I am an associate professor of astrophysics at the University of Portsmouth’s Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation and a research associate at the American Museum of Natural History. I use telescopes on Earth and in space to study supernovae (the explosions of stars) and tidal disruption events (bright flares caused by supermassive black holes ripping apart nearby stars). I have wanted to be a scientist since second grade, and some of the books on this list have helped kindle my passion for physics and astronomy. I hope that my own popular science books will do the same for the next generation of astronomers.
Ever look up at the night sky and wonder where, exactly, all those constellations everyone keeps talking about are? In this book, H. A. Rey (better known for creating Curious George!) provides all the information you will ever need to identify the constellations and observe them as they move across the sky throughout the seasons.
I was amazed to learn that some of the diagrams we use to illustrate constellations were drawn by H. A. Rey, who found the ancient diagrams unreliable (I have only ever known Gemini the way Rey drew it, yet I never knew it was him until I chanced on this book). The explanations are incredibly detailed but easy to follow, and the charming cartoons sprinkled throughout the book made me wish H. A. and Margaret Rey had written a Curious George book about astronomy, as well.
The go-to guide to the stars for beginners and experts alike.
With clear, readable text, easy-to-follow diagrams, and a sprinkling of H. A. Rey's irrepressible humor, The Stars: A New Way to See Them gives sparkle to the constellations and makes the mechanics of the universe intelligible to even the novice astronomer.
This updated version of the classic text includes revised facts and figures for planets and new scientific details,
This is a clear, vivid astronomy reference book. As Learning Through Literature puts it: "The Stars: A New Way to See Them is a great introduction to astronomy. It's readable…
I am an author, editor, lecturer, and sometime broadcaster on astronomy and space. My early interest in the possibilities of extraterrestrial life and interstellar communication led me to write my first books, Worlds Beyond (1975) and Messages from the Stars (1978). This interest also led me to investigate UFO sightings, but I soon realized that their explanation lies in human misperception and not ETs. My investigation and explanation of the famous Rendlesham Forest UFO case of December 1980, widely regarded as one of the top-ten cases worldwide and sometimes known as Britain's Roswell, can be found here. In conjunction with the outstanding Dutch celestial cartographer Wil Tirion, I have produced two standard observing guides for amateur astronomers.
Carl Sagan was that most unusual of creatures: a top scientist who was also a lyrical writer. In an era when scientists were still wary of dealing with the press – an aversion that he helped overturn – his books were particularly influential in promoting the search for extraterrestrial life, both on the planets of our own Solar System (notably Mars) and on planets of other stars. In nearly 40 short, varied essays, The Cosmic Connection outlines our links with the cosmos around us, raises the possibility that we are not alone, and discusses what we might do if an extraterrestrial contact were to be received.
In 1973, Carl Sagan published The Cosmic Connection, a daring view of the universe, which rapidly became a classic work of popular science and inspired a generation of scientists and enthusiasts. This seminal work is reproduced here for a whole new generation to enjoy. In Sagan's typically lucid, lyrical style, he discusses many topics from astrophysics and solar system science, to colonization of other worlds, terraforming and the search for extraterrestrials. Sagan conveys his own excitement and wonder, and relates the revelations of astronomy to the most profound human problems and concerns: issues that are just as valid today as…
The Cat in the Hat takes readers on an out of this world reading adventure through outer space! The Cat in the Hat's Learning Library is a nonfiction picture book series that introduces beginning readers ages 5-8 to important basic concepts.
Learn about the solar system, planets, the constellations, and astronauts, and explore the wonders of space with the help of everyone' favorite Cat in the Hat! Perfect for aspiring astraunauts, or any kid who loves learning and science.
The universe is a mysterious place. We are only just learning what happens in space.
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!
Poor Pluto! Earthlings are wretched, despicable creatures. How dare they ask Pluto if they can call him Plutoid!
In this hilarious, fact-filled book, Pluto gets the call from us dreadful, “Earth’s meanest jerks” – humans, giving him the ‘news.’ All of us on Earth heard the news, but Pluto was informed of his downgrade a wee bit later. Follow newly-demoted Pluto and the rest of the planets on a fun journey of acceptance. The author has done a fabulous job of interleaving (mostly) facts and fiction. The story is told with speech bubbles, many of which will leave you chuckling. There are also some great puns. Don’t miss this one!
Pluto gets a call from Earth telling him he isn’t a planet anymore, so he sets out on a journey through the solar system to find out why in this funny and fact-filled romp that’s perfect for fans of The Scrambled States of America.
Pluto loves being a planet. That is, until the day he gets a call from some Earth scientists telling him he isn’t a planet anymore! You probably wanted to meet a real planet, huh? So, Pluto takes the reader on a hilarious and informative journey through the solar system to introduce the other planets and commiserate…
I volunteered at my local library in small-town North Carolina from a very young age. One day I picked up Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, cementing my love of science. Sagan’s explanation that we’re all just a speck on the pale blue dot called Earth spoke to me and made me curious to know more. I begged my parents to let me go to Space Camp in Alabama and I went to North Carolina Governor’s School for Physics. I didn’t pursue a scientific career but I always retained my love of science. When I finally became an author in my 40s, I knew I would someday write a sci-fi time travel romance—eventually, A Paradox of Fates was born.
Tyson has done a wonderful job taking over as the layman’s communicator about science after his mentor, Carl Sagan, returned to the stars. This book in particular explains a plethora of scientific questions while showcasing Tyson’s humor and overall science acumen. I enjoy anything he writes and always find his books informative and witty.
Readers of his essays in Natural History magazine recognise Neil deGrasse Tyson's talent for guiding them through the mysteries of the cosmos with clarity and enthusiasm. Here, Tyson compiles his favourite essays across a myriad of topics. The title essay introduces readers to the physics of black holes by explaining the gory details of what would happen to your body if you fell into one. "Holy Wars" examines the needless friction between science and religion in the context of historical conflicts. And "Hollywood Nights" assails the movie industry's feeble efforts to get its night skies right.
I have been in love with the Universe since I was a kid. Astronomy has always been my passion, and eventually became my career. This drove me to get my astronomy PhD and work on Hubble for a decade before starting to write and do public outreach about science. I’ve been on podcasts, radio, TV, and consulted for books and blockbuster sci-fi movies. I love science and science fiction – stories are one of the most powerful ways we relate to the Universe. I live and breathe this stuff every day, and my greatest joy is motivating that passion for science in others.
Astronomer Mike Brown is dedicated to finding small icy worlds beyond Neptune.
His discovery of the frozen object Eris in 2005—only slightly smaller but more massive than Pluto—is credited for kick-starting the official debate of how we define a planet, and this book is his personal telling of that story.
He weaves it together with the birth of his daughter in a well-told and engaging tale that will give you insight on how discoveries can change how we see the Universe.
The solar system most of us grew up with included nine planets, with Mercury closest to the sun and Pluto at the outer edge. Then, in 2005, astronomer Mike Brown made the discovery of a lifetime: a tenth planet, Eris, slightly bigger than Pluto. But instead of its resulting in one more planet being added to our solar system, Brown’s find ignited a firestorm of controversy that riled the usually sedate world of astronomy and launched him into the public eye. The debate culminated in the demotion of Pluto from real planet to the newly coined category of “dwarf” planet.…
I am an award-winning children’s book author who writes stories about unexpected friends, women who did the impossible, people who are (almost) forgotten & ideas that seem too complicated until I find the right way to tell them.
Pluto’s Secret is the tale of Pluto’s discovery, naming, and demotion from planet to “icy world.” Along the way, it is jam-packed with details about astronomy, with Pluto jumping in with its endearing point of view. Immersed in Pluto’s world this way, Pluto’s Secret is a fun and upbeat way to learn about planets as well as the way astronomy is done.
People, children especially, have been baffled, bewildered, and even outraged by the fact that Pluto is no longer called a planet. Through whimsical artwork and an entertaining dialogue format, Pluto's Secret explains the true story of this distant world, including its recent reclassification. Includes a glossary and bibliography.
As a child I was fascinated by space, planets, and the stars. Now I am a planetary scientist who has been involved with NASA’s interplanetary missions for four decades. I am curious, passionate about space exploration and discovery, and have been in leadership roles on some of these missions. I am also passionate about communicating these discoveries to the public. Learn about the planets from an expert, an insider who was there in the thick of the action during key times and who wants to communicate this excitement to you.
The search for life outside the Earth is NASA’s greatest quest, and this book will bring you up to speed on it. Just a few decades ago, scientists thought life arose on the Earth in shallow seas, warmed by the early sun and zapped by energy-producing lightning. The best place to look for alien life was on Mars, where bacterial life may have formed in the shallow pools that covered the young Mars, and then hunkered down in subsurface spots of Martian water and ice as these pools evaporated. Scientists now suspect life arose in warm vents deep in the Earth’s ocean. Subsurface oceans in the moons of the outer Solar System may contain similar vents that serve as breeding grounds for primitive life. Kevin Hand describes NASA’s current missions and instruments to find this life in alien oceans.
Inside the epic quest to find life on the water-rich moons at the outer reaches of the solar system
Where is the best place to find life beyond Earth? We often look to Mars as the most promising site in our solar system, but recent scientific missions have revealed that some of the most habitable real estate may actually lie farther away. Beneath the frozen crusts of several of the small, ice-covered moons of Jupiter and Saturn lurk vast oceans that may have existed for as long as Earth, and together may contain more than fifty times its total volume…
I am an associate professor of neuroscience at the Donders Institute in the Netherlands. My research lab focuses on discovering how the brain uses electrical signaling to compute information, and transfer information across different regions of the brain. I also have a few decades of experience teaching scientific coding, data analysis, statistics, and related topics, and have authored several online courses and textbooks. I have a suspiciously dry sense of humor and insufficient patience to read five books on the same topic.
“Are we alone?” An age-old question that we may never answer. Andrew May walks us through the scientific study of whether there might be life elsewhere in the universe, and how we might identify it. And by “scientific study,” I mean actual scientific investigations, not wishy-washy sci-fi fluff. The book is both inspiring and terrifying, because the immense distances in space and time make you realize that intelligent life is both incredibly insignificant and incredibly precious.
Extraterrestrial life is a common theme in science fiction, but is it a serious prospect in the real world? Astrobiology is the emerging field of science that seeks to answer this question.
The possibility of life elsewhere in the cosmos is one of the most profound subjects that human beings can ponder. Astrophysicist Andrew May gives an expert overview of our current state of knowledge, looking at how life started on Earth, the tell-tale 'signatures' it produces, and how such signatures might be detected elsewhere in the Solar System or on the many 'exoplanets' now being discovered by the Kepler…
I have always loved writing and drawing, so the perfect combination of these two passions is creating picture books. I began my career as a nonfiction book editor, writing texts for illustrated children’s books. I soon became a freelance writer and have never looked back. I love writing on many subjects for readers from kindergarten to high school—but my favorite is writing narrative non-fiction picture books. I get a kick out of finding just the right story to communicate tricky information so the reader has fun while they learn. This is the best way to discover amazing truths about our incredible world.
I am a kid at heart, and like most kids, I can’t get enough of the planets and space in general. This wildly entertaining picture book introduces the reader to the solar system via a crazy spaceship ride with a small girl and her dog. The story has brilliantly paced rhyming text and zippy neon and black cartoon illustrations that anthropomorphize the planets in a way that cleverly matches their characteristics.
Everything plays its part in this book—I love the way that even the curved typography echoes the movement and excitement of the content. We learn many facts about the planets as the spaceship zooms; by the time we return to Earth with our astronaut guides, we are much wiser and better informed. Stellar!
Zoooooooom! We're off on an exciting space adventure in our rocket to meet all the planets of the solar system.
Join in with the rhymes and spot all the smiley-faced, friendly planets, from shimmering Saturn to mighty Mars. Little ones will have a blast (and be back in time for bed!) in this striking, read-aloud, story-led picture book. Combining STEM learning with a rhyming twist, it's perfect for all would-be astronauts!
Don't miss the other titles in this fantastic picture book series: Meet the Weather and Meet the Oceans. Packed with big, beautiful illustrations, fascinating facts and fun rhymes, these…
