Looking for a list of decent books on space/space exploration

Looking for some interesting reads on the subject of space/space exploration. Only 2 stipulations are that it can't read like a textbook (read enough of those) and needs to be able to fit in my pocket (so I can discreetly bring it to work). A friend recommended Death by Black Hole by Neil deGrasse Tyson but I am trying to build a list of potential reads since the local used bookstore I support doesn't always have what I want in stock.

Also, I am a recent college grad with a science background so don't shy away from suggesting a book because it might be too technical. The point of this project is to continue educating myself

reply to post by cowboys703


If you like illustrations with your reading, which I do especially for Astronomy, I'd recommend these books:

The Illustrated Atlas of the Universe

Space: From Earth to the Edge of the Universe

National Geographic Encyclopedia of Space, this one is alot more text based, almost in the format of a textbook.

Cosmos by Carl Sagan is another great one which is filled with thought provoking topics.

The Story of Physics by Anne Rooney is more about Astrophysics than Astonomy itself. While it does focus heavily on Physics, it also gets into Astronomy and the Big Bang and the universe and stuff like that.

reply to post by TupacShakur


Thanks for the suggestions. The bookstore didn't have any of those in stock but I have added them to my list of recommended reads. I did pick up The Whole Shebang by Timothy Ferris, looked interesting and when I can't find something I'm looking for I typically just pick the most interesting looking book

reply to post by cowboys703


Check on Amazon, I bought a bunch of books on there for reaaaaally cheap.

One of my all-time favorites is Blind Watchers of the Sky, by Rocky Kolb. It is an enormously engaging and often funny book about how the science of astronomy developed, the personalities involved, and how we got to know what we know. It gives great insight into how science really works - something that is sorely misunderstood on ATS. In fact, I recommend this book to all ATSers.

Enjoy!

The Holy Trinity: COSMOS, Pale Blue Dot, and Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors by Carl Sagan

Coming of Age in the Milky Way Galaxy and The Mind's Sky: Human Intelligence in a Cosmic Context by Timothy Ferris

The Ascent of Man, Charles Darwin

Relativity: The Special and General Theory, Albert Einstein

Extraterrestrial Civilizations by Issac Asimov

There are more in my bookshelf, but these are a good starter pack

I really enjoyed "Titan Unveiled" by Lorenz and Mitton. It's about the Huygens probe that was part of the Cassini mission to Saturn.

Ralph Lorenz, the other writer, was part of the team building and operating the Huygens probe and the book is a great "behind the scenes" view of what goes into planning, building and operating a spacecraft like Huygens. Also a lot of information about the history of observations of Titan and deciphering and analyzing the results of the Huygens mission.

I appreciate all the responses. Have put all of these on my list of recommended reads and will be looking into them further once I get through the ones on hand. But by all means, keep them coming.