The Best Astronomy Books of 2021, 100-word Book Reviews, and Original Author Interviews!
Discover more from The Cosmic Companion w/ James Maynard
The Best Astronomy Books of 2021, 100-word Book Reviews, and Original Author Interviews!
Our Top Seven books about space and astronomy, with 100-word book reviews and original interviews with the authors!
Astronomy Books of 2021
100-Word Book Reviews | Author Interviews
Hello astronomy fans!
I hope everyone is off to a great holiday season.
Nothing makes a better gift than a good book, and I’ve reviewed the best books about astronomy and space (including Earth science) in 100 words or less. And, each review comes with an original interview with the author!
This list of the best science books of 2021 includes fiction and non-fiction works, exploring astronomy and space exploration, including Earth science.
We give you a look at each of these works through our book reviews of 100 words (or less!), as well as a link to learn more and purchase the book!
Here are our choices for the best astronomy books of 2021, presented in alphabetical order – they are all winners, in our book! (See what we did there?)
Thank you for supporting The Cosmic Companion by purchasing the books below:
Across the Airless Wilds
Earl Swift
Custom House
New York Times best-selling author Earl Swift takes us Across the Airless Wilds, an “inside look” at NASA’s lunar buggy.
Swift brings us into the heads of the designers, engineers, and others who contributed to the Lunar Roving Vehicle which accompanied the final three teams of Apollo astronauts to the Moon.
From dreams of science fiction writers of the early 20th Century, to December 1972, when Apollo 17 left our planetary companion, Across the Airless Wilds is quite a ride!
Buy the Book: https://amzn.to/3jWUWge
Watch our interview with Earl Swift:
Backyard Guide to the Night Sky
Andrew Fazekas “The Night Sky Guy”
National Geographic
Humans have gazed up in wonder at the night sky since the days when our earliest ancestors wandered the wild plains of Africa. The majesty of stars and planets may have given birth to both science and spirituality.
Today, despite city lights and hectic schedules, these celestial beacons still call out to us.
Andrew Fazekas – National Geographic’s Night Sky Guy – guides us around the heavenly dome shining high above our own backyards.
Simple to understand, enjoyable to read, and a handy reference, this work is a worthy addition to the National Geographic legacy, bringing science to everyone.
Buy the Book: https://amzn.to/3FEXlUC
Watch our interview with Andrew Fazekas:
Cosmic Queries: StarTalk’s Guide to Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We’re Going
Neil deGrasse Tyson and James Trefil
National Geographic
Cosmic Queries is a book rich in facts, presenting an overall view of the Universe from one of the greatest science popularizes alive today. Readers will journey far out in space, and to the beginnings – and possible ends – to our Cosmos.
Full-color images help readers seeking to understand complex issues, and explanations of difficult concepts are brought “down to Earth” in short texts, making science accessible to all.
Cosmic Queries is perfect for anyone seeking to learn more about the Cosmos and our place in it.
Buy the Book: https://amzn.to/3jSo207
Watch our interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson:
Gory Details: Adventures from the Dark Side of Science
Erika Engelhaupt
National Geographic
National Geographic comes through again with Gory Details: Adventures from the Dark Side of Science. This fun, informative book is disgusting, sickening, revolting, and that’s what makes it so enjoyable.
Erika Engelhaupt brings us on a tour of everything gross and disgusting in science – mites living on your face, mounds of fat floating in city sewers, and body farms – outdoor areas where fields of dead bodies are allowed to decompose.
Engelhaupt just gets grosser from there, which makes this a TOTALLY awesome book for anyone who loves science, bizarre facts, and the macabre.
Buy the Book: https://amzn.to/3aF8ac3
Watch our interview with Erika Engelhaupt:
The Invisible Universe: Why There’s More to Reality than Meets the Eye
Matthew Bothwell
Oneworld Publications
Most of the Cosmos is found (or not!) in the form of dark matter and dark energy. But, even most “normal” matter cannot be seen by human eyes.
In The Invisible Universe, Matthew Bothwell opens our eyes to the wonders of the Universe as seen in radio, microwave, infrared, and ultraviolet wavelengths. Peering through hazy clouds of dust, revealing the center of the Milky Way, is only one destination of many in this journey around the Cosmos.
Bothwell’s enthusiasm is infectious, creating a real page turner for readers seeking to understand the 93% of matter invisible to our eyes.
Buy the Book: https://amzn.to/30Ztsj5
Watch a sneak preview of our interview with Matthew Bothwell (Full interview coming 30 November to TheCosmicCompanion.TV!):
The Mission
David W. Brown
Custom House
Orbiting the gas giant planet Jupiter, the icy moon Europa holds onto a massive ocean more than twice the size of the global ocean of Earth, covered in a layer of ice. These massive waterways, 100 kilometers or more in depth, might be a haven of alien life, and beg to be explored.
The Europa Clipper, scheduled for launch in 2024, will orbit Europa, scrutinizing these mysterious oceans.
David W. Brown offers a personal in-depth look at the very human drive to develop this revolutionary program with the potential to find alien life in our own Solar System.
Buy the Book: https://amzn.to/3nNK1Hu
Watch our interview with David W. Brown:
Ocean: A Global Odyssey
Sylvia Earle
National Geographic
Sylvia Earle brings back the coffee table book with National Geographic Ocean | A Global Odyssey. Weighing in at nearly seven pounds, this chronicle of the Earth’s oceans and life within it begs to be explored.
This magnificent tome provides quick insights and stunning photographs of the ocean floor, coral reefs, and the magnificent diversity of animal and plant life in the depths of our planetary waterways.
Named as Time Magazine’s first-ever Hero of the Planet, Dr. Earle guides us among and through the majesty which makes up three-quarters of our home world.
A true masterpiece.
Buy the Book: https://amzn.to/3beM7cm
Watch a sneak preview of our interview with Sylvia Earle (Full interview coming 7 December to TheCosmicCompanion.TV!):
The Physics of Climate Change
Lawrence Krauss
Post Hill Press
The Physics of Climate Change presents a complex global problem in an engaging manner, as the reader is brought around the world in engaging stories.
Beginning in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, Lawrence Krauss gives us insight to how global climate change is already affecting millions of people around the world.
The author of The Physics of Star Trek brings his unique easy-to-follow writing style to explain one of the great challenges of our lifetimes.
Our journey explores the science behind how we measure – and can combat – global climate change. A quick, informative read.
Buy the Book: https://amzn.to/3nfvMeH
Watch our interview with Lawrence Krauss:
These books are all superb books by highly-talented authors and researchers. A purchase using one of the links above may help support The Cosmic Companion in our journalistic and educational mission.
I want to thanks all the amazing researchers, journalists, and authors who spread the light of science with works such as these, and still found time to talk to me about their work.
Gift subscriptions to this newsletter start at just $5!
Happy Holidays and clear skies!
James