100 Best Cosmology Books of All Time

Cosmos has 13 heavily illustrated chapters, corresponding to the 13 episodes of the Cosmos television series. In the book, Sagan explores 15 billion years of cosmic evolution and the development of science and civilization. Cosmos traces the origins of knowledge and the scientific method, mixing science and philosophy, and speculates to the future of science. The book also discusses the underlying

Recommended by Richard Branson, Ante Shoda, Anurag Ramdasan, and 1 others.

Richard Branson

Founder/Virgin Group

Today is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. [source]

Ante Shoda

It explains 14 billion years of the evolution of the universe, a sort of engineering experiment on the largest possible scale. It spans all scales of space and time, describing everything from the largest scales of the universe to the smallest scales of molecules and atoms. It’s a good book for putting everything in perspective. [source]

Anurag Ramdasan

This book helped draft a great perspective on the world and the universe at large and made me a fan of the Cosmos!

3

The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality

Brian Greene

4.7

From Brian Greene, one of the world’s leading physicists and author the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Elegant Universe, comes a grand tour of the universe that makes us look at reality in a completely different way.

Space and time form the very fabric of the cosmos. Yet they remain among the most mysterious of concepts. Is space an entity? Why does time have a direction? Could the universe exist with

Recommended by Walter Isaacson and Sean M Carroll.

Walter Isaacson

Author

This is the clearest explanation of Newton and Einstein available, and Greene does it with a great sense of humour and wonderful visual thought experiments. [source]

It covers issues that don’t get attention in other places, such as the nature of time, the nature of space and really gives you a profound understanding of the universe. [source]

4

The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory

Brian Greene

4.7

The international bestseller that inspired a major Nova special and sparked a new understanding of the universe, now with a new preface and epilogue.

Brian Greene, one of the world's leading string theorists, peels away layers of mystery to reveal a universe that consists of eleven dimensions, where the fabric of space tears and repairs itself, and all matter—from the smallest quarks to the most ga

Recommended by Mark Kurlansky, Steven Gubser, and Tom Clarke.

Mark Kurlansky

I love this book. Brian Greene makes quantum physics and Einstein’s theory of relativity really make sense, so you can understand something which nobody seems to understand [source]

Steven Gubser

The book works at many levels – I gave a copy to my mom when it came out, and I also received very positive impressions about the book from Norman Ramsey, who is a Nobel Prize physicist at Harvard. So it’s a great achievement, and part of why it’s a great achievement is that it covers not only string theory but also the accepted pillars of 20th-century theoretical physics, namely, quantum mechanics and relativity. [source]

Tom Clarke

This book is perhaps the public debut of string theory – an attempt to explain how the best of the big and the small theories might be linked to explain the entire universe. [source]

5

The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself

Sean Carroll

4.5

Already internationally acclaimed for his elegant, lucid writing on the most challenging notions in modern physics, Sean Carroll is emerging as one of the greatest humanist thinkers of his generation as he brings his extraordinary intellect to bear not only on Higgs bosons and extra dimensions but now also on our deepest personal questions. Where are we? Who are we? Are our emotions, our beliefs,

Recommended by Elon Musk, Dan Hooper, and K Ken Nakamura.

Elon Musk

Founder/SpaceX

Highly recommend. [source]

Dan Hooper

Most physicists think they’re good at philosophy when they’re actually terrible at it. That’s why I thought The Big Picture really stood out. It’s asking questions that philosophers of science might ask, from the perspective of a physicist who is also informed as a philosopher. [source]

K Ken Nakamura

I finished "The BIG Picture" by @seanmcarroll It is a great book, must read for everyone. I have 2 comments: 1) In P134, the author implied that even History can be considered a science, which was quite surprise for me. (to be continued) https://t.co/NVKKA7qxpB [source]

6

A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing

Lawrence M. Krauss, Richard Dawkins

4.5

Bestselling author and acclaimed physicist Lawrence Krauss offers a paradigm-shifting view of how everything that exists came to be in the first place.

“Where did the universe come from? What was there before it? What will the future bring? And finally, why is there something rather than nothing?”

One of the few prominent scientists today to have crossed the chasm between science and popular culture

Recommended by Charles T. Munger and Charlie Munger.

7

The First Three Minutes: A Modern View of the Origin of the Universe

Steven Weinberg

4.5

A Nobel Prize-winning physicist explains what happened at the very beginning of the universe, and how we know, in this popular science classic.

Our universe has been growing for nearly 14 billion years. But almost everything about it, from the elements that forged stars, planets, and lifeforms, to the fundamental forces of physics, can be traced back to what happened in just the first three minutes

Recommended by Dan Hooper, David Goldberg, and Tim Radford.

Dan Hooper

Steve Weinberg is arguably the most brilliant physicist of the last many decades. He’s an absolute luminary. He also happens to be a really good writer and communicator. I’ve liked all of the books of his I’ve read, but I picked The First Three Minutes because it is the classic book about the Big Bang and the first three minutes of our universe’s history. [source]

David Goldberg

Another one that has to be on any list like this is The First Three Minutes by Steven Weinberg, a Nobel Prize-winner. It’s a relatively slim volume, in which he describes what happened in the first three minutes of the Big Bang, as it was known and understood back then 1977. We’ve learned a fair amount since then and some of the details in his original version are a little off, but the basic picture is still incredibly accurate. It’s just a really great description of the beginning of the universe, and almost every book on cosmology will include some variants of Weinberg’s description because he walks through it in such a clear way. [source]

Tim Radford

Not only is it the beginning of the universe, it’s the beginning of books about the universe. [source]

8

A Short History of Nearly Everything

Bill Bryson

4.4

In Bryson's biggest book, he confronts his greatest challenge: to understand—and, if possible, answer—the oldest, biggest questions we have posed about the universe and ourselves. Taking as territory everything from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization, Bryson seeks to understand how we got from there being nothing at all to there being us. To that end, he has attached himself to a host of the

Recommended by Amanda Palmer, David Goldberg, and Fabrice Grinda.

Amanda Palmer

Amanda Palmer recommended this book in the book "Tools of Titans". [source]

David Goldberg

What I really liked about A Short History of Nearly Everything is that it gives an excellent account of a lot of the personalities and the interconnectedness of important discoveries in cosmology and elsewhere. He does such a great job of bringing together our understanding of cosmology, evolution, paleontology, and geology in a very, very fluid way. [source]

Fabrice Grinda

I have lots of books to recommend, but they are not related to my career path. The only one that is remotely related is Peter Thiel’s Zero to One. That said here are books I would recommend. [source]

9

The Grand Design

Stephen Hawking

4.4

THE FIRST MAJOR WORK IN NEARLY A DECADE BY ONE OF THE WORLD'S GREAT THINKERS--A MARVELOUSLY CONCISE BOOK WITH NEW ANSWERS TO THE ULTIMATE QUESTIONS OF LIFE
When and how did the universe begin? Why are we here? Why is there something rather than nothing? What is the nature of reality? Why are the laws of nature so finely tuned as to allow for the existence of beings like ourselves? And, finally, is

Recommended by Benjamin Humphrey.

Benjamin Humphrey

This book covers the history of the science behind the universe. Hawking is a good writer, and he has a knack for explaining complex concepts in smart metaphors. I like the book (and his other work) because it really hammers home the cosmic scale and how little time we all have to make an impact and enjoy our life. [source]

10

Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries

Neil deGrasse Tyson

4.4

A vibrant collection of essays on the cosmos from the nation's best-known astrophysicist. "One of today's best popularizers of science." —Kirkus Reviews.

Loyal readers of the monthly "Universe" essays in Natural History magazine have long recognized Neil deGrasse Tyson's talent for guiding them through the mysteries of the cosmos with stunning clarity and almost childlike enthusiasm. Here, Tyson co

11

Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space

Carl Sagan

4.4

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Carl Sagan traces our exploration of space and suggests that our very survival may depend on the wise use of other worlds. This stirring book reveals how scientific discovery has altered our perception of who we are and where we stand, and challenges us to weigh what we will do with that knowledge. Photos, many in color.

12

The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos

Brian Greene

4.4

From the best-selling author of The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos comes his most expansive and accessible book to date—a book that takes on the grandest question: Is ours the only universe?

There was a time when “universe” meant all there is. Everything. Yet, in recent years discoveries in physics and cosmology have led a number of scientists to conclude that our universe may be one

13

The Universe in a Nutshell

Stephen William Hawking

4.4

Stephen Hawking’s phenomenal, multimillion-copy bestseller, A Brief History of Time, introduced the ideas of this brilliant theoretical physicist to readers all over the world.

Now, in a major publishing event, Hawking returns with a lavishly illustrated sequel that unravels the mysteries of the major breakthroughs that have occurred in the years since the release of his acclaimed first book.

14

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry

Neil deGrasse Tyson

4.4

What is the nature of space and time? How do we fit within the universe? How does the universe fit within us? There’s no better guide through these mind-expanding questions than acclaimed astrophysicist and best-selling author Neil deGrasse Tyson.

But today, few of us have time to contemplate the cosmos. So Tyson brings the universe down to Earth succinctly and clearly, with sparkling wit, in tasty

Recommended by Vinod Khosla.

Vinod Khosla

Co-Founder/Sun Microsystem

Great, very quick overview of astrophysics. Easily accessible. [source]

15

Parallel Worlds: A Journey through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmos

Michio Kaku

4.3

In this thrilling journey into the mysteries of our cosmos, bestselling author Michio Kaku takes us on a dizzying ride to explore black holes and time machines, multidimensional space and, most tantalizing of all, the possibility that parallel universes may lay alongside our own. Kaku skillfully guides us through the latest innovations in string theory and its latest iteration, M-theory, which pos

16

Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe

Simon Singh

4.3

A half century ago, a shocking Washington Post headline claimed that the world began in five cataclysmic minutes rather than having existed for all time; a skeptical scientist dubbed the maverick theory the Big Bang. In this amazingly comprehensible history of the universe, Simon Singh decodes the mystery behind the Big Bang theory, lading us through the development of one of the most extraordinar

17

Our Mathematical Universe: My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality

Max Tegmark

4.3

Our Mathematical Universe is a journey to explore the mysteries uncovered by cosmology and to discover the nature of reality. Our Big Bang, our distant future, parallel worlds, the sub-atomic and intergalactic - none of them are what they seem. But there is a way to understand this immense strangeness - mathematics. Seeking an answer to the fundamental puzzle of why our universe seems so mathemati

Recommended by Mark Cuban.

Mark Cuban

Entrepreneur / Shark Tank

On Mark Cuban's list of books to read in 2018. [source]

18

A Briefer History of Time

Stephen Hawking, Leonard Mlodinow

4.3

Stephen Hawking's worldwide bestseller, A Brief History of Time, has been a landmark volume in scientific writing. Its author's engaging voice is one reason, and the compelling subjects he addresses is another; the nature of space and time, the role of God in creation, the history and future of the universe. But it is also true that in the years since its publication, readers have repeatedly told

19

Reality Is Not What It Seems: The Journey to Quantum Gravity

Carlo Rovelli, Simon Carnell, Erica Segre

4.3

“The man who makes physics sexy . . . the scientist they’re calling the next Stephen Hawking.” —The Times Magazine

From the New York Times–bestselling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, a closer look at the mind-bending nature of the universe.

What are time and space made of? Where does matter come from? And what exactly is reality? Theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli has spent his whole life

Recommended by Caspar Henderson.

Caspar Henderson

He’s got a good, simple style, and he has a great capability to explain. [source]

20

Einstein: His Life and Universe

Walter Isaacson

4.3

Einstein was a rebel and nonconformist from boyhood days, and these character traits drove both his life and his science. In this narrative, Walter Isaacson explains how his mind worked and the mysteries of the universe that he discovered.

Recommended by Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and 5 others.

CEO/Microsoft

On Bill Gates's reading list in 2011. [source]

Elon Musk

Founder/SpaceX

I didn't read actually very many general business books, but I like biographies and autobiographies, I think those are pretty helpful. Actually, a lot of them aren't really business. … I also feel it’s worth reading books on scientists and engineers. [source]

Ed Zschau

Ed Zschau recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show". [source]

21

Black Holes & Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy

Kip S. Thorne, Stephen Hawking

4.3

Ever since Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity burst upon the world in 1915 some of the most brilliant minds of our century have sought to decipher the mysteries bequeathed by that theory, a legacy so unthinkable in some respects that even Einstein himself rejected them.

Which of these bizarre phenomena, if any, can really exist in our universe? Black holes, down which anything can fall

Recommended by Dan Hooper and Sean M Carroll.

Dan Hooper

This book is just plain fun. I said before that if somebody asked me for a book to learn about relativity, I probably wouldn’t pick Einstein’s: I would pick Kip Thorne’s. [source]

Kip Thorne’s book mostly focuses on space time. It is really the most modern exposition yet at a popular level of Einstein’s theory of relativity…So if you want to know what a wormhole is, and how time machines might work, this is the book for you. [source]

22

The Demon-haunted World: Science As a Candle in the Dark

Carl Sagan

4.3

How can we make intelligent decisions about our increasingly technology-driven lives if we don’t understand the difference between the myths of pseudoscience and the testable hypotheses of science? Pulitzer Prize-winning author and distinguished astronomer Carl Sagan argues that scientific thinking is critical not only to the pursuit of truth but to the very well-being of our democratic institutio

Recommended by Dallas Campbell, Edip Yüksel, James Randi, and 2 others.

Dallas Campbell

@TheChilterns Even if you profoundly disagree with Clarke, it’s very detailed. The classic is of course ‘The Demon Haunted World’ by Carl Sagan. When I’m Prime Minister it will be compulsory reading at school! Best book on what science is/isn’t and why we think the way we do. 👍 [source]

Edip Yüksel

For Philosophy of Science class, I am now using Carl Sagan's book as the REQUIRED text book. Instead of bombarding students with terminology and names, we should let them enjoy the dancing of synapses in their own 3-pound grey jelly. In this thread I will share quotes from Sagan. https://t.co/rBEPVvEiuO [source]

James Randi

First of all, Carl was my very good friend, and we had a lot of confidences over the years. He was the epitome of the scientific mind and the scientific thinker. In The Demon-Haunted World, one of his later books, he investigates pseudoscience, frauds and fakes, and the mistakes that scientists made over the years. It’s very comprehensive. He had a whole chapter devoted to “Carlos” – or Jose Alvarez, who travelled all over the world doing this act as a fake psychic, and then revealed the whole thing on Australian television. Carl was quite taken with that story, and he and Jose spent a couple of hours together at a scientific conference that they both attended. [source]

23

Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution

Neil deGrasse Tyson

4.3

Our true origins are not just human, or even terrestrial, but in fact cosmic. Drawing on recent scientific breakthroughs and the current cross-pollination among geology, biology, astrophysics, and cosmology, Origins explains the soul-stirring leaps in our understanding of the cosmos. From the first image of a galaxy birth to Spirit Rover's exploration of Mars, to the discovery of water on one of J

24

The Theory of Everything: The Origin and Fate of the Universe

Stephen W. Hawking, S. W.;Hawking

4.3

Based on a series of lectures given at Cambridge University, Professor Hawking's work introduced "the history of ideas about the universe" as well as today's most important scientific theories about time, space, and the cosmos in a clear, easy-to-understand way. "The Theory of Everything" presents the most complex theories, both past and present, of physics; yet it remains clear and accessible. It

25

Brief Answers to the Big Questions

Stephen Hawking

4.3

Stephen Hawking was recognized as one of the greatest minds of our time and a figure of inspiration after defying his ALS diagnosis at age twenty-one. He is known for both his breakthroughs in theoretical physics as well as his ability to make complex concepts accessible for all, and was beloved for his mischievous sense of humor. At the time of his death, Hawking was working on a final project: a

26

Black Holes and Baby Universes

Stephen W. Hawking

4.3

NY Times bestseller. 13 extraordinary essays shed new light on the mysteries of the universe & on one of the most brilliant thinkers of our time.
In his phenomenal bestseller A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking literally transformed the way we think about physics, the universe, reality itself. In these thirteen essays and one remarkable extended interview, the man widely regarded as the most b

27

The Black Hole War: My Battle with Stephen Hawking to Make the World Safe for Quantum Mechanics

Leonard Susskind

4.2

Recommended by Sean M Carroll.

This book discusses some of the deepest features of the laws of nature. [source]

28

The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God

Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan

4.2

On the 10th anniversary of his death, brilliant astrophysisist and Pulitzer Prize winner Carl Sagan's prescient exploration of the relationship between religion and science and his personal search for God.

Carl Sagan is considered one of the greatest scientific minds of our time. His remarkable ability to explain science in terms easily understandable to the layman in bestselling books such as Co

Recommended by Jerry Coyne.

Jerry Coyne

Of all these books, this is the one that resonates most for me. It was edited by his wife and published in 2006. It’s a distillation of the Gifford Lectures, a very prestigious series of lectures given in Scotland, endowed to give famous people a chance to talk about natural theology i.e. the relationship between science and religion. They’ve been going more than 100 years by now and they gave rise to William James’s The Varieties of Religious Experience, a very famous book. Sagan was a Gifford lecturer in 1985 and he titled his book after James’s. It’s a reflection, at the end of his life, on the dangers of superstition and of faith. It’s very well written and a lot more succinct than his more popular book, The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark which was a big bestseller in the US. That’s a bit bloated. This book is much more concise, much more tightly argued. It makes a good case for basing your actions on rationality rather than superstition and he talks about the dangers of not doing so from his experiences in fighting medical quackery, UFOs, the purported existence of canals on Mars etc. [source]

29

Hyperspace: A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the Tenth Dimension

Michio Kaku

4.2

30

Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape the Universe

Martin Rees

4.2

The genesis of the universe elegantly explained in a simple theory based on just six numbers by one of the world's most renowned astrophysicists

31

L'ordine del tempo

Carlo Rovelli

4.2

Come le "Sette brevi lezioni di fisica", che ha raggiunto un pubblico immenso in ogni parte del mondo, questo libro tratta di qualcosa della fisica che parla a chiunque e lo coinvolge, semplicemente perché è un mistero di cui ciascuno ha esperienza in ogni istante: il tempo. E un mistero non solo per ogni profano, ma anche per i fisici, che hanno visto il tempo trasformarsi in modo radicale, da Ne

Recommended by Jim Al-Khalili.

Jim Al-Khalili

Because they are translated from the original Italian, Rovelli’s books retain a beautiful poetry which, combined with his deep knowledge of fundamental physics, make for a wonderfully charming mix. [source]

32

The Inflationary Universe: The Quest for a New Theory of Cosmic Origins

Alan Guth

4.2

This classic Big Bang text neatly describes what happened after the bang. Yet, until recently, particle physicists and cosmologists were stuck on many questions that the Big Bang Theory still couldn't answer, primarily: If matter can neither be created nor destroyed, how could so much matter arise from nothing at all? Alan Guth's Inflationary Universe Theory answers these vexing questions. When NA

Recommended by Sean M Carroll.

The author’s theory has set the agenda for theoretical cosmology for the last 30 years and here is the man himself explaining it to you. [source]

33

Coming of Age in the Milky Way

Timothy Ferris

4.2

Twelve years in the making and impeccably researched, Coming of Age in the Milky Way chronicles the awakening of the human species to the vastness of our cosmos and shows how each time the model of the universe has been altered, tremors have rumbled through such realms as theology and politics. Illustrated.

Recommended by Richard Cohen.

Richard Cohen

Although he is an astronomer, by training and disposition in many ways, he’s also a wonderful historian of science. [source]

34

From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time

Sean Carroll

4.2

A rising star in theoretical physics offers his awesome vision of our universe and beyond, all beginning with a simple question: Why does time move forward?

Time moves forward, not backward, everyone knows you can’t unscramble an egg. In the hands of one of today’s hottest young physicists, that simple fact of breakfast becomes a doorway to understanding the Big Bang, the universe, and other unive

35

Seven Brief Lessons on Physics

Carlo Rovelli

4.2

All the beauty of modern physics in fewer than a hundred pages.

This is a book about the joy of discovery. A playful, entertaining, and mind-bending introduction to modern physics, it's already a major bestseller in Italy and the United Kingdom. Carlo Rovelli offers surprising—and surprisingly easy to grasp—explanations of general relativity, quantum mechanics, elementary particles, gravity, black

Recommended by Naval Ravikant.

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

I’ve read that one at least twice. [source]

36

Billions & Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium

Carl Sagan

4.2

In the final book of his astonishing career, Carl Sagan brilliantly examines the burning questions of our lives, our world, and the universe around us. These luminous, entertaining essays travel both the vastness of the cosmos and the intimacy of the human mind, posing such fascinating questions as how did the universe originate and how will it end, and how can we meld science and compassion to me

37

The Life of the Cosmos

Lee Smolin

4.2

Cosmologist Lee Smolin offers a startling new theory of the universe that is at once elegant, comprehensive, and radically different from anything proposed before. In The Life of the Cosmos, Smolin cuts the Gordian knot of cosmology with a simple, powerful idea: "The underlying structure of our world, " he writes, "is to be found in the logic of evolution." Today's physicists have overturned Newto

38

The 4% Universe: Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Race to Discover the Rest of Reality

Richard Panek

4.2

The epic, behind-the-scenes story of an astounding gap in our scientific knowledge of the cosmos.

In the past few years, a handful of scientists have been in a race to explain a disturbing aspect of our universe: only 4 percent of it consists of the matter that makes up you, me, our books, and every planet, star, and galaxy. The rest—96 percent of the universe—is completely unknown.

Richard Panek

39

Welcome to the Universe: An Astrophysical Tour

Neil deGrasse Tyson

4.2

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Welcome to the Universe is a personal guided tour of the cosmos by three of today's leading astrophysicists. Inspired by the enormously popular introductory astronomy course that Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michael A. Strauss, and J. Richard Gott taught together at Princeton, this book covers it all--from planets, stars, and galaxies to black holes, wormholes, and time travel.

D

40

The Holographic Universe: The Revolutionary Theory of Reality

Michael Talbot

4.2

"Awake-up call to wonder, an adventure in ideas." —Larry Dossey,M.D., author of Space, Time & Medicine

Now witha new foreword by Lynn McTaggart, author of TheField, Michael Talbot’s classic treatise on the latest frontiers of physicsreveals a revolutionary theory of reality, explaining the paranormal abilitiesof the mind, the unsolved riddles of brain and body, and the true nature of theuniverse. L

41

The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe

Roger Penrose

4.2

Roger Penrose, one of the most accomplished scientists of our time, presents the only comprehensive and comprehensible account of the physics of the universe. From the very first attempts by the Greeks to grapple with the complexities of our known world to the latest application of infinity in physics, The Road to Reality carefully explores the movement of the smallest atomic particles and reaches

42

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

Thomas S. Kuhn

4.1

A good book may have the power to change the way we see the world, but a great book actually becomes part of our daily consciousness, pervading our thinking to the point that we take it for granted, and we forget how provocative and challenging its ideas once were—and still are. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions is that kind of book. When it was first published in 1962, it was a landmark eve

Recommended by Mark Zuckerberg, Tim O'Reilly, Danielle Morrill, and 3 others.

Mark Zuckerberg

Founder/Facebook

It's a history of science book that explores the question of whether science and technology make consistent forward progress or whether progress comes in bursts related to other social forces. I tend to think that science is a consistent force for good in the world. I think we'd all be better off if we invested more in science and acted on the results of research. I'm excited to explore this theme further. [source]

Tim O'Reilly

Founder/O'Reilly Media

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, by Thomas Kuhn. Kuhn introduced the term "paradigm shift" to describe the changeover from Ptolemaic to Copernican astronomy. But the book is far more than a classic in the history of science. It's also a book that emphasizes how what we already believe shapes what we see, what we allow ourselves to think. I've always tried to separate seeing itself from the stories I tell myself about what I see. Pattern recognition is impeded if you are trying to overlay an existing pattern on the facts rather than letting the facts sit quietly until they tell their own story. That's General Semantics again. [source]

Andra Zaharia

I’ve gone through quite a few experiences brought on or shaped by what I’ve learned from books. A particularly unexpected one happened in college when our public relations teacher asked us to read a book called The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn. As a humanities student, you can imagine that I wasn’t thrilled I’d have to read a book on science, but what followed blew my mind at the time. In the book, Kuhn argues that human knowledge does not accumulate incrementally, but increases in leaps, through paradigm shifts which are brought on by crises and scientific revolutions. This was one of the first books that prompted me to think about how I want to evolve in the context of all the fast-paced changes happening around me. [source]

43

Contact

Carl Sagan

4.1

At first it seemed impossible - a radio signal that came not from Earth but from far beyond the nearest stars. But then the signal was translated, and what had been impossible became terrifying. For the signal contains the information to build a Machine that can travel to the stars. A Machine that can take a human to meet those that sent the message. They are eager to meet us: they have been watch

Recommended by Sean Seton-Rogers.

Sean Seton-Rogers

Currently reading Contact, by Carl Sagan. Not expecting to gain anything...I just love scifi books. [source]

44

Three Roads To Quantum Gravity

Lee Smolin

4.1

"It would be hard to imagine a better guide to this difficult subject." --Scientific American
In Three Roads to Quantum Gravity, Lee Smolin provides an accessible overview of the attempts to build a final "theory of everything." He explains in simple terms what scientists are talking about when they say the world is made from exotic entities such as loops, strings, and black holes and tells the fa

45

The Illustrated A Brief History of Time/The Universe in a Nutshell

Stephen Hawking

4.1

The Illustrated A Brief History of Time

In the years since its publication in 1988, Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time has established itself as a landmark volume in scientific writing and an international publishing phenomenon. The book as on the cutting edge of what was then known about the nature of the universe, but since that time there have been extraordinary advances in the technolo

46

The Fabric of Reality: The Science of Parallel Universes--and Its Implications

David Deutsch

4.1

For David Deutsch, a young physicist of unusual originality, quantum theory contains our most fundamental knowledge of the physical world. Taken literally, it implies that there are many universes “parallel” to the one we see around us. This multiplicity of universes, according to Deutsch, turns out to be the key to achieving a new worldview, one which synthesizes the theories of evolution, comput

Recommended by Chris Anderson, Chris Anderson, Chris Anderson, and 1 others.

Chris Anderson

I honestly think it was reading this book that finally gave me the courage, 18 years ago, to leave my company and take over leadership of TED. [source]

Chris Anderson

I honestly think it was reading this book that finally gave me the courage, 18 years ago, to leave my company and take over leadership of TED. [source]

Chris Anderson

I honestly think it was reading this book that finally gave me the courage, 18 years ago, to leave my company and take over leadership of TED. [source]

47

Relativity: The Special and the General Theory

Albert Einstein

4.1

An accesible version of Einstein's masterpiece of theory, written by the genius himself

According to Einstein himself, this book is intended "to give an exact insight into the theory of Relativity to those readers who, from a general scientific and philosophical point of view, are interested in the theory, but who are not conversant with the mathematical apparatus of theoretical physics." When he w

48

The Goldilocks Enigma: Why Is the Universe Just Right for Life?

Paul Davies

4.1

The Goldilocks Enigma is Paul Davies’s eagerly awaited return to cosmology, the successor to his critically acclaimed bestseller The Mind of God. Here he tackles all the "big questions," including the biggest of them all: Why does the universe seem so well adapted for life?

In his characteristically clear and elegant style, Davies shows how recent scientific discoveries point to a perplexing fact:

49

The Whole Shebang: A State-of-the-Universe[s] Report

Timothy Ferris

4.1

From the prizewinning author who has been called "the greatest science writer in the world" comes this delightfully comprehensive and comprehensible report on how science today envisions the universe as a whole.
Timothy Ferris provides a clear, elegantly written overview of current research and a forecast of where cosmological theory is likely to go in the twenty-first century. He explores the que

Recommended by Eric Weinstein.

Eric Weinstein

Managing Director/Thiel Capital

Eric Weinstein recommended this book on Twitter. [source]

Cover unavailable

50

The Cosmic Landscape: String Theory and the Illusion of Intelligent Design

Leonard Susskind

4.1

In his first book ever, the father of string theory reinvents the world's concept of the known universe and man's unique place within it. Line drawings.

51

Cycles of Time: An Extraordinary New View of the Universe

Roger Penrose

4.1

52

Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions

Lisa Randall

4.1

The universe has many secrets. It may hide additional dimensions of space other than the familier three we recognize. There might even be another universe adjacent to ours, invisible and unattainable . . . for now.

Warped Passages is a brilliantly readable and altogether exhilarating journey that tracks the arc of discovery from early twentieth-century physics to the razor's edge of modern scientif

53

The Sleepwalkers: A History of Man's Changing Vision of the Universe

Arthur Koestler, Herbert Butterfield

4.1

An extraordinary history of humanity's changing vision of the universe. In this masterly synthesis, Arthur Koestler cuts through the sterile distinction between 'sciences' and 'humanities' to bring to life the whole history of cosmology from the Babylonians to Newton. He shows how the tragic split between science and religion arose and how, in particular, the modern world-view replaced the medieva

Recommended by Dava Sobel and Richard Cohen.

Dava Sobel

Even though this came out in the 1950s you still meet people who will talk about it. And for many it was the book that got them interested in astronomy. [source]

Richard Cohen

This classic work has had its share of critics, but as a history of early solar science, which for much of its length it becomes, it is hard to put down. [source]

54

Einstein's Dreams

Alan Lightman

4.1

A modern classic, Einstein’s Dreams is a fictional collage of stories dreamed by Albert Einstein in 1905, when he worked in a patent office in Switzerland. As the defiant but sensitive young genius is creating his theory of relativity, a new conception of time, he imagines many possible worlds. In one, time is circular, so that people are fated to repeat triumphs and failures over and over. In ano

Recommended by Walter Isaacson, Eric Weinstein, and Ev Williams.

Walter Isaacson

Author

This is a work of fiction that weaves in the whimsy of Einstein’s days as a patent clerk in Switzerland and the types of dreams he may have had. They are little fables that come from his dreams. [source]

Eric Weinstein

Managing Director/Thiel Capital

Eric Weinstein recommended this book on Twitter. [source]

55

Why Does E=mc²? (And Why Should We Care?)

Brian Cox, Jeff Forshaw

4.1

The most accessible, entertaining, and enlightening explanation of the best-known physics equation in the world, as rendered by two of today’s leading scientists.

Professor Brian Cox and Professor Jeff Forshaw go on a journey to the frontier of 21st century science to consider the real meaning behind the iconic sequence of symbols that make up Einstein’s most famous equation, E=mc2. Breaking down t

Recommended by Phil Plait and Philip Plait.

Phil Plait

“Why Does E=mc^2” is a *great* book. It’s short, well-written, and makes it a lot easier to understand just why the speed of light is what it is. https://t.co/nfuYjouX0r [source]

Philip Plait

This book, written by Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw, is wonderful. Brian, who is a friend of mine, is a physicist in England. By exploring the equation “energy equals mass times the speed of light squared”, this book helps you to understand why the universe is what it is. [source]

56

How the Universe Got Its Spots: Diary of a Finite Time in a Finite Space

Janna Levin

4.1

Is the universe infinite or just really big? With this question, the gifted young cosmologist Janna Levin not only announces the central theme of her intriguing and controversial new book but establishes herself as one of the most direct and unorthodox voices in contemporary science. For even as she sets out to determine how big “really big” may be, Levin gives us an intimate look at the day-to-da

Recommended by Dan Hooper.

Dan Hooper

There’s not another book out there like it. It is truly unique. I read it when I was a postdoc. I read a lot of popular science, but I read this book and thought, ‘this is an entirely different genre of science writing!’ It’s very personal. She interweaves stories about her science and her science research from a first-person perspective with stuff going on in her personal life— her troubles with her relationship or when she feels depressed or lonely. That’s all in the book. You understand more what it is like to be a human being doing science from this book than anything I’ve ever read. I still think it’s profound. I occasionally go back and reread a chapter of it, also just to be inspired as a writer. [source]

57

Time Reborn: From the Crisis in Physics to the Future of the Universe

Lee Smolin, Henry Reich

4.1

One of our foremost thinkers and public intellectuals offers a radical new view of the nature of time and the cosmos.

The fact that time is real may seem obvious. You experience it passing every day when you watch clocks tick, bread toast, and children grow. But most physicists see things differently, from Newton to Einstein to today’s quantum theorists. For them, time isn’t real. You may think you

58

Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe

Brian Greene

4.1

From the world-renowned physicist, co-founder of the World Science Festival, and best-selling author of The Elegant Universe comes this utterly captivating exploration of deep time and humanity's search for purpose.

Brian Greene takes readers on a breathtaking journey from the big bang to the end of time and invites us to ponder meaning in the face of this unimaginable expanse. He shows us how, fro

Recommended by Paul Blanchard.

Paul Blanchard

Wow. Absolutely blown away by @bgreene’s new book. A must-read https://t.co/QFlkqbONBW [source]

59

Physics of the Impossible

Michio Kaku

4.1

A fascinating exploration of the science of the impossible—from death rays and force fields to invisibility cloaks—revealing to what extent such technologies might be achievable decades or millennia into the future.

One hundred years ago, scientists would have said that lasers, televisions, and the atomic bomb were beyond the realm of physical possibility. In Physics of the Impossible, the renowned

60

The Feynman Lectures on Physics

Richard P. Feynman

4.1

The legendary introduction to physics from the subject's greatest teacher
"The whole thing was basically an experiment," Richard Feynman said late in his career, looking back on the origins of his lectures. The experiment turned out to be hugely successful, spawning a book that has remained a definitive introduction to physics for decades. Ranging from the most basic principles of Newtonian physics

Recommended by Bill Gates and David Bainbridge.

CEO/Microsoft

You don't have to take a course to learn physics. If you're hardcore, read the Feynman book and do the problems. [source]

David Bainbridge

I think that he is one of the most intelligent people to live in the 20th century. Yet at the same time, surprisingly, he is an amazingly good teacher. This is quite an unusual combination. [source]

61

The Accidental Universe: The World You Thought You Knew

Alan Lightman

4.1

From the acclaimed author of Einstein's Dreams and Mr g, a meditation on the unexpected ways in which recent scientific findings have shaped our understanding of ourselves and our place in the cosmos.

With all the passion, curiosity, and precise yet lyrical prose that have marked his previous books, Alan Lightman here explores the emotional and philosophical questions raised by discoveries in scien

62

Why Does the World Exist?: An Existential Detective Story

Jim Holt

4.1

"Why is there a world rather than nothing at all?" remains the darkest and most enduring of all metaphysical mysteries. Following in the footsteps of Christopher Hitchens, Roger Penrose, and even Stephen Hawking, Jim Holt now enters this fractious debate with his lively and deeply informed narrative that traces the latest efforts to grasp the origins of the universe. The slyly humorous Holt takes

63

The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World

David Deutsch

4.1

The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World

Recommended by Mark Zuckerberg, Albert Wenger, Brett Gurewitz, and 5 others.

Mark Zuckerberg

Founder/Facebook

Reading has given me more perspective on a number of topics — from science to religion, from poverty to prosperity, from health to energy to social justice, from political philosophy to foreign policy, and from history to futuristic fiction. This challenge has been intellectually fulfilling, and I come away with a greater sense of hope and optimism that our society can make greater progress in all of these areas. It's fitting to end the year with "The Beginning of Infinity" by David Deutsch, about how the way we explain things unlocks greater possibilities. [source]

Brett Gurewitz

I love @DavidDeutschOxf and his great optimism. His book The Beginning of Infinity changed my worldview. https://t.co/FzeoTUSEBj [source]

Chris Anderson

A remarkable argument for the power of knowledge—as not just a human capability but as a force that shapes the universe. [source]

64

The Science of Interstellar

Kip Thorne

4.1

A journey through the otherworldly science behind Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated film, Interstellar, from executive producer and theoretical physicist Kip Thorne.

Interstellar, from acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan, takes us on a fantastic voyage far beyond our solar system. Yet in The Science of Interstellar, Kip Thorne, the physicist who assisted Nolan on the scientific aspects of In

65

An Introduction to Modern Cosmology

Andrew Liddle

4.1

An Introduction to Modern Cosmology Third Edition is an accessible account of modern cosmological ideas. The Big Bang Cosmology is explored, looking at its observational successes in explaining the expansion of the Universe, the existence and properties of the cosmic microwave background, and the origin of light elements in the universe. Properties of the very early Universe are also covered, incl

66

The Edge of Physics: A Journey to Earth's Extremes to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe

Anil Ananthaswamy

4.1

In this deeply original book, science writer Anil Ananthaswamy sets out in search of the telescopes and detectors that promise to answer the biggest questions in modern cosmology. Why is the universe expanding at an ever faster rate? What is the nature of the "dark matter" that makes up almost a quarter of the universe? Why does the universe appear fine-tuned for life? Are there others besides our

Recommended by Stuart Clark.

Stuart Clark

Anil Ananthaswamy is like a pilgrim on a journey, travelling to these great scientific establishments and trying to understand the universe. [source]

67

Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime

Sean Carroll

4.1

As you read these words, copies of you are being created.

Sean Carroll, theoretical physicist and one of this world’s most celebrated writers on science, rewrites the history of 20th century physics. Already hailed as a masterpiece, Something Deeply Hidden shows for the first time that facing up to the essential puzzle of quantum mechanics utterly transforms how we think about space and time. His r

Recommended by Ezra Klein.

Ezra Klein

This is a good place to recommend @seanmcarroll's new book "Something Deeply Hidden," which is great if you like feeling very confused about the nature of reality, which I guess I do https://t.co/C2gfupSJAO [source]

68

Black Holes: The Reith Lectures

S. Hawking

4.1

“It is said that fact is sometimes stranger than fiction, and nowhere is that more true than in the case of black holes. Black holes are stranger than anything dreamed up by science fiction writers.”

In 2016 Professor Stephen Hawking delivered the BBC Reith Lectures on a subject that fascinated him for decades – black holes.

In these flagship lectures the legendary physicist argued that if we could

69

The Trouble with Physics: The Rise of String Theory, the Fall of a Science and What Comes Next

Lee Smolin

4.0

In this groundbreaking book, the renowned theoretical physicist Lee Smolin argues that physics — the basis for all other sciences — has lost its way. For more than two centuries, our understanding of the laws of nature expanded rapidly. But today, despite our best efforts, we know nothing more about these laws than we knew in the 1970s. Why is physics suddenly in trouble? And what can we do about

Recommended by James Owen Weatherall.

James Owen Weatherall

Smolin’s argument is that string theory is both puzzling and hugely problematic. [source]

70

We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe

Jorge Cham, Daniel Whiteson

4.0

Prepare to learn everything we still don't know about our strange, mostly mysterious universe.

PHD Comics creator Jorge Cham and particle physicist Daniel Whiteson have teamed up to spelunk through the enormous gaps in our cosmological knowledge, armed with their popular infographics, cartoons, and unusually entertaining and lucid explanations of science.

In We Have No Idea, they explore the biggest

71

How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming

Mike Brown

4.0

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 se

Recommended by Philip Plait.

Philip Plait

Mike Brown was finding objects that were as big or possibly bigger than Pluto in the outer solar system. It’s a great story. [source]

Cover unavailable

72

The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate

John H. Walton

4.0

In this astute mix of cultural critique and biblical studies, John H. Walton presents and defends twenty propositions supporting a literary and theological understanding of Genesis 1 within the context of the ancient Near Eastern world and unpacks its implications for our modern scientific understanding of origins.

Ideal for students, professors, pastors and lay readers with an interest in the int

73

Universe: The Definitive Visual Guide

Martin Rees

4.0

Continuing in the bestselling tradition of Animal and Earth, this definitive guide takes readers on a tour from the solar system to the farthest limits of space. High school & older.

74

Origin Story: A Big History of Everything

David Christian

4.0

A 2018 GoodReads Choice Award Nominee in the History & Biography category

A captivating history of the universe -- from before the dawn of time through the far reaches of the distant future.

Most historians study the smallest slivers of time, emphasizing specific dates, individuals, and documents. But what would it look like to study the whole of history, from the big bang through the present day --

Recommended by Bill Gates, Corneliu Bodea, Jason Kottke, and 1 others.

CEO/Microsoft

David created my favorite course of all time, Big History. It tells the story of the universe from the big bang to today’s complex societies, weaving together insights and evidence from various disciplines into a single narrative. If you haven’t taken Big History yet, Origin Story is a great introduction. If you have, it’s a great refresher. Either way, the book will leave you with a greater appreciation of humanity’s place in the universe. [source]

Corneliu Bodea

One of the books that had the biggest impact on me and my career. The explanation about how complexity is related to entropy and the cost behind it gave me a “wow” moment of understanding. Also, if we don’t understand the world we live in we will make no impact and progress. [source]

Jason Kottke

This is a book based on Christian’s Big History concept, a story that weaves everything from quarks to water to dinosaurs to humans fighting entropy through greater energy & resource usage into one long history of the universe. [source]

75

The Particle at the End of the Universe: How the Hunt for the Higgs Boson Leads Us to the Edge of a New World

Sean Carroll

4.0

It was the universe’s most elusive particle, the linchpin for everything scientists dreamed up to explain how physics works. It had to be found. But projects as big as CERN’s Large Hadron Collider don’t happen without incredible risks – and occasional skullduggery. In the definitive account of this landmark event, Caltech physicist and acclaimed science writer Sean Carroll reveals the insights, ri

76

The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True

Richard Dawkins

4.0

An elegant, text-only paperback edition of the New York Times bestseller that’s been hailed as the definitive authority on…everything.

Richard Dawkins, bestselling author and the world’s most celebrated evolutionary biologist, has spent his career elucidating the many wonders of science. Here, he takes a broader approach and uses his unrivaled explanatory powers to illuminate the ways in which the

Recommended by Bill Gates and Vote Dem For The Planet.