Andy Weir reveals his fun and frantic creative process behind 'Project Hail Mary'

What’s out there in the vast reaches of space? Are we alone in the universe? Renowned astronomer Carl Sagan offers some insight into these questions and many more in his widely acclaimed book, Cosmos.

Sagan is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and perhaps the greatest astronomer of our age. In this book, he provides a comprehensive description of the science, philosophy, and history of astronomical discovery, from ancient Ionia to the time of the book’s publication in 1980.

In this guide, we’ll delve into Sagan’s theories about the possibility of interstellar travel, the search for extraterrestrial life, and man’s quest for understanding the mysteries of the universe. As we go along, we’ll update the information with the most recent scientific discoveries and provide perspectives from other experts in related fields.

Have you always wanted to understand the natural world but found science classes tedious and science textbooks difficult to understand? Author Bill Bryson can relate—that was his motivation for researching and writing A Short History of Nearly Everything. The book is an accessible overview of the natural sciences that describes not only the important discoveries but also the unknowns and controversies that still exist in the sciences, like the mystery of missing mass in the universe and the puzzling details of human evolution.

In this guide, we’ve organized key topics from Bryson’s book into a concise chronology covering the origins of the universe, the geologic history of planet Earth, and the history of life on Earth. We’ll also analyze the scientific issues that Bryson brings up in light of recent scientific papers and compare his perspective to that of scientists like Stephen Hawking.

How much do you know about the universe you live in? Thanks to scientific discoveries of the twentieth century, scientists have gained insight into many of nature’s secrets, from the origin of the universe to the nature of space and time. In A Brief History of Time, physicist Stephen Hawking explains these insights for a general audience.

In this guide, we’ll present Hawking’s exposition of modern physics through the lens of five big questions that the book answers: Is reality relative or absolute? Is the future predetermined? How did the universe begin? What is the nature of a black hole? And can you build a time machine? Where applicable, we’ll also examine how Hawking’s assertions and predictions stack up to new data that scientists have collected since the book was published.

Do your genes control you, or do you control them? In The Biology of Belief, developmental biologist Bruce Lipton challenges the notion that genes determine our destiny and argues that we have more control over our health and genetic expression than we think.

Lipton is known for his groundbreaking stem cell research at Stanford Medical School and his work in the field of epigenetics. In this book, he presents evidence from his research on cellular life to support the idea that our reality is created by how we interpret and react to our environment. This means that our thoughts have a more powerful influence on us than we tend to recognize.

In this guide, we’ll explain how Lipton arrived at his insights through his knowledge about the functions of cells. We’ll compare Lipton’s ideas to other research that examines the mind-body connection, and we’ll explore resources that could help mitigate the faulty subconscious programs that influence our lives.

Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking is best known for his expertise on black holes, quantum gravity, and general relativity, but his writing often addresses philosophical questions as well. In Brief Answers to the Big Questions, Hawking explains why he believes science can answer philosophical questions better than religion can. He then discusses where the human race came from and where he thinks we’re going. In particular, he highlights how colonizing outer space is important for the future of humankind.

In this guide, we’ll discuss Hawking’s perspective, explore how others cross-examine his perspective on religion, and compare his predictions about the future of humanity to Yuval Noah Harari’s predictions in Homo Deus.

In Remote, tech entrepreneurs Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson present a case for work without physical boundaries. Drawing from their experience building Basecamp as a distributed team, they dismantle office-centric assumptions and show how remote work can lead to better productivity, greater access to talent, and improved work-life balance. Whether you’re a leader considering remote options for your workplace or an employee hoping to work more flexibly, Fried and Hansson have the roadmap for reimagining how work gets done.

This guide breaks down Fried and Hansson’s framework for successful remote work, offering insights both for organizations considering a remote model and for individuals learning to thrive outside traditional offices. You’ll discover how to overcome objections to remote work, communicate effectively across long distances and time zones, and create routines that maintain boundaries between professional and personal life. We’ll also explore the historical roots of distributed work, examine remote work through the lens of neuroscience, and reveal lessons from astronauts, whale researchers, and pandemic-era filmmakers.