The ten best selling cosmology books - list supplied by Amazon.
1. The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory by Brian Greene
A fascinating and thought-provoking journey through the mysteries of space, time, and matter. Today physicists and mathematicians throughout the world are feverishly working on one of the most ambitious theories ever proposed: superstring theory. String theory proclaims that all of the happenings in the universe are reflections of microscopically tiny vibrating loops of energy, a billionth of a billionth the size of an atom. Brian Greene, one of the world’s leading string theorists, relates the scientific story and the human struggle behind twentieth-century physics’ search for a theory of everything. The Elegant Universe makes some of the most sophisticated concepts ever contemplated viscerally accessible and thoroughly entertaining. Read a
BUY: Amazon (US) Amazon (UK)
2. Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion, and the Appetite for Wonder by Richard Dawkins
Did Newton “unweave the rainbow” by reducing it to its prismatic colours, as Keats contended? Did he, in other words, diminish beauty? Far from it, says Dawkins.
With the prose that has made his books worldwide bestsellers, Dawkins addresses the most important and compelling topics in modern science, from astronomy and genetics to language and virtual reality. Richard Dawkins has written a tribute to science “not because it is useful (though it is), but because it is uplifting, in the same way as the best poetry is uplifting.”
BUY: Amazon (US) Amazon (UK)
3. The Whole Shebang : A State-Of-The-Universe(s) Report by Timothy Ferris
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 questions that have occurred to even casual readers: What does it mean to say that the universe is “expanding, ” or that space is “curved”? — and sheds light on the possibility that our universe is only one among many universes, each with its own physical laws and prospects for the emergence of life. Read a review.
BUY: Amazon (US) Amazon (UK)
4. The Inflationary Universe : The Quest for a New Theory of Cosmic Origins by Alan Guth and Alan Lightman
Alan Guth is one of the inventors of inflationary theory. In this book he describes how he, with a number of colleagues, wrestled with attempts to match the standard ‘big bang’ model of cosmology with astronomical observations gathered in the latter part of the 20th Century. The result is a theory of “inflation” which postulates that the universe underwent an incomprehensibly large expansion in the first fraction of a microsecond of its existence. As a first-person account, it is along side The First Three Minutes as a standard book that every scientist interested in astronomy should read.
BUY: Amazon (US) Amazon (UK)
5. The Life of the Cosmos by Lee Smolin
Cosmologist Lee Smolin offers a startling new theory of the universe that is radically different from anything proposed before. He argues that the laws of nature may be subject themselves to natural selection. Read a review.
BUY: Amazon (US) Amazon (UK)
6. Mere Creation; Science, Faith & Intelligent Design by William A. Dembski (Editor)
Nineteen experts trained in mathematics, mechanical engineering, philosophy, astrophysics, ecology, evolutionary biology, and other disciplines challenge the reigning ideology of materialistic naturalism on both scientific and philosophical grounds, as they press their case for a radical rethinking of established evolutionary assumptions.
BUY: Amazon (US) Amazon (UK)
7. Probability 1 : Why There Must Be Intelligent Life in the Universe by Amir D. Aczel
Carl Sagan believed it–now the bestselling author of Fermat’s Last Theorem tries to prove it. Basing his book on the discoveries being made by the Hubble telescope, data emerging from Mars, and knowledge about life at the extremes, Aczel pulls together everything science has discovered, and mixes in probability theory to argue the case for the existence of intelligent life beyond this planet.
BUY: Amazon (US) Amazon (UK)
8. Stephen Hawking’s Universe : The Cosmos Explained by David Filkin and Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking’s Universe is a journalistic rewrite of A Brief History of Time. It reveals step-by-step how we can all share his understanding of the cosmos, and our own place within it. Many readers will consider it an easier read than Hawking’s famous bestseller.
BUY: Amazon (US) Amazon (UK)
9. The Little Book of the Big Bang : A Cosmic Primer by Craig J. Hogan
The Little Book of the Big Bang explains what modern cosmology is all about: What happened at the beginning, how matter formed, how structure formed, what may happen to the universe in the future – and most important, how we know all this. Although aimed at the layman, personal reviews at Amazon seemed mixed on how effective the book is at explaining some of the standard astronomical concepts.
BUY: Amazon (US) Amazon (UK)
10. Before the Beginning : Our Universe and Others by Martin J. Rees
In this engaging and carefully reasoned account of our universe and its place within a grander scheme, one of the UK’s most eminent astronomers draws together recent advances in astrophysics and up-to-the-minute research to cast a piercing light on man’s place in the cosmos. Highly readable and recommended.
BUY: Amazon (US) Amazon (UK)
