Who hasn’t wondered what makes up our world? What are the basic elements of space and time and how do we fit into that? For those with expansive imaginations and unrelenting curiosity we’ve compiled 40 books to satiate you inner physicist.
Four Laws That Drive the Universe by Peter Atkins
“This book is an essence of scientific literacy and I place it on top of my list. Having Laws of Nature (thermodynamics) deeply understood and/or refreshed is crucial for further recommended readings. And this is exactly what you will find in Peter Atkins short and very accessible to everybody work.”
Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein’s Outrageous Legacy (Commonwealth Fund Book Program) by Kip S. Thorne
“Voluminous, partially historic book about scientists predicting behavior of imploding stars and building instruments for observation of gravitational waves coming from gigantic Black Holes.”
Hyperspace: A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the Tenth Dimension by Michio Kaku
“It is a hybrid of “The Elegant Universe” and “Black Holes and Time Warps” – very good one. However if you have read one of them you may skip this one.”
The Five Ages of the Universe: Inside the Physics of Eternity by Greg Laughlin
“How our Universe will end – predictions based on current knowledge and computer simulation. Contains basic information about particle physics and cosmology as well. Easy, enjoyable and quick reading.”
The Book of Nothing: Vacuums, Voids, and the Latest Ideas about the Origins of the Universe by John D. Barrow
“Unique and very interesting mix of dissertations about theology, philosophy, mathematics and cosmo-science. Gives ideas about how Universe could have been created from nothing.”
Three Roads to Quantum Gravity by Lee Smolin
“How to connect Q and G – cosmology from the depth of the tiny Planck’s space. Very good companion book to Brian Greene’s “The Elegant Universe”.”
Our Cosmic Habitat by Martin Rees
“Compact and very well composed book about latest in cosmology. For beginners but not only.”
Origins of Existence: How Life Emerged in the Universe by Fred Adams
“Densely packed, scientific text for intelligent reader. Contains info about dark energy and creation of life. Valuable position for every cosmology enthusiast.”
Timeless Reality : Symmetry, Simplicity, and Multiple Universes by Victor J. Stenger
“Absolutely a “meisterstuck” dedicated to advanced reader. Find everything in it, every topic of modern cosmology and related particle physics – explained and supported by math formulas.”
Quintessence : The Mystery of the Missing Mass in the Universe by Lawrence Krauss
“Meticulously and with great dedication written cosmology book connecting properties of space/particle in order to explain search for a dark matter.”
The Big Bang: Third Edition by Joseph Silk
“There is no better summary of this crucial theory. More like a popular/textbook for college students – and I would rather not recommend it for laymen.”
The Future of Spacetime by Stephen William Hawking
“Four essays (each by different scientist) about General Relativity and possibilities of traveling into the past. Companion and update to “Black Holes and Time Warps” explaining future of LIGO project”
Coming of Age in the Milky Way by Timothy Ferris
“What a great happening. We have updated (up to 2003) version of of this classic-bestseller from 1988. The best starter for everybody about voyages, greatest philosophers and scientists who started realize how vast is the Universe. This book is better than Hawking’s original “The Brief History of Time”.”
The Constants of Nature: From Alpha to Omega–the Numbers That Encode the Deepest Secrets of the Universe by John D. Barrow
“Author finds another interesting topic – constants of Nature in science, and uses them to teach us about measurements in modern cosmology.”
Entanglement by Amir Aczel
“Amir Aczel’s book describes CERN theorist John Bell’s theorem (1966) as a tool for probing certain unknown quantum properties. I believe this book could have been written better.”
The Extravagant Universe: Exploding Stars, Dark Energy, and the Accelerating Cosmos (Princeton Science Library) by Robert P. Kirshner
“More about high-z supernova observations, written by one of the leaders. This book updates Goldsmith’s “The Runaway Universe”.”
The Universe Next Door: The Making of Tomorrow’s Science by Marcus Chown
“Very interesting, extremely well presented position that explores several new and controversial scientific theories about micro and macro world.”
The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality by Brian Greene
“Monumental upgrade and continuation, after “The Elegant Universe”. Explains subjects lectured in books by Barrow, Rees, Hawking, Stenger, Smolin and Kaku – all in this one volume!”
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions, from Plato to String Theory and Beyond by Lawrence M. Krauss
“Author suggests (for the patient reader), that string’s math diverges from the physics. He muses what is better to have: plethora of particles or dimensions ?”
The Cosmic Landscape: String Theory and the Illusion of Intelligent Design by Leonard Susskind
“String “tuned” OK cosmology book,. Similar/alternative to “The Elegant Universe” but describes new string derived Landscape Theory.”
Symmetry and the Beautiful Universe by Leon M. Lederman
“Nobody has ever, presented concept of a symmetry and its breaking better than authors of this book! Universe and ultimately we humans, are the “children” of this breaking act! Must be read!”
Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe’s Hidden Dimensions by Lisa Randall
“Good example of particle and “math/string/extra dimensions” cosmology book, in the same category as “The Elegant Universe” and “The Cosmic Landscape”.”
Many Worlds in One: The Search for Other Universes by Alex Vilenkin
“Models of Universe seen through the prism of read-hot topic of vacuum and scalar fields. Refreshing and speculative!!”
The Infinite Book: A Short Guide to the Boundless, Timeless and Endless by John D. Barrow
“Not quite 100% cosmology book, but large portion of it has been devoted to Cosmos and its shape. The rest is about math, and philosophy of faith.”
Quantum Enigma: Physics Encounters Consciousness by Bruce Rosenblum
“This book (in the same venue but much better than “Entanglement” by Amir Aczel) is exceptional and does not refrain from exploring borders of physics and philosophy. Einstein question persists: what is happening to the book if I do not read it? Well..read it and get surprised!! The very best lecture delivered by open-minded and respected physicists.”
Endless Universe: Beyond the Big Bang by Paul J. Steinhardt
“Another quite complete model of endless Universe, this time not based on Big Bang and “0″ time. Though influenced and derived from controversial “string” theory, cycling model is voraciously defended against old and prevailing inflationary theory. Very brave and colorful pop-science book!!”
The Mystery of the Missing Antimatter (Science Essentials) by Helen R. Quinn
“About particle cosmology, importance of symmetry and gauge transformations. Could be alternative (but not as good)to “Symmetry And The Beautiful Universe ” by Leon Lederman or “Timeless Reality” by Victor Stenger (the latter two contain much more non-trivial graphs, drawings and glossary). I did not write review for this one, but had a good look at it.”
In Search of Dark Matter (Springer Praxis Books / Space Exploration) by Ken Freeman
“I have it on my list but will wait for price to drop. Do you want to learn about beauty of modern observational cosmology? This should be a decent read and what is most important, short one. Together with above mentioned “The Mystery Of The Missing Antimatter”, this combo equals (as more updated) “Quintessence” by Lawrence Krauss.”
The Black Hole War: My Battle with Stephen Hawking to Make the World Safe for Quantum Mechanics by Leonard Susskind
“This is absolutely the greatest example of what popular science book should be !! It book should be read by all who know Kip Thorne’s famous work. For reason unknown to me, important black hole “war” is not mentioned in “Black Holes & Time Warps” at all.”
Universe or Multiverse? by Bernard Carr
“I would love to read this one, however price is outrageous. Meanwhile it seems that relatively good substitute for it would be Paul Davies’ “Cosmic Jackpot – Why Our Universe is Just Right For Life”.”
The Wraparound Universe by Jean-Pierre Luminet
“This title is devoted to cosmo-topology; topic neglected in previous books on this list. Subject is unique, but not easy to follow. Search for a clear topological signature is just as difficult as the experimental determination of the space curvature. parameters and of Hubble constant. Fascinating read (see my review).”
The Universe Before the Big Bang: Cosmology and String Theory (Astronomers’ Universe) by Maurizio Gasperini
“Quite difficult to read, many new terms that are not explained with clarity. It is not a popular science book, but rather scientific lectures. Only few graphs and pictures. Topic of cosmology string is highly speculative.”
Reinventing Gravity: A Physicist Goes Beyond Einstein by John W. Moffat
“This book is focused on new VSL and MOG theories, by physicist John Moffat who pioneered it. First part of the book is devoted in condensed manner to general, well known topics like Greek’s views, GR, standard space models, multiverses and string/quantum gravity, VSL and MOND. Great book that will make you wonder if main stream Big-Bang science is correct !”
On Space and Time by Shahn Majid
“Penrose – brilliant mathematician, physicist, Heller – cosmologist, mathematician, recipient of Templeton Prize, Polkinghorne -particle physicist and theologian, Connes – discoverer or non commutative geometry used to calculate singularity; this must be a great read!”
The Music of the Big Bang: The Cosmic Microwave Background and the New Cosmology (Astronomers’ Universe) by Amedeo Balbi
“Short read about CMB – the most important source of information, helping science to establish how Universe has started and developed. Great read”
You Are Here: A Portable History of the Universe by Christopher Potter
“You may want to save $$ and check similar “Origins of Existence” by Fred Adams (scroll up along this list). It is up to the reader.”
Three Steps to the Universe: From the Sun to Black Holes to the Mystery of Dark Matter by David Garfinkle
“True, easy to read popular book on astronomy and cosmology. Highly recommended for general reader and high school students who express interest in studying physics of Universe.”
Antimatter by Frank Close
“Interesting position. Believe it or not? Science or fiction? You may check above for “The Mystery of the Missing Antimatter” – same topic.”
Einstein’s Telescope: The Hunt for Dark Matter and Dark Energy in the Universe by Evalyn Gates
“There are several specific books about Dark Matter, not to mention that every cosmology book deals with this topic. You may check listed here books by Lawrence Krauss, Ken Freeman or David Garfinkle.”
The Ultimate Fate of the Universe
by Jamal N. Islam
“Beware !! This is paperback version of a book published in 1983!! I do not see any sense in it. Way outdated. For the future of the Universe buy excellent “The Five Ages of the Universe” for a few bucks.”
