Science & the Universe

Asimov, Isaac, et al., The 21st Century in Space (Isaac Asimov's New Library of the Universe). "Projects astronomical and astronautical possibilities for the future, such as huge telescopes, airplanes in space, a probe to the sun, and a landing on Mars."
----, Astronomy in Ancient Times
Beginnings: The Story of Origins, of Mankind, Life, the Earth, the Universe. "A wondrous excursion through 15 billion years of human and prehuman history, written by America's most popular and exciting science writer."
----, Death from Space: What Killed the Dinosaurs
----, The Exploding Suns: The Secrets of the Supernovas
The Moon
----, Mysteries of Deep Space : Black Holes, Pulsars, and Quasars
----, Our Planet Earth
----, Our Planetary System
----, Our Vast Home : The Milky Way and Other Galaxies
----, Star Cycles : The Life and Death of Stars
----, The Sun and Its Secrets

Bacon, Frances, Novum organum; With Other Parts of the Great Instauration. A classic for centuries by one of the world's great thinkers.

Bearden, T. E., Solutions to Tesla's Secrets and the Soviet Tesla Weapons. While the Americans largely ignored this extraordinary man, the Russians were not so dumb. Unusual info.

Boadella, David, In the Wake of Reich. The impact of this intrigue man.

Boslough, John, Stephen Hawking's Universe: An Introduction to the Most Remarkable Scientist of Our Time. "Stephen Hawking, the author of A Brief History of Time, has been hailed as an equal to Einstein. Now his theories of black holes, quasars, and quarks are explained in layman's terms, providing a useful complement to Hawking's bestseller."

Brian, Denis, Einstein: A Life. "Pursuing previously untapped sources (among them, the contents of Einstein's FBI file), Brian makes his new biography a worthwhile endeavor." A popular book.

Capra, Fritjof, The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels Between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism. A well-loved classic by an unusual scientist.
----, Belonging to the Universe: Explorations on the Frontiers of Science and Spirituality. ". . . -a remarkably compatible new view of the universe offered by the trailblazer of new science and a contemporary of Thomas Merton."
----, The Turning Point: Science, Society, and the Rising Culture. "Civilization with a human face. Green revolution, vegetarianism, holistic living... it sheds light on traits of a mature civilization. It changes ones outlook from a personal to a more holistic one." (from a review)
----, The Web of Life: A New Understanding of Living Systems. "The Web of Life, he takes yet another giant step forward, offering a brilliant synthesis of such recent scientific breakthroughs as the theory of complexity, Gaia theory, and chaos theory."

Cheney, Margaret, Tesla: Man Out of Time. A classic about the man who seemed almost alien. "Portrays the trailblazing nineteenth-century inventor, the man who introduced the fundamentals of robotry and computer and missile science and who harnessed the alternating electrical current used today."

Childress, David Hatcher, The Free-Energy Device Handbook: A Compilation of Patents & Reports.
The Anti-Gravity Handbook (Lost Science). Features Arthur C. Clarke and Einstein. Childress always makes his subject matter fascinating.
----, The Fantastic Inventions of Nikola Tesla. Tesla is one of the world's greatest geniuses. Had the world paid more attention to him, it would not be on the verge of chaos.

Davies, Paul & Gribbin, John, The Matter Myth: Dramatic Discoveries That Challenge Our Understanding of Physical Reality. "Two highly acclaimed science writers--authors (separately) of God and the New Physics and In Search of Schrodinger's Cat--explain the latest breakthroughs in scientific thought, revolutionizing our concept of the universe and our place within it."
----, The Ghost in the Atom: A Discussion of the Mysteries of Quantum Physics.
Other Worlds. " ... takes us into a world where commonsense notions of space, time, and causality must be left behind as the realm of solid matter dissolves into vibrating patterns of ghostly energy, and where mind and matter are interwoven in a subtle and holistic manner."

Dyson, Freeman, Origins of Life. "... a great introduction into the most accepted theories on the origins of life." (from a review)

Einstein, Albert, Bite-Size Einstein: Quotations on Just About Everything from the Greatest Mind of the Twentieth Century.
Ideas and Opinions. "Ideas and Opinions is the most definitive collection of Albert Einstein's popular writings, gathered under the supervision of Einstein himself."
----, The Meaning of Relativity.
----, The Quotable Einstein. A very popular book that "introduces readers to Einstein's many sides, by turns irascible and benign, warmly humorous and coldly dismissive ..."
----, Relativity: The Special and the General Theory. "How better to learn the Special Theory of Relativity and the General Theory of Relativity than directly from their creator, Albert Einstein himself?" (Science Editor)
----, World As I See It.

Folsing, Albrecht, Albert Einstein. New! "Folsing unravels the enigma as he depicts the surprising variety of figures who all fit within Einstein's life story: the hot-tempered little boy who threw a chair at his tutor; the talented violinist who thrilled Saturday-afternoon gatherings with his interpretations of Beethoven; the brokenhearted husband who wept at the Berlin train station as his marriage crumbled; the neophyte psychologist who dined with Jung and corresponded with Freud; the ardent pacifist who willingly performed tasks for the German war machine; the skeptic who rejected his ancestral religion yet risked his station and even his life by affirming his Jewishness; the aging revolutionary who fought against the young turks creating quantum physics."

Fuller, Buckminster, Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth. Fuller is a can't-miss. A very popular scientist and philosopher who developed a large and enduring following.

Gardner, Martin, Science: Good, Bad, and Bogus. A notorious debunker takes on the paranomral and "pseudo-science."
----, Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science. "A masterpiece" in skepticism.
----, Weird Water & Fuzzy Logic: More Notes of a Fringe Watcher. Gardner's latest debunks everything from Margaret Mead to "A Course in Miracles."

Ginenthal, Charles, Carl Sagan and Immanuel Velikovsky. The conservative Sagan was particularly perturbed by the impact of the unorthodox Velikovsky (see his books below). Ginenthal attempts to refute Sagan's debunking of Velikovsky.

Goldsmith, D., ed., Scientists Confront Velikovsky. Few science writers have caused as much turmoil as Velikovsky! Is it because he is not so easy to dismiss?

Gribbin, John, In Search of Schrodinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality. "Gribbin is the physics teacher everyone should have in high school or college: kind without being a pushover, knowledgeable without being condescending, and clearly expressive without being boring."
----, Schrodinger's Kittens and the Search for Reality: Solving the Quantum Mysteries. "This book presents a very lucid, engaging, and often humorous explanation of the oddities of quantum physics. It's a wonderful introducion for the curious, the neophyte physicist or the experienced metaphysician!" (from a review)

Hartmann, WK, Astronomy: The Cosmic Journey. A classic textbook that "covers early discoveries, gravity
and light, the solar system, evolution of stars and galaxies, and ancient and modern cosmologies."

Hawking, Stephen, A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes. The runaway bestseller that made Hawking a household name and a scientific icon.
----, Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays. Essays and an interview with Hawking, who relates he was an underachiever in school, among other things.
----, Stephen Hawking's Universe: The Cosmos Explained. Hawking leads the reader through the universe to share in what he sees.
----, Stephen Hawking's Universe. The video version. "A fantastic ride!"

Herbert, Nick, Elemental Mind: Human Consciousness and the New Physics. Herbert has produced what some consider some of the best scientific thinking in history.
----, Faster Than Light: Superluminal Loopholes in Physics. "For those who enjoy science as fact and as fiction, a leading expert on quantum theory imaginatively explains how faster-than-light communication and travel are actually being explored by physicists."
----, Quantum Reality: Beyond the New Physics. "This clearly explained layman's introduction to quantum physics is an accessible excursion into metaphysics and the meaning of reality." Considered "the basic bible."

Holland, HD, The Chemical Evolution of the Atmosphere and Oceans, NJ, 1984.

Jantsch, Erich, The Self-Organizing Universe, Pergammon, Oxford, 1980.

Johnston, Ben, ed., My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla. "The reclusive, brilliant engineer who: invented the Niagra power system that made Edison's obsolete; sold Westinghouse 40 patents that broke a General Electric monopoly; discovered the radio methods that Marconi converted into a fortune; built a radio-guided torpedo before Ford ended the horse-and-buggy era; tried, with J.P. Morgan's backing, to change the earths electric charge! Joined giants Ampere, Watt, and Volta in history's most select circle when the world scientists named a new unit of magnetism and Tesla." Tesla was simply amazing.

Kippenhahn, R, 100 Billion Suns: The Birth, Life and Death of the Stars.

Kohn, Alexander, False Prophets: Fraud and Error in Science and Medicine, Basil Blackwell, NY, 1986.

Leighton, Sands & Feynman, The Feynman Lectures on Physics: Mainly Mechanics, Radiation, and Heat. Feynman is considered one of the greatest physicists of all time. Very popular work.

Lewis, J & Prinn, R, The Planets and Their Atmospheres, Academic, FL, 1984.

Margulis, Lynn, Sagan, Dorion, et al., Microcosmos: Four Billion Years of Evolution from Our Microbial Ancestors.
----, What is Life? "Deftly spanning diciplines--from astronomy, microbiology, and physical anthropology to the history of science itself--one of the world's foremost biologists and a gifted science writer explore what it means to be alive."
----, What is Sex? "In this lavishly illustrated work of extraordinary range and originality, one of the world's most accomplished life scientists and a gifted science writer examine that sine qua non of human existence--sex--the profoundly mysterious procreative force that is the root of our very being."

Murdin, P & L, Supernovae, Cambridge, NY, 1985.

Sagan, Carl, Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium. Essays compiled posthumously of the great scientist exploring just about everything in our world, from politics to the environment.
----, Contact. Wildly popular novel made into the Jodie Foster flick.
----, Cosmos. A landmark book for the PBS series that made Sagan one of the most famous and popular scientists of all time.
----, The Demon-Haunted World: Science As a Candle in the Dark. Sagan, a brilliant if conservative scientist, debunks many "new age" claims and "pseudo-science." While Sagan may be too hardcore in many of his pronouncements, he did in fact make science interesting and accessible to the masses.
----, The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence. This is a Sagan classic - not to be missed!
----, Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science. A Pulitzer prize-winner. The well-loved Sagan takes on scientific fraud, religion and assails Velikovsky.
----, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors: A Search for Who We Are. Sagan explores who we are, from the outside to the inside.

Time-Life series: Voyage Through The Universe. This set is FANTASTIC for its abundance of wondrous illustrations and photos. A must-have for any library and a great teaching tool for children because of the beautiful and mesmerizing pictures.
Comets, Asteroids, and Meteorites
The Cosmos
The Far Planets
Frontiers of Time
Galaxies
Life Search
Moons and Rings
The Near Planets
The New Astronomy
Outbound
Spacefarers
Starbound
The Sun
The Third Planet
The Visible Universe
Voyage Through the Universe
Workings of the Universe

Velikovsky, Immanuel, Worlds in Collision. The classic and fascinating groundbreaker and bestseller that started a huge debate in the scientific community. "Those not blinded by entrenched views cannot help but be stimulated by his challenging ideas." (from a review)
----, Ages in Chaos. Another popular book by this unorthodox thinker.

Wilson, Robert Anton. Wilhelm Reich in Hell. Wilson is always a great read.
----, The New Inquisition. Wilson critiques scientific dogma, pointing out with his razor-sharp wit that scientists often explain away what they cannot properly explain.

Zukav, Gary, The Dancing Wu Li Masters: An Overview of the New Physics. A well-loved classic that makes physics accessible and fascinating. The books-on-tape version is great!