A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through?
By Kelly and Zach Weinersmith

Husband-and-wife writing team Kelly and Zach Weinersmith were excited about human settlements in space when they started research for their new book A City on Mars. But the more they learned, the more sceptical they became. From technology, practicalities and ethics, to politics and the legal framework, they uncovered profound problems at every step. With humorous panache and plenty of small cartoons by Zach, who also does the webcomic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, the book is a highly entertaining guide that will dent the enthusiasm of most proponents of settling space. Kate Gardner

• 2024 Particular Books

Einstein in Oxford
By Andrew Robinson

“England has always produced the best physicists,” Albert Einstein once said in Berlin in 1925. His high regard for British physics led him to pay three visits to the University of Oxford in the early 1930s, which are described by Andrew Robinson in his charming short book Einstein in Oxford. Sadly, the visits were not hugely productive for Einstein, who disliked the formality of Oxford life. His time there is best remembered for the famous blackboard – saved for posterity – on which he’d written while giving a public lecture. Matin Durrani

• 2024 Bodleian Library Publishing

Pillars of Creation: How the James Webb Telescope Unlocked the Secrets of the Cosmos
By Richard Panek

The history of science is “a combination of two tales” says Richard Panek in his new book charting the story of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). “One is a tale of curiosity. The other is a tale of tools.” He has chosen an excellent case study for this statement. Pillars of Creation combines the story of the technological and political hurdles that nearly sank the JWST before it launched with a detailed account of its key scientific contributions. Panek’s style is also multi-faceted, mixing technical explanations with the personal stories of scientists fighting to push the frontiers of astronomy.  Katherine Skipper

• 2024 Little, Brown

Quanta and Fields: the Biggest Ideas in the Universe
By Sean Carroll

With 2025 being the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, the second book in prolific science writer Sean Carroll’s “Biggest Ideas” trilogy – Quanta and Fields – might make for a prudent read. Following the first volume on “space, time and motion”, it tackles the key scientific principles that govern quantum mechanics, from wave functions to effective wave theory. But beware: this book is packed with equations, formulae and technical concepts. It’s essentially a popular-science textbook, in which Carroll does things like examine each term in the Schrödinger equation and delve into the framework for group theory. Great for physicists but not, perhaps, for the more casual reader. Tushna Commissariat

• 2024 Penguin Random House