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Considering famous UFO sightings as well as the coordinated efforts to listen for alien communications since the 1980s, this introduction to the search for extra-terrestrial life explains how our increasing knowledge about the solar system and theories of how and where intelligent life might evolve is improving our chances of contact.

The story of the moon landings begins with the wartime work of German rocket scientists including Wernher von Braun, nascent computer technology and the imagination of post-war science fiction writers such as Arthur C Clarke. Using eyewitness reports and NASA archive material this account of the achievement describes how it all came together, accelerated by the pressure of the technological race with Soviet Russia.

Charting the Northern, Southern and Equatorial night skies, this set of three maps, supplied with instructions on how to use them, marks all the stars visible to the naked eye, as well as the fainter clusters and nebulae only viewable through binoculars or telescopes.

Joanne Baker begins this ‘tour of astrophysics’ by tracing the great leaps in our understanding of the universe, from observation of the planets to the recognition, in 1920, that our Milky Way is not unique, but one among billions of galaxies. She goes on to discuss theoretical issues, such as Special Relativity and String Theory, and our knowledge of the galaxies and stars, explaining objects such as quasars, supermassive black holes, exoplanets and the Sun.

John Henry discusses how the 16th-century astronomer Copernicus not only disproved the ‘common-sense’ view that the Earth was stationary but also showed what mathematics can reveal about the material world, setting in motion the development of a completely new physics.

On 21 December 1968 the Apollo 8 astronauts captured the first pictures of Earth from space. The images of ‘Earthrise’ and ‘the Blue Marble’ proved Fred Hoyle’s 1948 prediction that ‘once a photograph of the Earth, taken from the outside, is available ... a new idea as powerful as any in history will be let loose’. After tracing the history of the human effort to fly and go into space, Christopher Potter reflects on the impact of seeing our planet from afar.

Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the moon landings, this collection of illustrated essays explores mankind’s fascination with the planet’s only natural satellite. Themed sections explore how the moon has been observed and charted throughout history and how it has influenced human culture from ancient myths and folklore to space-age fashion. A final section examines how scientific knowledge and cultural responses to the moon have developed in the years since the end of the Apollo programme. Slightly off-mint.

Written and compiled by an art historian and an astronomer, this illuminating volume identifies the many ways in which the Moon has influenced physics, history, art and popular culture since antiquity. Using an enormous range of images, from a prehistoric ‘sky disk’ to a photograph taken by the Galileo spacecraft, the book explores a miscellany of topics including eclipses, lunar cycles and tides, Space Race propaganda, the Apollo missions and lunar rovers, ancient moon deities, werewolves, lunacy and supermoons. Slightly off-mint and felt-tip mark on lower trimmed edge.

Ronald Stoyan’s engrossing atlas gives full, richly illustrated accounts of 30 of the most important comets that have been witnessed and documented in modern times. For each appearance, from the Great Comet of 1471 (none has ever come closer to Earth) to Comet McNaught in 2007, there is astronomical data, a description of the comet’s orbit and visibility, the history of its discovery and observation, and its wider cultural and scientific impact.

From the earliest theories about the stars by Greek and Chinese observers to the recent discovery of gravitational waves, this history of astronomy explains, with illustrations and diagrams, the theories that have been proposed, proved or disproved over the centuries. It shows how, generation by generation, key discoveries were made and our understanding of the universe expanded. Age 9+

Venus is too hot, Mars too cold, but Earth’s distance from the Sun makes it ‘just right’ for a thriving biosphere. As we search for other planets perfectly positioned to support living organisms, an astrobiologist explains what scientists can learn from research into the origins and evolution of life, as well as the study of ‘extremophile’ water bears, tiny aquatic creatures able to survive the harshest conditions on Earth.

During the 20th century it became clear that our traditional understanding of cosmology was too simplistic, since there must be not only some invisible material holding together galaxies but also an unknown phenomenon that is driving the universe’s accelerating expansion. Brian Clegg describes how the existence of this ‘dark matter’ and ‘dark energy’ was discovered and explains the different theories and experiments that researchers have been employing as they seek knowledge about this challenging aspect of modern science.

Developed from 1969, Skylab was launched in May 1973 and hosted three manned missions over the following year. With hundreds of diagrams and photographs, this analysis of the project gives a detailed breakdown of the design and construction of the space station as well as a report of the three periods of occupation, describing the challenges that the crews faced in repairing and maintaining Skylab and carrying out their research.

The Apollo 15 Commander David R Scott, who drove the Lunar Rover on the Moon, has written the foreword to this Haynes Owner’s Workshop Manual. The manual gives insights into the technology, history and development of NASA’s Lunar Roving Vehicle, with chapters on its structure, mobility, electrical and thermal control, navigation and communications, all illustrated with diagrams, cutaway views and photographs of the Rover on the Moon’s surface.

From the gargantuan distance of 1026 metres, the radius of the observable universe, down to the unimaginably small Planck scale of 10-35 metres, used for measurements inside a proton, this illustrated guide to the cosmos zooms in on matter one order of magnitude (power of ten) at a time, depicting and explaining a curated selection of entities, including galaxies, planets, the solar system, Earth, flora and fauna, cells, viruses, atoms and subatomic particles.

While modern day amateur astronomy is heavily reliant on digital imaging devices, this practical guide for astronomers of all levels includes techniques on elementary visual observing. It also provides advice for more advanced practitioners who may wish to submit observations to astronomical societies.

Colin Stuart rejects mathematical jargon in favour of concise explanations of the cosmos’s most fascinating astronomical features. Beginning with early astronomers, including Ptolemy and Newton, this accessible guide moves from the Earth, Sun and Moon ever further from home, covering the Solar System, stars and galaxies, eventually reaching the mysteries at the edge of the universe – the Big Bang, inflation and dark energy.

This highly illustrated guide focuses on space exploration – past, present and future – including the Apollo missions, the Space Shuttle years, the International Space Station and the future of commercial spaceflight. The book also explores the solar system, dedicating chapters to the Sun, the Moon, the planets and the asteroid belt, and concluding with a discussion of astronomy’s powerful telescopes, such as Hubble’s successor the James Webb Space Telescope, which facilitate a deeper understanding of the universe.

The inhospitable atmosphere and violent climate on Mars have not prevented numerous space probes and orbiters from visiting the planet over the last 50 years, their data-gathering abilities growing ever more sophisticated. From the successful Mariner and Viking programs of the 1960s and 1970s, to human missions being planned today, Rod Pyle charts the history of Martian exploration, lists the key scientific discoveries made and presents striking images of the Red Planet from space and from the surface.

At the heart of the Sun, a vast nuclear furnace casts out the warmth, light and magnetism that nurture life on Earth. Supported by data from laboratories, telescopes, probes and thousands of years of naked-eye observations, solar physicist Lucie Green’s authoritative guide to the science of the Sun provides answers to questions posed since the dawn of history: Why does the Sun shine? What is the source of its heat? How long will it shine?

Since the late 19th century, when lighting was first introduced to city streets, urban populations have lost most access to the night sky. Our ancestors, on the other hand, were highly attuned to the stars, their constellations and diurnal rhythms enabling them to entertain, farm, hunt and navigate. This book looks at how ancient societies as far flung as Polynesia, China, the Americas and Europe relied upon the stars for their survival and happiness. Off-mint.

Slightly off-mint.

As he sets off to conduct a journey through the universe, the astrophysicist Christophe Galfard aims to ‘not leave any readers behind’ and promises to use only one equation (E=mc²). In a widely acclaimed, non-scientists’ introduction to modern physics and cosmology, Galfard uses humour, storytelling and thought experiments to make concepts such as electromagnetism, quantum mechanics, general relativity and black holes intelligible to all of us.

Here the astronomer and broadcaster Mark Thompson describes what a journey through the solar system might be like, from the preparations for take-off on Earth to arrival at the edge of interstellar space many years later. On the way he discusses what we know about the origins of the planets and their moons, describes physical features that would be visible and reflects on the challenges of navigation, weightlessness and living in a confined spaceship.