Listed below are selected books on the theme of “Space and Astronomy” to celebrate the 2025 edition of Science Literacy Week (October 6 – 12, 2025)
The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein is one of the leading physicists of her generation, and one of the fewer than one hundred Black women to earn a PhD in physics. The Disordered Cosmos envisions a world without prejudice that allows everyone to view the wonders of the universe through the same starry eyes.
Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars by Nathalia Holt
Nathalia Holt tells the stories of the women who charted a course not only for the future of space exploration but also for the prospects of female scientists. Based on extensive research and interviews with the living members of the team, Rise of the Rocket Girls illuminates the role of women in science; both where we’ve been and the far reaches of space to which we are heading.
The Sky Is for Everyone: Women Astronomers in Their Own Words by Virginia Trimble and David A. Weintraub.
The Sky Is for Everyone is an internationally diverse collection of autobiographical essays by women who broke down barriers and changed the face of modern astronomy. The book serves as an inspiration to current and future generations of women scientists while giving voice to the history of a transformative era in astronomy.
The Secret Life Of Stars: Astrophysics For Everyone by Lisa Harvey-Smith
Written by award-winning astronomer Lisa Harvey-Smith, each chapter in this book describes unusual stars and their amazing characteristics and attributes, from pulsars, blue stragglers, and white dwarfs, to cannibal stars, and explosive supernovae.
A Brief Welcome to the Universe: A Pocket-Sized Tour by Neil deGrasse Tyson; Micheal Strauss; and J. Richard Gott
The book addresses some fundamental questions about the universe such as: How do stars live and die? What are the prospects of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe? How did the universe begin? Why is it expanding and accelerating? Is our universe alone or part of an infinite multiverse? Exploring these and many other questions.
A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through? by Weinersmith, Kelly; Weinersmith, Zach
The book provides answers to every question about space you’ve ever wondered about, and many you’ve never considered: Can you make babies in space? Should corporations govern space settlements? What about space war? Are we headed for a housing crisis on the Moon’s Peaks of Eternal Light–and what happens if you’re left in the Craters of Eternal Darkness? Why do astronauts love taco sauce?
My Remarkable Journey: A Memoir by Katherine Johnson, Joylette Hylick and Katherine Moore
Katherine Johnson shares her personal journey from child prodigy in the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia to NASA human computer and her integral role in the early years of the U.S. space program. In 2015, at the age of ninety-seven, Johnson became a global celebrity for her pioneering work as a mathematician on NASA’s first flight into space.
Starstruck: A memoir of astrophysics and finding light in the dark by Sarafina Nance
Sarafina El-Badry Nance shares her personal story of resilience and liberation by grounding herself in her lifelong love of the stars. As a child, Sarafina Nance spent nearly every evening with her father gazing up at the flickering stars and pondering what secrets the night sky held. She dreamt of becoming an astronomer from the age of five, but it wasn’t long before she was told, both explicitly and implicitly, that girls just weren’t cut out for math and science.
Share the Universe A Guide to Outreach Astronomy by Richard Stember
What is science and scientific methodology? How is it used to give mankind knowledge and solutions to problems that we face in many scientific fields including medicine? How does it differ from other sources of information? The book, sprinkled with the author’s 24 plus years of personal experience in public outreach, offers practical techniques to engage, educate, and inspire all who are interested in the field of astronomy.
Planet Earth, Past and Present: Parallels Between Our World and its Celestial Neighbors by Michael Carroll
This book describes the exciting, complex, and occasionally baffling history of our own planet. Over the course of its 4.5 billion years, Earth has undergone astonishing changes to its surface and atmosphere, at times more closely resembling other planets in our Solar System than the habitable, teeming biosphere of today. Original art accompanies each chapter, depicting major stages of the Earth’s evolution and providing vivid comparisons to other planets or moons.