Astronomy Books

Elementary Students:
LRFO = Let’s Read and Find Out early readers
Links that are crossed out are “broken links,” however, I have found that most of them actually do work if you click on them.

• Find the Constellations by H. A. Rey
• Our Solar System by Seymour Simon (72 pp.)
• What Makes a Shadow? by Clyde Bulla (LRFO 1)
• What Makes Day and Night by Franklyn M. Branley (LRFO 1)
• Sun Up, Sun Down by Gail Gibbons (32 pp.)
• The Moon Seems to Change by Franklyn M. Branley (LRFO 2) inc. exp
• Dear Rebecca, Winter Is Here by Jean Craighead George (IP) (seasons)
• Follow the Sunset by Herman and Nina Schneider
• The True Book Of Moon, Sun and Stars by John Bryan Lewellen (45 pp.)
• Galileo’s Treasure Box by Catherine Brighton (PB)
• Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei by Peter Sís (PB)
• Can You Hitch a Ride on a Comet? by Sidney Rosen (40 pp.)
• One Giant Leap: The Story of Neil Armstrong by Don Brown (PB)
• Pluto’s Secret by Margaret A. Weitekamp (PB)
• Come See the Earth Turn Story of Leon Foucault by Lori Mortensen (PB)
• The Planets in Our Solar System by Franklyn M. Branley (LRFO 2)
• What the Moon is Like by Franklyn M. Branley (LRFO 2)
• The Sky Is Full of Stars by Franklyn M. Branley (LRFO 2)
• The Sun: Our Nearest Star by Franklyn M. Branley (LRFO 2)
• Energy from the Sun by Melvin Berger (LRFO)
• Mission to Mars by Franklyn M. Branley (LRFO 2)
• The International Space Station by Franklyn M. Branley (LRFO 2)
• Eclipse by Franklyn M. Branley (LRFO 2)
• The Big Dipper by Franklyn M. Branley (LRFO 1)
• Seymour Simon’s individual planet books (there are 15 of them)
• Dot to Dot in the Sky: Stories in the Stars by Joan Hinz (64 pp.)
• The Universe by Herbert S. Zim *telescopes (64 pp.)
• Junior Science Book of Stars by Phoebe Crosby (64 pp.)
• A Book of Outer Space for You by Franklyn M. Branley
• A Book of Stars for You by Franklyn M. Branley
• A Book of the Milky Way Galaxy for You by Franklyn M. Branley
• A Book of Planets for You by Franklyn M. Branley
• A Book of Mars for You by Franklyn M. Branley
• A Book of Planet Earth for You by Franklyn M. Branley
• A Book of Venus for You by Franklyn M. Branley

Middle and High School:

• The Stars: A New Way to See Them by H. A. Rey
• All About the Planets by Patricia Lauber
• Seymour Simon’s individual planet books (there are 15 of them)
• The Nine Planets by Franklyn Mansfield Branley
• The Planets by Dava Sobel (288 pp)
• Signs and Seasons: Understanding the Elements of Classical Astronomy by Jay Ryan and accompanying Field Journal
• The Stars by Clock and Fist by Henry M. Neely
• 13 Things That Don’t Make Sense by Michael Brooks – Ch 1 The missing Universe: We can only account for 4 percent of the cosmos (covers the expanding universe question and Black holes), Ch 2 The Pioneer Anomaly: Two spacecrafts are flouting the laws of physics, Ch 3 Varying Constants: Destabilizing our view of the universe (I think this is the chapter that covers the Super Nova), Ch 6 Viking: NASA scientists found evidence for life on Mars, then they changed their minds, maybe Ch 7 The WOW! Signal: Has ET already been in touch.
• The Edge of Physics: A Journey to Earth’s Extremes to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe by Anil Ananthaswamy (280 pp)
• A More Perfect Heaven by Dava Sobel (288 pp)
• The Copernican Revolution: Planetary Astronomy in the Development of Western Thought by Thomas Kuhn
• Blind Watchers Of The Sky: The People And Ideas That Shaped Our View Of The Universe by Rocky Kolb
• The Moon Voyage (From the Earth to the Moon’ & ‘Round the Moon’) by Jules Verne of Around the World in 80 days
• God and the Astronomers by Robert Jastrow (new version)
• The Creator and the Cosmos: How the Greatest Scientific Discoveries of the Century Reveal God by Hugh Ross
• Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning by Richard H. Allen
• The Extravagant Universe by Robert Kirshner
• The Origin of the Universe by John D. Barrows
• Mysterious Universe: Supernovae, Black Holes (Alex Filippenko) by Ellen Jackson
• Longitude by Dava Sobel, The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time (A race to solve a national problem through the science of either astronomy, the first science, or machinery, the new evolving science. Historical and Political context. I loved it.) (208 pp, audio 4:20)

Histories/Biographies:

• The Great Astronomers by Robert S. Ball (176 pp)
• The Telescope Makers: From Galileo to the Space Age by Barbara Land (245 pp, 10 ch)

Nicolaus Copernicus

• Copernicus by Henry Thomas (192 pp. Messner)
• Dance of the Planets: The Universe of Nicolaus Copernicus by Nancy Veglahn (63 pp.)
• Nicolaus Copernicus: The Earth Is a Planet by Dennis B. Fradin (picture book)
• Copernicus: Founder of Modern Astronomy by Catherine M. Andronik (112 pp)
• Copernicus: Titan of Modern Astronomy by David Knight (186 pp.)
• A More Perfect Heaven: How Copernicus Revolutionized the Cosmos by Dava Sobel (288 pp.)
• Brother Astronomer: Adventures of a Vatican Scientist by Guy Consolmagno (228 pp.)
• The Book Nobody Read, Chasing the Revolutions of Nicolaus Copernicus by astronomer Owen Gingerich (306 pp.)

Tycho Brahe

• Tycho Brahe: Pioneer of Astronomy by Don Nardo (112 pp.)

Johannes Kepler

• Johannes Kepler and Planetary Motion by David C. Knight (194 pp.)
• Harmonious World of Johann Kepler by Sidney Rosen (220 pp.)
• Quest of Johannes Kepler, Astronomer by Barbara Land (128 pp.)

Galileo Galilei

• Galileo and the Magic Numbers by Sidney Rosen (212 pp.)
• Galileo’s Daughter by Dava Sobel (432 pp)
• Galileo Galilei: Space Pioneer by Arthur Gregor (191 p.)
• Galileo by Leonard Everett Fisher (PB)
• Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei by Peter Sís (PB)

Robert Goddard

• Robert Goddard Trail Blazer To The Stars by Charles Daugherty
• Robert Goddard: Father of the Space Age by Charles Spain Verral and Paul Frame (80 pp.)
• Rocket Genius: Robert Goddard – Father of the Space Age by Charles Spain Verral (65 pp.)
• The Boy Who Dreamed of Rockets: How Robert Goddard became the father of the space age by Robert M Quackenbush
• Robert Goddard: Space Pioneer by Anne Perkins Dewey (154 pp.)

Isaac Newton

• Isaac Newton by Harry Sootin (191 pp. Messner)

Edmond Halley

• Earth, Sea, and Sky: The Work of Edmond Halley by Linda Walvoord Girard

William Herschel

• King’s Astronomer by Deborah Crawford (191 pp. Messner)

Caroline Herschel (William’s sister)

• Sweeper of the Stars: A Story of the Life of Caroline Herschel, Astronomer by Francis Higgins (127 pp.)

Edwin Hubble

• Do you have a suggestion?

Neil Armstrong

• One Giant Leap: The Story of Neil Armstrong by Don Brown (PB)

Maria Mitchell (America’s first woman astronomer)

• Maria’s Comet by Deborah Hopkinson (PB)
• Maria Mitchell: The Soul of an Astronomer by Beatrice Gormley (137 pp.)
• America’s First Woman Astronomer, Maria Mitchell by Rachel Baker and Joanna Baker Merlen (192 pp. Messner)
• Stars in My Pocket by Erick Berry (190 pp.)
• Maria Mitchell: Stargazer by Katharine Wilkie ( pp.)

Benjamin Banneker

• Benjamin Banneker: Genius of Early America by Lillie Patterson (142 pp.)
• Your Most Humble Servant: The Amazing Story of Benjamin Banneker, Free Negro by Shirley Graham (235 pp.)

The Telescope Makers: From Galileo to the Space Age by Barbara Land (245 pp.)

 

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