Taking us beyond the earthly limits of our home planet, astronomy helps us discover new horizons, in the solar system and beyond.
To come up with book recommendations on astronomy, we've interviewed Andrew Chaikin, author of A man on the moon, on space exploration, author Stuart Clark on astronomers, and science writer, Marcus Chown, on cosmology. If you're more interested in the possibility of extraterrestrial life, have a look at our book selections on life below the surface of the Earth and life beyond Earth.
Elsewhere astronomer Phiip Plait explores the wonders of the universe, Dava Sobel, author of the award winning book Longitude chooses her best books on the early history of astronomy and Professor Andrew Lawrence looks at astronomy, physics and people. Pedro G Ferreira, professor of astrophysics at Oxford University, chooses his best books on the universe and Caroline Smith of London’s Natural History Museum looks at meteorites.
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1
The First 3 Minutes
by Steven Weinberg -
2
The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself
by Sean M Carroll -
3
How the Universe Got Its Spots: Diary of a Finite Time in a Finite Space
by Janna Levin -
4
A Brief History of Time
by Stephen Hawking -
5
Black Holes and Time Warps
by Kip S Thorne
The Best Books on the Big Bang, recommended by Dan Hooper
The Best Books on the Big Bang, recommended by Dan Hooper
Before Einstein, how the universe began was a question for theologians, not scientists. Over a century later, we know much more, but not enough to do more than guess at what happened at the moment of the Big Bang and immediately after. Astrophysicist Dan Hooper, author of At the Edge of Time—a book that explores dark energy, dark matter and other things we don’t yet understand—talks us through books about the Big Bang, and questions whether our entire understanding of the universe is about to be turned upside down.
The best books on Life Below the Surface of the Earth, recommended by Tullis Onstott
The ‘subterranaut’ describes how the discovery of ancient bacteria miles beneath the Earth’s surface opens the possibility of finding life on Mars. He picks five books that show how our knowledge of life deep in this planet could lead us to discover it elsewhere.
Books on the Wonders of The Universe, recommended by Philip Plait
Philip Plait urges us to remember that “science isn’t an encyclopedia of facts to memorise. It’s alive.” The astronomer and author of the acclaimed Bad Astronomy blog discusses books that can’t help but light the fire of interest in all things astronomical. He looks at how we can date the age of the universe, the danger of solar flares, and why Pluto is no longer classed as a planet.
