Starship Asterisk*

I just ended reading Carl Sagan´s "science as a candle in the dark book", one of my favorite books, what other science book do you suggest

Everything by Carl Sagan is worth reading, because he was a great popularizer of astronomy. His most famous book is probably Cosmos. Unfortunately, Sagan died sixteen years ago, so his books don't contain the most up-to-date astronomical knowledge. Cosmos is from 1980.

A famous popularizer of cosmology is Stephen Hawking. You might try his book, A Brief History of Time. Still, you should be aware that the book was written back in 1992.

One of the most interesting books I myself has read on the topic of astronomy is Rare Earth: Why Complex Life Is Uncommon in the Universe by Peter Ward and Donald Brownleee. The book is from 2000. The claims of the book may or may not be correct, but to me it was extremely thought-provoking. The authors say that simple life forms comparable to bacteria are probably common in the universe, but complex life forms such as ourselves are probably rare.

Ann

great thank you Ann.

I'm currently reading "The Cosmic Tourist", by Brian May, Patrick Moore, and Chris Lintott. It is an easy book to read, with some splendid photographs, and I was surprised at how MUCH I discovered that I had, painlessly, learnt. I've also bought, but not yet started, the same authors' "BANG! The Complete History of the Universe".

Brian Clegg's 'Light Years' is again not a difficult read, but leaves one with some useful insights into the scientific exploration of light.

Probably my all-time favourite science book is Richard Fortey, "Life, An Unauthorised Biography". I've read it, with huge enjoyment, three times so far!

Hope you enjoy your reading!
Margarita
PS. Sagan's novel, "Contact" is excellent - and far more nuanced than the film that was made from it.