What are some good books for a beginner wishing to learn more about space?

Question

Lately I've been interested in learning more about space, the stars and planets. I have a very high reading level, but not much knowledge on the subject beyond the average person. Can anyone recommend some useful, clearly presented, and preferably up-to-date books on the subject?

Answer 1

Candace Pert is the scientist who discovered that molecules do have emotions.  Find her  book and discover how to become happy too.

Answer 2

Books of Jacob Lorber, Slovenian profet give undoubtedly clear and bright imagination about a space, born of materia, etc...If you can sustain religious approach, you can make great profit for yourself. Book dealer can easily be found on internet.

Answer 3

I highly recommend the book below:

Answer 4

Isaac Asimov wrote the following books on space, which are all wonderful:

The Collapsing Universe (1977)

Views of the Universe  (1981)

Exploring the Earth and the Cosmos (1982)

Guide to Earth and Space (1991)

Quasars, Pulsars, and Black Holes (1992)

The first two or three are somewhat dated (but still essentially accurate by modern standards). The last few are basically up to date. These books are all very well written and easy to understand. Asimov does the best job at expressing complex ideas in terms that even I, with my mundane education, can understand. He doesn't just teach you, he captivates you and breathes life into these concepts.

You see, he doesn't just tell you "about space", he tells you a story of how human beings have developed their understanding of the cosmos over the millennia and how we came to the modern conclusions we have to day.

Answer 5

Oh gee, there are so many...

I grew up on "Stars and Planets" by Ian Ridpath  

http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8626.h...

And a lot of books by Seymour Simon...  Ridpaths book I beleive is updated regularily, not sure about Simon though.  The source below gives a detailed review about many that I have never even heard about.

Answer 6

see these, awesome

http://themustread.com/sbooks.php?id=31

Answer 7

if you can handle it, definitely some neil degrasse tyson, especially death by black hole

also some carl sagan

and stephen hawking

they go into the deep cosmos, not just space and planets, but the origins of the universe and the origin of the laws of physics and astrophysics

i know it sounds difficult, but once you get into it, it gets incredibly interesting

so the best books would be:

death by black hole-neil degrasse tyson

a brief history of time-stephen hawking

cosmos-carl sagan

pale blue dot-carl sagan

Answer 8

hey! the best thing you can do is go back to school... but not literally.. they should have some school textbooks at your nearest library... check em out, they'll tech you everything about space...

stars, galaxy, nebulas, supernovas, the works you know!!