Books for Adults
Fiction
Fiction
Foundation by Isaac Asimov
For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. Hari Sheldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future to a dark age of ignorance and warfare that will last thirty thousand years. Seldon gathers the best scientists and scholars in the Empire to serve as a beacon of hope for a future generations. He calls his sanctuary the Foundation. But soon the fledgling Foundation finds itself at the mercy of corrupt warlords rising in the wake of the receding Empire. ISBN: 9780345336279 Publication Date: 1942-05
Dawn by Octavia E. Butler
Lilith lyapo awakes alone in a cell. Her last memories were of a nuclear war breaking out on Earth. Now, she learns that she is aboard the vast spaceship of the Oankali. Creatures covered in writhing tentacles, the Oankali had saved every surviving human from a dying, ruined Earth. They healed the planet, cured cancer, increased strength, and were now ready to help Lilith lead her people back to Earth - for a price. ISBN: 9780446603775 Publication Date: 1997-04-01
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
Rosemary Harper doesn't expect much when she joins the crew of the aging Wayfarer. The ship has seen better days, but it gives her a chance to explore the far-off corners of the galaxy, and most importantly, some distance from her past. She's never met anyone remotely like the ship's diverse crew. Life aboard the Wayfarer is chaotic and crazy--exactly what Rosemary wants. Then the crew is offered a job tunneling wormholes through space to a distant planet. It's lucrative and will keep them comfortable for years. But risking her life wasn't part of the plan.ISBN: 9780062444134 Publication Date: 2016-07-5
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. They began a journey through space aided by a galaxyful of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox--the ex-hippie president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod's girlfriend; Marvin, a chronically depressed robot; and Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he's bought over the years. Where are these pens? Why are we born? Why do we die? For all the answers, stick your thumb to the stars! ISBN: 9780345391803 Publication Date: 1979-10-12
Nonfiction
Nonfiction
Endurance: A Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery by Scott Kelly
Astronaut Scott Kelly spent a record-breaking year aboard the International Space Station. The veteran of four spaceflights, he experienced things very few have. In this memoir, he describes navigating the extreme challenge of long-term spaceflight, both life-threatening and mundane: the devastating effects on the body; the isolation from everyone he loves and the comforts of Earth; the catastrophic risks of colliding with space junk; and the still more haunting threat of being unable to help should tragedy strike at home. In Endurance, we see the triumph of the human imagination, the strength of the human will, and the infinite wonder of the galaxy. ISBN: 9781524731595 Publication Date: 2017-10-17
The Mercury 13: The Untold Story of Thirteen American Women and the Dream of Space Flight by Martha Ackmann
In 1961, just as NASA launched its first man into space, a group of women underwent secret testing in the hopes of becoming America's first female astronauts. They passed the same battery of tests at the legendary Lovelace Foundation as did the Mercury 7 astronauts, but they were summarily dismissed by the boys' club at NASA and on Capitol Hill. The USSR sent its first woman into space in 1963; the United States did not follow suit for another twenty years. For this book, Ackmann interviewed these women, as well as others at NASA and includes here never-before-seen photographs of the Mercury 13 passing their Lovelace tests.ISBN: 9780375507441 Publication Date: 2004-07-13
Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach
Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh produce, privacy, beer. How much can a person give up? How much weirdness can they take? What happens to you when you can't walk for a year? have sex? smell flowers? What happens if you vomit in your helmet during a space walk? Is it possible for the human body to survive a bailout at 17,000 miles per hour? To answer these questions, space agencies set up all manner of quizzical and startlingly bizarre space simulations. From the space shuttle training toilet to a crash test of NASA's new space capsule, Roach takes us on an entertaining trip into the science of life in space and space on Earth. ISBN: 9780393068474 Publication Date: 2011-04-04
The Physics of Star Trek by Lawrence Maxwell Krauss
What exactly "warps" when you are traveling at warp speed? What is the difference between the holodeck and a hologram? What happens when you get beamed up? Are time loops really possible? Lawrence M. Krauss, an internationally known theoretical physicist and educator, has written the quintessential physics book for Trekkers and non-Trekkers alike. Anyone who has ever wondered, "Could this really happen?" will gain useful insights into the Star Trek universe (and, incidentally,the real universe) in this charming and accessible volume. Krauss uses Star Trek future as a launching pad to discuss the forefront of modern physics.ISBN: 9780061135316 Publication Date: 2007-07-10