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Best Astronomy of the Universe

Endless Universe: Beyond the Big Bang
According to this theory, the Big Bang was not the beginning of time but the bridge to a past filled with endlessly repeating cycles of evolution, each accompanied by the creation of new matter and the formation of new galaxies, stars, and planets. Steinhardt and Turok, cosmologists at Princeton and Cambridge, respectively, present their case that string theory gives a more complete account of our origins; in this account, the big bang came about through the collision of two membrane-thick strings called "branes." According to the authors, this solves certain problems with the standard big bang theory, such as inflation, dark matter and dark energy. Their new theory has little chance of being confirmed experimentally in the foreseeable future, but many who eventually embraced the big bang will doubtless find the notion of cyclic universes and parallel worlds attractive. Moreover, while the regnant theory of the big bang predicts the eventual extinction of the universe, the dynamics of ekpyrosis promise a new beginning, a new cosmos--a trillion years from now.
Reviews
"I have read numerous books on particle cosmology, and this is the book I consider to be the core of my collection."
"This book gives the history and details, in everyday language, of what may turn out to be the two leading theories of the universe."
"By providing their experiences and backgrounds, you feel the passion of the authors and understand why they can make cosmology interesting."
"Excellent book on cosmology including a proposal to resolve the singularity at the big bang."
"For those who might be suspicious about the results of this book, I quote what Stephan Hawking - an inflationary model leader- said about it: "a challenging alternative to the picture of the big bang and the future of the universe"."
"Swinging back and forth (in a bit of chaotic and repetitive manner ) authors drill voraciously in systematic fashion all possible holes in the Guth/Linde's Inflationary as well as in Susskind's Landscape and Vilenkin's Multiverses models. Though certain fragments are truly exhausting (for example: how colliding branes convert one type of energy to another), numerous repetitions and attempts to emphasize how things happen, are actually often helpful. What has been planted in my head is that: extra "D" + branes + dark energy + potential energy related "spring-like" force between the branes = ekpyrosis. It is very important to cosmology to have competing models and unanswered lingering questions about their validity."
"Excellent book, gives a great look at an alternate view of the cosmos without being fantastical."
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Cosmology On Trial: Cracking The Cosmic Code
“We need to make a clean break and embark on a search for a new kind of theory that can be applied to the whole universe – a theory that avoids the confusions and paradoxes, answers the unanswerable questions, and generates genuine physical predictions for cosmological observations.” Dr. Lee Smolin – Bestselling author of Time Reborn: From the Crisis in Physics to the Future of the Universe. Science Daily reports that a team of astronomers have found the largest structure in the Universe: a large quasar group (LQG) four billion light years from end to end. Astronomer Roger Clowes of the University of Central Lancashire: “We can say quite definitely it is the largest structure ever seen in the entire universe. "HIS APPROACH IS BALANCED". St. Clair takes on much of modern science and its concomitant contemporary philosophy, showing where they are right, but, more importantly, where they are wrong. Pierre St Clair was the 2016 winner of the prestigious Sir J. C. Bose Award for Investigative Journalism in the field of Science and Technology for his book Cosmology on Trial.
Reviews
"Excellent!"
"the agenda here is not simply to lay out the current understanding of the universe: there's no mathematics or empirical evidence necessary to do that. this is different from questioning the scientific worldview or questioning a specific scientific concept: the agenda, start to finish, is to present a straw man view of science, as "just another creation myth". alll the dreary symptoms of science illiteracy -- that is, an ignorance of the basic principles and factual findings of science -- are right here for your enjoyment. a quote taken out of context is just as valid as a quote in context."
"There are many books out there that discuss the state of science/physics where one can gain a more reasonable appreciation of the issues and dilemmas facing modern physics. I’ll start with the idea that science can never prove anything 100% and so our perception of what is real is always subject to change and can be overturned by a more correct or more inclusive theory. Once you understand that, most of the contents of this book evaporate as water vapor under a hot blast of scientifically realistic expectations, which are much lower than what the author implies. Given that science has its hierarchy and political machinations, pretty much like any other human organization, it isn't always easy to change course or drop a theory occupying a favored position without a huge battle in overcoming the status quo and showing that an alternative idea has more merit. The experts in their field are probably better qualified to make these decisions than an investigative reporter with an over inflated view of their scientific aptitude. So, I recommend the author take his one sided trial process, hire a defense attorney for it and do something more useful with it, like investigating the current US oil/coal/nuclear/solar/wind energy dilemma."
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First Light: The Search for the Edge of the Universe
In First Light , he demonstrates his gift for creating an exciting and absorbing narrative around a complex scientific subject--in this case the efforts by astronomers at the Palomar Observatory in the San Gabriel Mountains of California to peer to the farthest edges of space through the Hale Telescope, attempting to solve the riddle of the creation of the universe. "There is a saying among astronomers that five billion people concern themselves with the surface of the Earth, and ten thousand with everything else," writes Richard Preston, best-selling author of The Hot Zone . What is made clear in First Light is that for all their genius, for all their magnificent achievements, these astronomers are just like the rest of us: subject to the same emotions and frustrations, foibles and shortcomings.
Reviews
"A fascinating glimpse into the lives and personalities involved with the "Big Eye" (the 200" Hale Telescope), in which the telescope itself is also a major "character"."
"It was interesting to "meet" the person who actually steers the scope for the astronomers as well as how it's being used to find the edge of visible universe."
"Mr. Preston is a great story teller."
"Unfortunately for me, I lacked the patience and the math skills to really delve into it, but books like Preston's, which are written for the layman but dare to delve a little, are a great read. 'First Light' follows two different groups of people: one working at the famed Palomar Telescope in Pasadena; the other, Carolyn and Eugene Shoemaker of the Shoemaker Comets fame."
"This is an excellent account of the author's first-person exploration of the great Palomar Observatory, its magnificent Hale Telescope, and the people who use them to press human knowledge outward towards the edge of the universe."
"The research is impeccable (and as a writer myself, I'm in a good position to know laborious research when I see it), and the writing was lively and utterly engaging."
"I'm a bit jaded as I worked at a satellite tracking optical observatory, and there I became fascinated with space, the sky and all the assorted stuff up there."
"Indeed, many of my friends are remarkably similar to the astronomers in the book."
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Best Astronomy

A Brief History of Time
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. A landmark volume in science writing by one of the great minds of our time, Stephen Hawking’s book explores such profound questions as: How did the universe begin—and what made its start possible? Among the topics gracefully covered are gravity, black holes, the Big Bang, the nature of time, and physicists' search for a grand unifying theory. This is deep science; these concepts are so vast (or so tiny) as to cause vertigo while reading, and one can't help but marvel at Hawking's ability to synthesize this difficult subject for people not used to thinking about things like alternate dimensions. The journey is certainly worth taking, for, as Hawking says, the reward of understanding the universe may be a glimpse of "the mind of God." --Therese Littleton [Hawking] can explain the complexities of cosmological physics with an engaging combination of clarity and wit. Mr. Hawking clearly possesses a natural teacher's gifts -- easy, good-natured humor and an ability to illustrate highly complex propositions with analogies plucked from daily life.
Reviews
"As someone who went blind into relativity/quantum mechanics, Hawking explains it that "normal" people can understand."
"Has led to interesting discussions at family get together times and has led to others borrowing the book."
"Great book."
"Written in an easy to understand style, Hawking explores the universe with clarity and a touch of humor."
"Not enough info."
"There were times when reading that I felt incredibly small and I was sure my molecular structure was becoming unstable and soon to dissolve into the cosmos."
"Easy to read, very understandable, and very informative as to how we think we got to this place in time."
"Great book honestly a great read."
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Best Astrophysics & Space Science

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry
How do we fit within the universe? “Neil deGrasse Tyson makes a big bang with Astrophysics for People in a Hurry .”. - Sloane Crosley, Vanity Fair “Tyson is a master of streamlining and simplification....taking mind-bogglingly complex ideas, stripping them down to their nuts and bolts, padding them with colorful allegories and dorky jokes, and making them accessible to the layperson”. - Salon. “Infectiously enthusiastic, humorous and, above all, accessible....reading Astrophysics for People in a Hurry is both a humbling and exhilarating experience.”. - BookPage.
Reviews
"My issue with this book is that I read it directly after reading his book "Death by Black Hole"...and A LOT of the content from that book is inserted into this one...word for word. I will always read his books but I don't like that there is very little original content in this one."
"I have read Origins, Death By Back Hole, and Space Chronicles before this one."
"The subject is not presented especially deep but it is useful for anyone wanting to get a better layman's understanding of the Big Bang (weird stuff), dark matter (weirder stuff), and dark energy (way weirder stuff)."
"This book is made out to be an "astrophysics for dummies" but it's far more difficult to grasp than I'd imagined."
"Still hard but rewarding."
"Neil Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium, has received considerable acclaim for his outstanding ability to relate scientific ideas to the general public, on television programs such as Cosmos and on social media."
"Beautiful book."
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Best Aeronautics & Astronautics

The Wright Brothers
In this “enjoyable, fast-paced tale” ( The Economist ), master historian David McCullough “shows as never before how two Ohio boys from a remarkable family taught the world to fly” ( The Washington Post) and “captures the marvel of what the Wrights accomplished” ( The Wall Street Journal ). Essential reading, this is “a story of timeless importance, told with uncommon empathy and fluency…about what might be the most astonishing feat mankind has ever accomplished… The Wright Brothers soars” ( The New York Times Book Review ). An Amazon Best Book of May 2015: Most people recognize the famous black-and-white photo of the Wright brothers on a winter day in 1903, in a remote spot called Kitty Hawk, when they secured their place in history as the first to fly a motor-powered airplane. That brilliant moment is the cornerstone of the new masterful book by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough, who brings his deft touch with language and his eye for humanizing details to the unusually close relationship between a pair of brothers from Dayton, Ohio, who changed aviation history. Bicycle shop owners by day, Wilbur and Orville taught themselves flight theory through correspondence with the Smithsonian and other experts. But the brothers soon realized that theory was no match for practical testing, and they repeatedly risked life and limb in pursuit of their goal—including when Orville fractured a leg and four ribs in a 75-foot plunge to the ground. McCullough’s narration of ventures such as this—their famous first flight at Kitty Hawk; the flight in Le Mans, France that propelled the brothers to international fame; the protracted patent battles back at home; and the early death of elder brother Wilbur—will immerse readers in the lives of the Wright family. The Wright Brothers soars.” (Daniel Okrent The New York Times Book Review). “David McCullough has etched a brisk, admiring portrait of the modest, hardworking Ohioans who designed an airplane in their bicycle shop and solved the mystery of flight on the sands of Kitty Hawk, N.C. Mr. McCullough is in his element writing about seemingly ordinary folk steeped in the cardinal American virtues—self-reliance and can-do resourcefulness.” (Roger Lowenstein The Wall Street Journal). Mr. McCullough presents all this with dignified panache, and with detail so granular you may wonder how it was all collected.” (Janet Maslin The New York Times). "McCullough’s magical account of [the Wright Brothers'] early adventures — enhanced by volumes of family correspondence, written records, and his own deep understanding of the country and the era — shows as never before how two Ohio boys from a remarkable family taught the world to fly." But it’s also a story that resonates with anyone who believes deeply in the power of technology to change lives – and the resistance some have to new innovations.” (Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google ). With his ear for dialect and eye for detail, McCullough puts the Wrights in historical context, flushed out by vivid portraits of their loyal father and sister. "McCullough's usual warm, evocative prose makes for an absorbing narrative; he conveys both the drama of the birth of flight and the homespun genius of America's golden age of innovation." "McCullough shows the Wright brothers (snubbed by the British as mere bicycle mechanics) for the important technoscientists they were. The United States honors David McCullough for his lifelong efforts to document the people, places, and events that have shaped America.” (From The Presidential Medal of Freedom Citation).
Reviews
"David McCullough is one of the preeminent American historians of our times, the deft biographer of John Adams and Harry Truman, and in this book he brings his wonderful historical exposition and storytelling skills to the lives of the Wright brothers. If I have some minor reservations they are only in the lack of technical detail which could have informed descriptions of some of the Wrights' experiments and the slightly hagiographical tint that McCullough is known to bring to his subjects. Firstly McCullough who is quite certainly one of the best storytellers among all historians does a great job of giving us the details of the Wrights' upbringing and family. The Wrights' sister Katharine also played an integral part in their lives; they were very close to her and McCullough's account is filled with copious examples of the affectionate, sometimes scolding, always encouraging letters that the siblings wrote to each other. Lastly, McCullough does a fine job describing how the Wrights rose to world fame after their flight. McCullough's account of the Wright brothers, as warm and fast-paced as it is, was most interesting to me for the lessons it holds for the future. But perhaps what the Wright brothers' story exemplifies the most is the importance of simple traits like devotion to family, hard work, intense intellectual curiosity and most importantly, the frontier, can-do attitude that has defined the American dream since its inception."
"McCullough has written a serious and riveting review of the lives of Wilbur and Orville. FAMILY. McCullough makes it clear that the Wilbur and Orville were a product of their family environment. McCullough writes — “He was an unyielding abstainer, which was rare on the frontier, a man of rectitude and purpose— all of which could have served as a description of Milton himself and Wilbur and Orville as well.”. His strict values molded and focused the views of the three younger Wrights (Katherine, Wilbur, and Orville). I am sure that Orville and myself will do nothing that will disgrace the training we received from you and Mother.”. McCullough writes — “Years later, a friend told Orville that he and his brother would always stand as an example of how far Americans with no special advantages could advance in the world. the greatest thing in our favor was growing up in a family where there was always much encouragement to intellectual curiosity.’ ”. BUSINESS. McCullough records Wilbur’s thoughts on being in business in a letter to his brother Lorin in 1894: “In business it is the aggressive man, who continually has his eye on his own interest, who succeeds. … We ought not to have been businessmen.”. In 1911, Wilbur wrote: “When we think what we might have accomplished if we had been able to devote this time [fighting patent infringement suits] to experiments, we feel very sad, but it is always easier to deal with things than with men, and no one can direct his life entirely as he would choose.”. The Wrights never built, or even tried to build, an industrial empire as Ford or Edison or their Dayton neighbors John and Frank Patterson (National Cash Register) had done. Wilbur and Orville were superb engineers, though neither went beyond high school. For example, the wind tunnel had been invented thirty years before, but Wilbur and Orville developed it into a precise quantitative instrument. For example, McCullough writes — “In early 1889, while still in high school, Orville started his own print shop in the carriage shed behind the house, and apparently with no objections from the Bishop. To reinforce that point requires some expansion of that event or similar other defining events in the lives of Wilbur and Orville. One source of knowledge about the Wrights’ approach to aeronautics is the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton."
"Of particular interest are the Wright's struggles to actually fly at Kitty Hawk and how primitive a place that part of North Carolina was at the start of the 20th century. McCullough does spend a bit of time talking about Charles Taylor who was the Wright's mechanic and without whom they would not have flown. If you want to know more about the Wright's then this is a great place to start but a fuller biography/history might have been more fulfilling."
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Best Solar System

The Rock From Mars: A True Detective Story on Two Planets
In academia, in government agencies, in laboratories around the world, and even in the Oval Office–where an inquisitive President Clinton had received the news in secret– players of all kinds plotted their next moves. Among them: David McKay, the dynamic geologist associated with the first moon landing, who labored to achieve at long last a second success; Bill Schopf of UCLA, a researcher determined to remain at the top of his field and the first to challenge McKay’s claims; Dan Goldin, the boss of NASA; and Dick Morris, the controversial presidential adviser who wanted to use the story for Clinton’s reelection and unfortunately made sure it ended up in the diary of a $200-an-hour call girl. Impeccably researched and thrillingly involving, Kathy Sawyer’s The Rock from Mars is an exemplary work of modern nonfiction, a vivid account of the all-too-human high-stakes drive to learn our true place in the cosmic scheme. When geologist Robbie Score spied the little green rock lying on the bluish-white Antarctic landscape on a December day in 1984, she had no idea it would change her life, provoke fierce controversies among scientists around the world and challenge humankind's view of ourselves. Her discovery was the meteorite from Mars that captured the world's attention in 1996 when NASA scientists claimed that minuscule structures deep within it were the fossilized remains of ancient Martian life. Shipped to NASA's Texas Space Center, the rock's strange carbon compounds eventually inspired a group of fervid scientists working in secret to conclude that they were examining nothing less than fossilized remains of ancient microbial Martian life.
Reviews
"I read to the point it's a sin and this is one of, if not the best book on science and the people involved that I've ever read!"
"This got off to a somewhat slow start, which was necessary to give the background information on how this meteorite was found, and why it subsequently languished, all but forgotten, in a drawer for many years before someone finally thought to more carefully examine it. It turned into such a big deal and subject of intense interest that President Clinton made an announcement about the mind blowing discovery of what "looked like" life forms from another planet. If you have an interest in astronomy and fossels this goes into much detail about the hundreds of scientific tests that were carried out on pieces of this meteorite by scientists all over the world as they tried to figure out what exactly was in this rock and if it was, in fact, biological in nature. Yes, the tests do indeed indicate that everything is present in this amazing meteorite for an average scientist to conclude that there was life forms of microbes housed inside."
"_The Rock from Mars: A Detective Story on Two Planets_ (Random House) by Kathy Sawyer tells how the announcement came about, the science behind it, and the personalities (and the infighting) that made it happen and have kept research in the arena to the current day at various cutting edges at the limits of our understanding. In the ten years since the announcement, the controversy has become less prominent, but among scientists who are looking into the subject, there are still opposing camps on the matter, and vehement disagreements, and hurt feelings. For instance, what was learned about possible earthly contamination of the rock will be used when bits of Mars are brought back by robot spacecraft sometime in the future. With its depiction of all-too-human scientists attempting objectivity when contemplating the great mystery of life elsewhere, Sawyer's account is an appealing picture of a good example of how science works."
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Best Cosmology

A Brief History of Time
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. A landmark volume in science writing by one of the great minds of our time, Stephen Hawking’s book explores such profound questions as: How did the universe begin—and what made its start possible? Among the topics gracefully covered are gravity, black holes, the Big Bang, the nature of time, and physicists' search for a grand unifying theory. This is deep science; these concepts are so vast (or so tiny) as to cause vertigo while reading, and one can't help but marvel at Hawking's ability to synthesize this difficult subject for people not used to thinking about things like alternate dimensions. The journey is certainly worth taking, for, as Hawking says, the reward of understanding the universe may be a glimpse of "the mind of God." --Therese Littleton [Hawking] can explain the complexities of cosmological physics with an engaging combination of clarity and wit. Mr. Hawking clearly possesses a natural teacher's gifts -- easy, good-natured humor and an ability to illustrate highly complex propositions with analogies plucked from daily life.
Reviews
"If you want to know how the world and the universe works then this book is certainly the one to read. Three key takeaways from the book: 1."
"I will admit that his dissertations on Quantum Mechanics left me a little dizzy at times, but all in all, this is one of the most enlightening books i have ever read."
"Having read and understood all of the words in this book, I just do not have a firm grasp on much of what Mr. Hawking presents."
"I really enjoyed this film."
"However, 2 friends of mine that don't have ANY interest in physics, borrowed my book to check out, and they actually liked some of it They told me that they were actually able to understand a lot more than they thought they would because they have no interest in physics, let along understand it much."
"Stephen Hawking takes a fascinating but incredibly complicated subject and breaks it down."
"Brief, History, and Time. The thoughts are interesting enough for me to go back and read the work once more, maybe even more than once, to grasp the possibly profound ideas about existence over time and space, and maybe even multiple dimensions of time and space, we might contemplate are there."
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Best UFOs

Unacknowledged: An Expose Of The World's Greatest Secret
We've been lied to. Now, he and hundreds of military personnel, scientists, and civilians who had top-secret access to Unacknowledged Special Access Projects (USAPs) have come forward with startling revelations about the greatest cover-up in human history in an attempt to prevent a false flag event in the works that – if unleashed – would make 9/11 look like a fender bender.Holding nothing back, Dr. Greer and his witnesses provide startling details about this unacknowledged chapter in history, energy and anti-gravitic systems, lunar bases, and black shelved technologies (purposely denied patents) that can transform our world...if we force their introduction into the free market.
Reviews
"Before reading this book, read 'Hidden Truth' for a better understanding of the main position of Dr Greer. The book opens a new perspective to our planet showing that our future can be wonderful; our Earth can be transformed into a real paradise where important material causes of stress and suffering are abolished."
""A great challenge of life: Knowing enough to think you are right, but not knowing enough to know you are wrong.""
"The information may be familiar to students of the genre, but his arguments for releasing free energy technologies are the reasonable conclusion to a lifetime of effort at dispelling ignorance."
"Excellent book."
"He also touches on the consequences of attempting to reveal the truth about the presence of ET's and cites specific cases such as the death of William Colby, who was Director of the CIA when he died; and the death of Marilyn Monroe who was about to reveal some ET secrets told to her by John F. Kennedy."
"A defining moment in starting a new and rewarding experience with this subject."
"Great book on a subject that gets ridiculed a lot by the main stream media."
"A most interesting read on the topic from a most remarkable man."
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Best Star-Gazing

50 Things To See With A Small Telescope
Revised in 2016 and translated into ten languages, 50 Things to See with a Small Telescope explores the planets, stars, galaxies and nebulae observed at stargazing events around the globe. This delightful book covers the 50 things to see and some of them are: 'North Star, Venus, Orion Nebula, Mars, Jupiter, The Milky Way, Comets, the International Space Station, and even birds'.
Reviews
"I have had telescopes over the years from small to large."
"Gave this to my 9 year old daughter, along with a telescope."
"My great grandson (5+) loves it.... set up in their front room... he runs to it as soon as he comes home from school."
"This is very informative for a beginner."
"Nice informative little book for beginners on how to look for things in the sky with a telescope."
"A gift for my Grandsons, they find it a big help."
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