidentally crossed through a hole in space-time to a universe where the force of gravity is one billion times as strong as the gravity we know. Somehow the crew survived, aided by the fact that they emerged into a cloud of gas surrounding a black hole, which provided a breathable atmosphere.

Five hundred years later, their descendants still struggle for existence, divided into two main groups. The Miners live on the Belt, a ramshackle ring of…


Book cover of Defining Gravity

Laura Hesse Author Of One Frosty Christmas

From my list on middle-grade horse stories for horse-crazy fans.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been passionate about horses and adventure since I was a little girl. I’ve owned many horses over the years, and they all forever live on in the pages of my books. I wrote my book in 2001 while recovering from major surgery. The story was inspired by a young lady I met while volunteering with Nanaimo Therapeutic Riding and a frostbitten Mustang that arrived at Thunderbird Show Park en route from Wyoming to northern British Columbia. I lost my father to cancer a year before the book’s release. In many ways, Hannah Storey’s learning to cope with loss is based on my own. Life is like that, though, isn’t it?

Laura's book list on middle-grade horse stories for horse-crazy fans

Laura Hesse Why did Laura love this book?

I can sympathize with Astrid, the fat kid who just couldn’t fit in because I was the opposite of Astrid growing up; I was the skinny kid that everyone made jokes about. I isolated myself in my room, doodling pictures of horses and dreaming of owning my own horse one day.

Like Astrid, I found my way to a local barn via a connection to my mother, learned how to care for horses, and finally found my dream horse. I competed at horse shows as well, not getting many ribbons but finding absolute joy in bonding spirit to spirit with my horse and making new friends who had the same dreams as I did. Every cloud does have a silver lining.

By Genevieve Mckay,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Defining Gravity as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Astrid never breaks the rules; she’s much too terrified of her overbearing father to step out of line. He controls her weight, her friends, and even her career path. And he doesn’t approve of anyone in their family thinking for themselves.

When one impulsive decision ends in disaster, Astrid is grounded for the summer, forced to put her archery career on hold and take a menial job cleaning horse stalls at a posh dressage barn. It takes a little horse named Quarry and a quirky cast of characters to banish Astrid's unhappiness and show her that she is worth something.…


Book cover of Planet Kindergarten

Nidhi Kamra Author Of Simon's Skin

From my list on space exploration.

Why am I passionate about this?

Who doesn’t like space? I love learning about space! Tip: Picture books are easier to comprehend compared to graduate courses – there’s only so much of Newton-Euler dynamics, inertia tensors, eccentricity vectors, etc. one can handle. Plus, there are no nasty mind-boggling equations in picture books. I mean, do you really want to calculate the maximum flight path angle and the true anomaly at which it occurs? Or solve Kepler’s equations for hyperbolic eccentric anomaly? No, right? Always stick to the picture book if you have a choice! I mentioned some fun picture books (fiction and non-fiction) with amusing or complementing illustrations that helped me on my journey to understanding space. Enjoy!

Nidhi's book list on space exploration

Nidhi Kamra Why did Nidhi love this book?

In this brilliant book, the author draws parallels between the first day of kindergarten and a space mission – it turns out the two are not that different, after all. There are gravity issues in kindergarten as well, with kids trying hard to stay in their seats, and hands flying up. There’s the equivalent commander in the teacher, mission control in the principal, crewmates, experiments, and a flight plan! Peppered with space lingo, this charming book is double the reading pleasure, with its combined introduction to space and kindergarten. I am all set for kindergarten now. Can’t wait! Again, a great read for little humans.

By Sue Ganz-Schmitt, Shane Prigmore (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Planet Kindergarten as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 3, 4, and 5.

What is this book about?

Suit up for a daring adventure as our hero navigates the unknown reaches and alien inhabitants of a planet called . . . Kindergarten. This clever book will prepare bold young explorers for their next mission-whether it's a strange, new world . . . or somewhere much closer to home.


Book cover of Gravity's Heir

Kurt D. Springs

From Kurt's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Teacher Cook Barista Guardian

Kurt's 3 favorite reads in 2023

Kurt D. Springs Why did Kurt love this book?

This book is so reminiscent of Andre Norton’s Solar Queen series, it made me nostalgic.

Helena (Lena to her friends) Lomasky, is the pilot of the cargo ship Aspasia when she and her friends find themselves in possession of plans for a gravity bomb designed by her estranged father.

I enjoyed Sara Bond’s mixture of political intrigue, interplanetary war, and a dash of a good old-fashioned game of “Hide the Macguffin.” I’ve had a hard time recently finding books that are hard to put down, so this one was a treat.

By Sara Bond,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Gravity's Heir as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of The First Men in the Moon

Michael Newton Author Of The Origins of Science Fiction

From my list on science fiction books about visiting alien worlds.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a cultural historian, film critic, literary critic, editor, and essayist–and a frustrated fiction writer–fascinated by ‘the fantastic’ in art or in life. Answering that fascination, I wrote Savage Girls and Wild Boys: A History of Feral Children (2002), and I’ve written two books for the BFI Film Classics series on two great movies of the fantastic, Rosemary’s Baby (2020) and It’s A Wonderful Life (2023). I also edited three anthologies of Victorian and Edwardian fantasy, The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce (2010) and Victorian Fairy Tales (2015), and now an anthology, Origins of Science Fiction (2022) for Oxford World’s Classics. 

Michael's book list on science fiction books about visiting alien worlds

Michael Newton Why did Michael love this book?

I fell in love with this book when I was eleven years old, and I still love it now. That’s despite the fact that I now see just how corrupt and vicious the first human visitors to the moon truly are.

Yet there are moments here that still hold the old enchantment. There’s the instant when the "hero" grasps that night is falling on the moon, and as the shadow of a new, strange "sunset" starts to lengthen that he has perhaps only minutes to live, or there’s the encounter with the Selenites and the realization that he faces an absolutely alien consciousness with no connection to his own.

No-one outdoes Wells in making the fantastic utterly real to the reader.

By H. G. Wells,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The First Men in the Moon as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When penniless businessman Mr Bedford retreats to the Kent coast to write a play, he meets by chance the brilliant Dr Cavor, an absent-minded scientist on the brink of developing a material that blocks gravity. Cavor soon succeeds in his experiments, only to tell a stunned Bedford the invention makes possible one of the oldest dreams of humanity: a journey to the moon. With Bedford motivated by money, and Cavor by the desire for knowledge, the two embark on the expedition. But neither are prepared for what they find - a world of freezing nights, boiling days and sinister alien…


Book cover of Space Boy Omnibus Volume 1

Charline Davis Author Of Rowtu: The New Horizon

From Charline's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Dog lover Artist Dreamer Classical singer

Charline's 3 favorite reads in 2023

Charline Davis Why did Charline love this book?

Space Boy is the most thoughtful, character-driven comic I have ever read! Perfect for both children and adults, this story intimately reflects the everyday pains, joys, and friendships of life all through a futuristic Sci-Fi setting.

This book, along with the rest of the series, has truly become one of my all-time favorites! So relatable and healing for anyone who has been through traumas such as moving, loss, and PTSD. And all done in an extremely sensitive and deft manner. The best thing is, it is available as a free webcomic as well as in print—although I absolutely adore the physical copies! 

By Stephen McCranie,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Space Boy Omnibus Volume 1 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

Stephen McCraine’s Space Boy volumes 1-3 in one book!

To Amy, everyone has a flavor. When her dad loses his job on their remote deep space mining colony, Amy and her family are forced to start a new life back on Earth.

Emerging from a cryotube after a 30 year voyage, Amy awakes to find herself in a strange land of heavy gravity, weird people, and an endless blue sky. High school seems difficult at first, but Amy is soon able to settle into a comfortable group of friends that help make the transition easier. But one of Amy’s classmates…