Have you ever wondered why we can’t just make the world better? Sure, we’ve made enormous strides in agriculture and medicine over the past few centuries. We can generate electricity and move around the world in a day. We can feed and heal people. But why haven’t we just sat down and figured out the right way to live? Planned it all out on a clean sheet, like an architect. Praised by great authors, including award-winning science journalist Gaia Vince, The Human Cosmosis not just a pleasure to read, it's one you'll want to share with everyone you know who is interested in astronomy. It is a weighty subject, incorporating everything from cosmology and atomic physics to quantum physics and philosophy, but astrophysicists Geraint Lewis and Luke Barnes have done a stellar job in explaining some extremely challenging concepts with style and panache. Cambridge University Press are mostly known for their academic titles, but this is firmly in the popular science mould, akin to the works of authors like Brian Greene or Sean Carroll.

Cosmic reads: four great books that explore the Universe we live in Cosmic reads: four great books that explore the Universe we live

Until the End of Time is Brian Greene's breathtaking new exploration of the cosmos and our quest to understand it. Greene takes us on a…Who better to describe life in space than someone who’s walked the (space)walk? Peake pens answers to the public’s burning questions, revealing what space smells like, how he enjoyed a cosmic cuppa, and what it felt like to return to Earth. Straight from the pen of a scientist working with commercial spaceflight comes a memoir of getting into the air. Kellie Gerardi has worked with NASA, tested technology that would be sent to the International Space Station, and helped develop programmes for future space exploration. The hilarious Dara Ó Briain offers scientific answers to questions such as: how did life begin? How was the Earth created? Do aliens exist? The Art of Urban Astronomy: A Guide to Stargazing Wherever You Are Seeing Like a State is a book about why it’s impossible for ambitious programs of top-down control to succeed, and why they so often end up with millions of people dead. The world is always more complicated than the maps you make of it, and in a lot of situations, it turns out that complexity matters . You can’t design and build the perfect city. You have to grow it.

Universe by DK, Martin Rees | Waterstones Universe by DK, Martin Rees | Waterstones

Of course, his other books are all well worth a read, too. Try Limitless if you're a fan of autobiographies, or The Astronaut Selection Test Bookfor a series of puzzles and quizzes to see if you've got what it takes to go into space. Try your hand at a test for the ISS on sciencefocus.com. Scientists are increasingly confident that there is life elsewhere in the Universe. But what would that life look like? Stories in the Starsis both an imaginative and in-depth collection of human's encounters with the night sky. Ask An Astronaut: My Guide to Life in Space

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There can be no better example that science does not stand still. I am therefore pleased to see that the author occasionally pauses to explain the ‘scientific method’ and why it is such a powerful and progressive tool compared to the alternative of mere philosophical musing. Indeed, Parsons delights in pointing out that a scientist when presented with damning evidence is duty bound to discard a favoured theory – even if it is their own!

best books about the universe for people who want the - Shepherd The best books about the universe for people who want the -

This is not just a history of the Universe. The book is driven by the fascinating narrative of humanity’s developing cosmologies, from the religious philosophies of Mesopotamia to the latest scientific discoveries. By degrees we move from Thales, Copernicus and Newton to Einstein, Hubble, Hawking and beyond. From the moment it first appeared, Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection has been controversial: misrepresented, abused, denied and fiercely debated. In this powerful defence of Darwin, Daniel C. Dennett explores every aspect of evolutionary thinking to show why it is so fundamental to our existence, and why it affirms - not threatens - our convictions about the meaning of life. This book, by former Astronomy Now editor Paul Parsons, begins with an observation by Belgian cosmologist Georges Lemaître that “the Big Bang was a day without a yesterday”. Grappling with that mind-blowing concept perfectly sets up the reader for what follows.For fans of Jim Al-Khalili's The World According to Physics, this book is an accessible and engaging introduction to one of the Universe's most extraordinary phenomena. A powerful, and in many insightful, explanation as to why grandiose programs of social reform, not to mention revolution, so often end in tragedy. . . . An important critique of visionary state planning."-Robert Heilbroner, Lingua Franca For more reading recommendations and free samples of new and popular books, sign up to our book club newsletter below.

The Universe by Andrew Cohen, Professor Brian Cox - Waterstones The Universe by Andrew Cohen, Professor Brian Cox - Waterstones

Everything you need to know about modern physics, the universe and our place in the world in seven enlightening lessons From one of the most dynamic rising stars in astrophysics, an eye-opening look at five ways the universe could end, and the mind-blowing lessons each scenario reveals about the most important ideas in cosmologyLevesque's writing is witty and honest, and asks us all to reconsider our relationship with the Universe. Where are we? Who are we? Do our beliefs, hopes and dreams hold any significance out there in the void? Can human purpose and meaning ever fit into a scientific worldview? If the end of the world really is imminent, perhaps we should start looking for another one. The obvious choices are the Moon or Mars, but there are lots of other places in the Solar System we could try, each with their own problems and opportunities. We could try floating above Venus in balloon cities, or living in caves inside our very own asteroid. From Darwin and Einstein to the origins of life, consciousness and the universe itself, Carroll combines cosmos-sprawling science and profound thought in a quest to…