100 All-Time Greatest Popular Science Books (and 17 More)

These great books offer accessible science to all readers, no matter their knowledge level. There’s something here for everyone, whether you’re interested in environmental science, kitchen chemistry, or just want to try out fun experiments with your kids. Check out our picks for the best in popular science (including 17 bonus reads!), and see how you can use them to better understand and explore our world.

Astronomy, Cosmology and Space Travel


  1. Cosmos: Even after his death, Carl Sagan retains his reputation as an intelligent astronomer who brought the universe to the masses.
  2. Bad Astronomy: Philip Plait’s accessible book dispels many of the myths associated with humanity’s inquiries into the cosmos, including the belief that the moon landing was a hoax.
  3. Nightwatch: Terence Dickinson’s book is about more than just stargazing, but using a telescope to make note of celestial bodies makes for a great starting point.
  4. Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos: Walk through the corridors of academia with Dennis Overbye and meet with some of the top astronomical minds on the planet, learning about the personalities and the politics behind the science.
  6. Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein’s Outrageous Legacy: Featuring a foreword from Stephen Hawking, Kip S. Thorne’s book highlights the weird and wonderful theory of general relativity and its undeniable impact on the industry.
  7. A Brief History of Time: Stephen Hawking and Carl Sagan alone could probably fill up this section, so self-discipline limits them to only two appearances on this list. A Brief History of Time is one of the former’s most popular, accessible works.
  8. The Edge of Physics: New Scientist consulting editor Anil Ananthaswamy travels the globe in search of people, places, and developments that lead to humanity’s greater knowledge of the universe.
  9. The Black Hole War: Complicated astrophysics concepts get broken down into easy, but not condescending, explanations suitable for beginners by Leonard Susskind.
  10. The Backyard Astronomer’s Guide: Beginner astronomers yearning to take to the skies with telescopes and guidebooks in hand would probably find this well-received resource extremely valuable.
  11. Pale Blue Dot: An excellent read by Carl Sagan for space geeks at any level of comprehension, one of Sagan’s most beloved books on popular astronomy speculates on mankind’s future in space exploration and delves into its rich past.
  12. The Alchemy of the Heavens: Mostly emphasizing the Milky Way, Ken Croswell blends astronomy and chemistry together to discuss the composition of stars, planets and other celestial bodies using language most readers can understand.
  13. Turn Left at Orion: This highly-recommended stargazing guide by Guy Consolmagno and Dan M. Davis ends up on quite a few reading lists, and for good reason! Approachable and informative, it serves as an excellent introduction to astronomy.
  14. Starlight Nights: Few books so perfectly bottle the awe and wonder one experiences when looking towards the heavens as this stargazing memoir by Leslie C. Peltier, perfect for astronomers new and old.
  18. Brother Astronomer: Science and religion publicly share an antagonistic relationship, but Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno an astronomer with the Vatican — points out that there really no reason they cannot peacefully coexist.
  21. God’s Mechanics: A companion piece to Brother Astronomer, in God’s Mechanics, Brother Guy explains how scientists are able to balance religious belief with work in highly empirical fields.
  22. A More Perfect Heaven: In A More Perfect Heaven, the history and work of Copernicus are taken out of textbooks and into real life, sharing the personality, struggle, and extraordinary studies of the Copernican Revolution.
  23. Bang! The Complete History of the Universe: Take in the story of the universe’s explosion into existence in this new book that explores the formation of the first stars all the way to the future of Earth’s demise.

Biology and Natural History

An understanding of biology means an understanding of how humans function and interact with the other organisms around them.

  3. Wonderful Life: In this classic work of natural history, Stephen Jay Gould takes readers on a journey to the Burgess Shale for a valuable lesson on some of the oldest fossils in the world.
  4. Birds of America: When John James Audubon first made his legendary avian paintings available to the masses, he never realized that centuries later people would still praise his talent and ability to make biology an accessible science.
  5. Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: Another excellent book by Simon Winchester about one of the world’s most famous volcanic explosions for general audiences fascinated by how the planet works.
  6. Silent Spring: Readers desiring to learn as much as they can about environmental science should add Silent Spring to their essential reading lists. Rachel Carson was one of the most important voices in the burgeoning green movement, and her clarion call to understand and protect the environment continues to ring true.
  7. Isaac’s Storm: In 1900, one of the deadliest hurricanes in history struck Galveston, Texas. Erik Larson’s work of creative nonfiction obtained widespread attention and accolades for bringing history and earth science to a broad audience.
  8. How to Cool the Planet: This Geoengineering book takes a look at what might happen if, in a climate emergency, we had to suddenly cool the planet in a hurry.


Considering the advanced mathematics involved in physics, it comes as no surprise that general audiences find it one of the most intimidating sciences. Fortunately, books exist to slice away at some of the mystery.

  1. Relativity: While not exactly the easiest read for non-physicists, without Albert Einstein’s findings the modern world as understood today simply would not exist.
  2. Six Easy Pieces: This compilation of six lectures by Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman breaks complex physics concepts down into language that almost anyone can understand.
  3. The Cosmic Landscape: Perhaps a little more advanced than some of the other books on this list, The Cosmic Landscape by Leonard Susskinddelves into string theory and its role in all corners of the universe.
  4. The Elegant Universe: Superstring theory, general relativity and quantum mechanics converge into one resource that brings some of the basic physics findings to general audiences.
  5. E=mc2: A Biography of the World’s Most Famous Equation: Einstein’s iconic equation on the relationship between mass and energy boasts an incredible story and history, recounted here by David Bodanis. The writer certainly does not skimp on exploring how the earth-shattering finding interacted with the work of other physicists as well.
  6. Hyperspace: Even individuals with a tenuous grasp of physics still understand and appreciate the theories behind multiple and parallel universes, and this book by Michio Kaku explains how the concepts work in clear enough language.
  7. The Age of Entanglement: Louisa Gilder writes of the personalities and experimentalists what shaped quantum physics as it is understood and practiced today.
  8. Basic Physics: A Self-Teaching Guide: Anyone driven to teach themselves the basics of physics can appreciate this textbook by Karl F. Kuhn’s goals and exercises.
  9. The Dancing Wu Li Masters: This beautiful book draws parallels between dance, mysticism, culture and of course physics, presenting audiences with a provocative, philosophical read without any complex mathematics.

Psychology and Sociology


  3. The Freud Reader: As with his student and eventual rival Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud altered the course of psychology forever. Given his extensive writings on the subject, a compilation makes for the best start.
  4. The Invisible Gorilla: People always seem to claim that they let their intuition guide them, but Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons point out the cognitive errors they will likely encounter that alter their perception.
  5. The Upside of Irrationality: In this intriguing work of “behavioral economics,” Dan Ariely engages general audiences by analyzing why humanity as a whole tends to self-sabotage.
  6. The Art of Choosing: Sheena Iyengar presents some fascinating psychological research on how humans react to having either too few, too many or too suspect choices.
  7. Man’s Search for Meaning: Victor Frankl wrote some of the most amazing psychological works of the 20th century, and most consider Man’s Search for Meaning his most essential inquiry into humanity’s attempts to make sense of itself.
  10. Bowling Alone: Robert D. Putnam updated some of the concepts behind Reuel Denney, Nathan Glazer and David Reisman’s sublime The Lonely Crowd for contemporary audiences. Both books peer into the phenomenon of social isolation and how communities band together and fall apart as a result.
  12. The Paradox of Choice: Study the implications of living in a world of overwhelming choices in The Paradox of Choice.
  13. The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty: Author Dan Ariely insists that we lie to everyone, especially ourselves, in this book that pushes readers to challenge what they believe about dishonesty.
  14. Thinking, Fast and Slow: Daniel Kahneman explores our two systems of thinking, fast and slow, explaining the captabilities, faults, and biases of both in Thinking, Fast and Slow.

For the Kids

Educating children in the various sciences can be just as enjoyable as it is informative. The following books cover age ranges from preschool to early high school.

  1. The Stars: A New Way to See Them: Penned by the same scribe as the iconic Curious George, this stargazing guide for children and young adults is considered a classic primer on very basic astronomy.
  2. The Story of Snow: Introduce very young children to how one of their favorite meteorological phenomena work with stunning photos and simple explanations.
  6. Almost Astronauts: Sociology, technology and astronomy converge in this tale of NASA’s discrimination against hopeful female astronauts.
  7. What is the World Made Of?: With this simple picture book appropriate for first through third graders, readers can pick up the basics on the states of matter that comprise the universe.
  8. Earth Heroes: Kids who love the environment and want to know more about the men and women behind historic conservation efforts will appreciate this informative read by Bruce Malnor and Carol Malnor.
  9. Charged Up: Delve into the fundamentals of electricity and its undeniably rich history through Jacqui Bailey and illustrator Matthew Lilly’s child-friendly book.
  10. The Periodic Table: Elements with Style!: Sixty-four elements receive quick, fun and thoroughly kid-friendly treatment in this acclaimed read on the fundamentals of chemistry.
  11. Microlife That Helps Us: With some images straight from microscopes, Steve Parker illustrates the beneficial microorganisms that make everyday life possible.
  12. Consider the Following: Pretty much any book by Bill Nye, the famous “Science Guy,” will appeal to scientifically-minded children. Consider the Following, though, covers a nicely broad range of subject matter.
  13. You Can with Beakman: Beakman’s World creator Jok Church brings the beloved children’s program to bookshelves worldwide, chock full of some DIY projects that illustrate basic scientific principles.
  14. The Ultimate Dinosaur Book: Most kids experience a “dinosaur phase,” and this book caters to their interest with some excellent, basic paleontology lessons.
  15. Rocks and Minerals: The Smithsonian provides an absolutely stellar, engaging field guide to identifying all types of rocks and minerals, appropriate for older children with an interest in geology.
  16. Our Patchwork Planet: Our Patchwork Planet serves as a nice little primer on plate tectonics for children new to the wide world of geography and geology.
  17. Bathtub Science: Another delightful book that encourages kids (and their parents!) to pick up some cool science lessons during bath time.
  18. The Berenstain Bears’ Big Book of Science and Nature: Kids can explore the natural world in this big book with an almanac of the seasons, science projects, and fun facts about animals, plants, and more.
  19. Candy Experiments: Turn candy into a learning resource with this book that turns sweets into scientific experiments, and kids into enthusiastic participants.
  20. Mythbusters Science Fair Book: Turn to this book to find fun experiments in mythbusting that kids can enjoy, both for pure enjoyment, or for science fair resources.