Books by Neil deGrasse Tyson
“Tyson offers a view of the cosmos from the very small to the very big…The book shows how we fit in the universe, from our place here on the Earth to our place in the wider cosmos. He starts out at the personal level, then zooms out and out and out until, at the end, you have what he calls ‘the cosmic view.’ Tyson shows that we are insignificant specs in the enormous universe. To some people, it could be depressing. We’re tiny little things in this grand cosmic machine. His view is more joyful—and he really is very convincing about this—it’s a sort of celebration of our place in this amazing universe.” Read more...
James Riordon, Science Writer
“Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist at the American Museum of Natural History…We felt this book was just really nicely written. In the first sentence he writes, ‘in the beginning, nearly 14 billion years ago, the entire universe was smaller than the period that ends this sentence.’ He really has a good way of capturing the enormity of what you’re looking at. The book has nice little digressions too, where he talks about the physics. So there’s a little bit about Newton and the impact that had and then there’s things about the oblateness of the Earth—in other words, it isn’t exactly spherical—and that you’re a little bit lighter at the equator than you are at the poles.” Read more...
The Best Science Books for Kids: the 2020 Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize
Mike Kendall, Scientist
Interviews where books by Neil deGrasse Tyson were recommended
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1
Astrophysics for Young People in a Hurry
by Neil deGrasse Tyson & with Gregory Mone -
2
Cats React to Science Facts
by Izzi Howell -
3
In the Key of Code
by Aimee Lucido -
4
How to Win a Nobel Prize
by Barry Marshall, Bernard Caleo (illustrator) & with Lorna Hendry -
5
Gut Garden: A journey into the wonderful world of your microbiome
by Katie Brosnan -
6
Everyday Journeys Of Ordinary Things
by Libby Deutsch & Valpuri Kerttula (illustrator)
The Best Science Books for Kids: the 2020 Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize, recommended by Mike Kendall
The Best Science Books for Kids: the 2020 Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize, recommended by Mike Kendall
To find the best science books for kids, the judges of the Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize look for books that are not only accurate but also entertaining. Mike Kendall, Professor of Geophysics at Oxford University and chair of this year’s judging panel, talks us through the six fabulous books that made the 2020 shortlist (the final winner will be chosen by the real experts: more than 13,000 kids).
The best books on Gravity, recommended by James Riordon
Since the 17th century, we’ve been aware that the force that causes apples to fall from a tree is the same force that holds the planets in the sky, but we still don’t know everything there is to know about gravity, says James Riordon, a science writer at NASA and author of Crush: Close Encounters with Gravity. He picks his favourite books on gravity—from the equations you need to understand it to a funny book about what it’s like to live without it.
