Nonfiction for SciFi Lovers

Updated June 15, 2026
Rochester Public Library RPL Staff
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Nonfiction for SciFi Lovers

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The disordered cosmos : a journey into dark matter, spacetime, and dreams deferred
Prescod-Weinstein, Chanda
Paper Book
From a star theoretical physicist, "a love letter to the wonderous universe we call home, and an urge to think critically about how we explore its depths" (Smithsonian Magazine) In The Disordered Cosmos, Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein...
Homo deus : a brief history of tomorrow
Harari, Yuval N
Paper Book
**THE MILLION COPY BESTSELLER** Sapiens showed us where we came from. In uncertain times, Homo Deus shows us where we're going. 'Homo Deus will shock you. It will entertain you. It will make you think in ways you had not thought before'...
The sixth extinction : an unnatural history
Kolbert, Elizabeth
Paper Book
Over the last half a billion years, there have been five mass extinctions of life on earth. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. Elizabeth Kolbert combines...
Astrophysics for people in a hurry
Tyson, Neil deGrasse
Paper Book
Over a year on the New York Times bestseller list and more than a million copies sold. The essential universe, from our most celebrated and beloved astrophysicist. What is the nature of space and time? How do we fit within the universe? How does the universe fit...
The physics of Star Trek
Krauss, Lawrence M.
Paper Book
What exactly warps when you travel at warp speed? What is the difference between the holodeck and a hologram? What happens when you beam up? In this accessible introduction to physics, the author of Fear of Physics boldly goes where Star Trek has gone before--and beyond--taking readers on a voyage...
The anatomy of steampunk : the fashion of Victorian futurism
Gleason, Katherine
Paper Book
From formal outfits to costumes crafted for the stage, from ensembles suited to adventure to casual street styles, steampunk fashion has come to encompass quite a few different looks. But what exactly is steampunk? Originally conceived as a literary genre, the term 'steampunk' described...
Space, time and motion
Carroll, Sean
Paper Book
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 'Sean Carroll has achieved something I thought impossible: a bridge between popular science and the mathematical universe of working physicists. Magnificent!' Brian Clegg, author of Ten Days in Physics that Shook the World Immense, strange and...
The big picture : on the origins of life, meaning, and the universe itself
Carroll, Sean
Paper Book
The instant New York Times bestseller about humanity's place in the universe--and how we understand it. "Vivid...impressive....Splendidly informative."--The New York Times"Succeeds spectacularly."--Science"A tour de...
The fabric of the cosmos : space, time, and the texture of reality
Greene, B.
Paper Book
From Brian Greene, one of the world’s leading physicists, comes a grand tour of the universe that makes us look at reality in a completely different way. Space and time form the very fabric of the cosmos. Yet they remain among the most mysterious of concepts. Is space an entity?...
The elegant universe : superstrings, hidden dimensions, and the quest for the ultimate theory
Greene, B.
Paper Book
Brian Greene, one of the world's leading string theorists, peels away layers of mystery to reveal a universe that consists of eleven dimensions, where the fabric of space tears and repairs itself, and all matter--from the smallest quarks to the most gargantuan supernovas--is generated by the...
Reality is not what it seems : the journey to quantum gravity
Rovelli, Carlo
Paper Book
"The man who makes physics sexy . . . the scientist they're calling the next Stephen Hawking." --The Times Magazine From the New York Times-bestselling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, The Order of Time, and Helgoland...
The order of time
Rovelli, Carlo
Paper Book
One of TIME's Ten Best Nonfiction Books of the Decade "Meet the new Stephen Hawking . . . The Order of Time is a dazzling book." --The Sunday Times From the bestselling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, Reality Is Not What It...
White holes : inside the horizon
Rovelli, Carlo
Paper Book
Let us journey, with beloved physicist Carlo Rovelli, into the heart of a black hole. Let us slip beyond its boundary, the horizon, and tumble - on and on - down this crack in the universe. As we plunge, we'll see geometry fold, we'll feel the equations draw tight around us. Eventually, we'll pass...
Black holes : the key to understanding the universe
Cox, Brian
Paper Book
A brilliant exploration of the most exotic objects in the universe by Professor Brian Cox and Professor Jeff Forshaw. At the heart of the Milky Way, there is a distortion in the fabric of the Universe. Caused by something 4 million times bigger than our Sun, it is where space and...
Six easy pieces
Feynman, Richard Phillips.
Paper Book
Richard P Feynman inspired a generation of students across the world with his energetic, unorthodox style of teaching. An outstanding communicator, he presented complex problems in simplified, understandable terms, returning to the fundamentals of physics and illuminating key concepts in a fresh and...
Physics of the future : how science will shape human destiny and our daily lives by the year 2100
Kaku, Michio.
Paper Book
Imagine, if you can, the world in the year 2100. In Physics of the Future, Michio Kaku--the New York Times bestselling author of Physics of the Impossible--gives us a stunning, provocative, and exhilarating vision of the coming century based on interviews...
Beyond infinity : an expedition to the outer limits of mathematics
Cheng, Eugenia
Paper Book
"[Cheng] does a great service by showing us non-mathematician schlubs how real mathematical creativity works." -- Wall Street Journal How big is the universe? How many numbers are there? And is infinity + 1 is the same as 1 + infinity? Such questions occur to young children and...
Sapiens : a brief history of humankind
Harari, Yuval N
Paper Book
**THE MULTI-MILLION COPY BESTSELLER** 'Interesting and provocative... It gives you a sense of how briefly we've been on this Earth' Barack Obama What makes us brilliant? What makes us deadly? What makes us Sapiens? Yuval Noah Harari challenges...
A short history of nearly everything
Bryson, Bill.
Paper Book
Bill Bryson describes himself as a reluctant traveller: but even when he stays safely in his own study at home, he can't contain his curiosity about the world around him. A Short History of Nearly Everything is his quest to find out everything that has happened from the Big Bang to the rise of...
Challenger : a true story of heroism and disaster on the edge of space
Higginbotham, Adam
Paper Book
Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in Nonfiction * Winner of the Kirkus Nonfiction Prize * Shortlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction * A New York Times Notable Book NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "Stunning...A heart-pounding...
Packing for Mars : the curious science of life in the void
Roach, Mary.
Paper Book
Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh produce, privacy, beer. Space exploration is in some ways an exploration of what it means to be human. How much can a person give up? How much weirdness can they take? What happens to you when you can...
Rocket boys : a memoir
Hickam, Homer H.
Paper Book
"Until I began to build and launch rockets, I didn't know my home town was at war with itself over its children, and that my parents were locked in a kind of bloodless combat over how my brother and I would live our lives. I didn't know that if a girl broke your heart, another girl, virtuous at...
Hidden figures : the American dream and the untold story of the Black women mathematicians who helped win the space race
Lee Shetterly, Margot.
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times bestseller The phenomenal true story of the black female mathematicians at NASA whose calculations helped fuel some of America's greatest achievements in space--a powerful, revelatory history essential to our understanding of race,...
To infinity and beyond : a journey of cosmic discovery
Tyson, Neil deGrasse
Paper Book
This enlightening illustrated narrative by the world's most celebrated astrophysicist explains the universe from the solar system to the farthest reaches of space with authority and humor. No one can make the mysteries of the universe more comprehensible and fun than Neil...
Starry messenger : cosmic perspectives on civilisation
Tyson, Neil deGrasse
Paper Book
Bringing his cosmic perspective to civilization on Earth, Neil deGrasse Tyson, bestselling author of Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, shines new light on the crucial fault lines of our time-war, politics, religion, truth, beauty, gender, race, and tribalism-in a way that stimulates a...
Origins : fourteen billion years of cosmic evolution
Tyson, Neil deGrasse
Paper Book
"An accessible and extremely well-written exploration of the deep waters of cosmology, astrophysics, and exobiology." --Kirkus Reviews Our true origins are not just human, or even terrestrial, but in fact cosmic. Drawing on recent scientific breakthroughs and the current cross...
The future of humanity : terraforming Mars, interstellar travel, immortality, and our destiny beyond Earth
Kaku, Michio
Paper Book
A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR The #1 bestselling author of The Future of the Mind brings us a stunning new vision of our future in space Human civilization is on the verge of spreading beyond Earth. More than a possibility, it is becoming a necessity:...
A city on Mars : can we settle space, should we settle space, and have we really thought this through?
Weinersmith, Kelly
Paper Book
Earth is not well. The promise of starting life anew somewhere far, far away - no climate change, no war, no Twitter - beckons, and settling the stars finally seems within our grasp. Or is it? Bestselling authors Kelly and Zach Weinersmith set out to write the essential guide to a glorious future of...
Extraterrestrial : the first sign of intelligent life beyond Earth
Loeb, Abraham
Paper Book
New York Times Bestseller | Wall Street Journal Bestseller | Publishers Weekly Bestseller | Publishers Marketplace 2020 Buzz Book  | Amazon Best Book of the Year | Longlisted for the 2022 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science...
The sirens of Mars : searching for life on another world
Johnson, Sarah Stewart
Paper Book
"Sarah Stewart Johnson interweaves her own coming-of-age story as a planetary scientist with a vivid history of the exploration of Mars in this celebration of human curiosity, passion, and perseverance."--Alan Lightman, author of Einstein's Dreams ...
Alien earths : the new science of planet hunting in the cosmos
Kaltenegger, Lisa
Paper Book
"Kaltenegger's breezy narrative style invites you to experience with her the challenges and joys of being a scientist on the frontier of discovery." --Neil deGrasse Tyson, Astrophysicist, American Museum of Natural History "Horizon-expanding... [Kaltenegger] has...
The Martians : the true story of an alien craze that captured turn-of-the-century America
Baron, David
Paper Book
"There is Life on the Planet Mars" --New York Times, December 9, 1906 This New York Times headline was no joke. In the early 1900s, many Americans actually believed we had discovered intelligent life on Mars, as best-selling science writer David Baron...
Co-intelligence : living and working with AI
Mollick, Ethan
Paper Book
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From Wharton professor and author of the popular One Useful Thing Substack newsletter Ethan Mollick comes the definitive playbook for working, learning, and living in the new age of AI Something new entered our world in...
The coming wave : technology, power, and the twenty-first century's greatest dilemma
Suleyman, Mustafa
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * An urgent warning of the unprecedented risks that AI and other fast-developing technologies pose to global order, and how we might contain them while we have the chance--from a co-founder of the pioneering artificial intelligence company DeepMind...
AI superpowers : China, Silicon Valley, and the new world order
Lee, Kai-Fu
Paper Book
THE NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, AND WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER "Kai-Fu Lee believes China will be the next tech-innovation superpower and in AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order, he explains why. Taiwan-born Lee is perfectly positioned for the...
Singularity is nearer : when we merge with AI
Kurzweil, Ray
Paper Book
By the end of this decade, AI will exceed human levels of intelligence. During the 2030s, it will become 'superintelligent', vastly outstripping our capabilities by almost every measure and enabling dramatic new interventions in our bodies. By 2045, we will be able to connect our brains directly...
The worlds I see : curiosity, exploration, and discovery at the dawn of AI
Li, Fei Fei
Paper Book
ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S RECOMMENDED BOOKS ON AI * FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOKS OF 2023 From Dr. Fei-Fei Li, one of TIME's 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL in AI, comes "a powerful plea for keeping humanity at the centre of our latest technological transformation" (...
A brief history of intelligence : why the evolution of the brain holds the key to the future of AI
Bennett, Max S.
Paper Book
Bridges the gap between AI and neuroscience by telling the story of how the brain came to be. 'I found this book amazing' Daniel Kahneman, Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics and bestselling author of Thinking Fast & Slow The entirety of the human brain's 4...
Quantum supremacy : how quantum computers will unlock the mysteries of science and address humanity's biggest challenges
Kaku, Michio
Paper Book
An exhilarating guide to the astonishing future of quantum computing, from the international bestselling physicist The runaway success of the microchip processor may be nearing its end, with profound implications for our economy, society and way of life, even leaving Silicon...
Code dependent : living in the shadow of AI
Murgia, Madhumita
Paper Book
Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction Named a best book of the year by Esquire, The Spectator and Publishers Weekly A riveting story of what it means to be human in a world changed by artificial...
To be a machine : adventures among cyborgs, utopians, hackers, and the futurists solving the modest problem of death
O'Connell, Mark
Paper Book
"This gonzo-journalistic exploration of the Silicon Valley techno-utopians' pursuit of escaping mortality is a breezy romp full of colorful characters." --New York Times Book Review (Editor's Choice) Transhumanism is a movement pushing the limits of our bodies--our...
Gods and robots : myths, machines, and ancient dreams of technology
Mayor, Adrienne
Paper Book
The fascinating untold story of how the ancients imagined robots and other forms of artificial life--and even invented real automated machines The first robot to walk the earth was a bronze giant called Talos. This wondrous machine was created not by MIT Robotics Lab, but by...
Soonish : ten emerging technologies that'll improve and/or ruin everything
Weinersmith, Kelly
Paper Book
**The New York Times Bestseller** 'Space elevators, gold asteroids, and fusion-powered toasters - who knew science could be so much fun? Soonish is hilarious, provocative, and shamelessly informative' Tim Harford, author of Messy and The Undercover...
The code breaker : Jennifer Doudna, gene editing, and the future of the human race
Isaacson, Walter
Paper Book
The bestselling author of Leonardo da Vinci and Steve Jobs returns with a gripping account of how the pioneering scientist Jennifer Doudna, along with her colleagues and rivals, launched a revolution that will allow us to cure diseases, fend off viruses, and enhance our children.<...
The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks
Skloot, Rebecca
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "The story of modern medicine and bioethics--and, indeed, race relations--is refracted beautifully, and movingly."--Entertainment Weekly NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE FROM HBO® STARRING OPRAH WINFREY AND ROSE BYRNE * ONE OF THE "MOST...
Hacking Darwin : genetic engineering and the future of humanity
Metzl, Jamie Frederic
Paper Book
"A gifted and thoughtful writer, Metzl brings us to the frontiers of biology and technology, and reveals a world full of promise and peril." -- Siddhartha Mukherjee MD, New York Times bestselling author of The Emperor of All Maladies and The Gene A groundbreaking exploration of genetic...
Stuff matters : the strange stories of the marvellous materials that shape our man-made world
Miodownik, Mark
Paper Book
Throughout our history, we have transformed the raw produce of the earth into materials that satisfy our needs and desires - fibres for clothes, metals for tools, ceramics for storage, paper for communication - inventions that have in turn transformed the world. In the twenty-first century, we...
Entangled life : how fungi make our worlds, change our minds and shape our futures
Sheldrake, Merlin
Paper Book
A mind-altering adventure through the world of fungi for readers of Robert Macfarlane and Other Minds *THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER* 'A dazzling, vibrant, vision-changing book. I ended it wonderstruck at the fungal world. A remarkable work by a...
The light eaters
Schlanger, Zoë
Paper Book
"teeming with fascinating and enlightening insights" Observer A narrative investigation into the new science of plant intelligence and sentience, from National Association of Science Writers Award winner and Livingston Award finalist Zoe Schlanger. Look at the green...
Otherlands : a world in the making
Halliday, Thomas (Paleobiologist)
Paper Book
What would it be like to experience the ancient landscapes of the past as we experience the reality of nature today? To actually visit the Jurassic or Cambrian worlds, to wander among their spectacular flora and fauna, to witness their continental shifts? In Otherlands, the multi-talented...
Darwin comes to town : how the urban jungle drives evolution
Schilthuizen, Menno
Paper Book
See your city through fresh eyes We are marching towards a future in which three-quarters of humans live in cities, and a large portion of the planet's landmass is urbanized. With much of the rest covered by human-shaped farms, pasture, and plantations, where can nature still...
The demon-haunted world : science as a candle in the dark
Sagan, Carl
Paper Book
A prescient warning of a future we now inhabit, where fake news stories and Internet conspiracy theories play to a disaffected American populace "A glorious book . . . A spirited defense of science . . . From the first page to the last, this book is a manifesto for clear thought."-...
Braiding sweetgrass : indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge and the teachings of plants
Kimmerer, Robin Wall
Paper Book
As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these two lenses of...
What if? : serious scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions
Munroe, Randall
Paper Book
From the creator of the wildly popular webcomic xkcd, a hilarious and informative book of popular science that provides answers to important questions you probably never thought to ask. Millions of people visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe's iconic webcomic. His stick...
What if?. additional serious scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions / 2
Munroe, Randall
Paper Book
WHAT IF... one man decided to answer all the unanswerable questions, using science.The Sunday Times-bestselling author and xkcd creator, Randall Munroe is here to provide the best answers yet to the important questions you probably never thought to askThe millions...
The end of everything : (astrophysically speaking)
Mack, Katie
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK * AN NPR SCIENCE FRIDAY BOOK CLUB SELECTION * NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST, THE ECONOMIST, NEW SCIENTIST, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, and THE GUARDIAN From the cohost of the podcast The...
The uninhabitable earth : life after warming
Wallace-Wells, David
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "The Uninhabitable Earth hits you like a comet, with an overflow of insanely lyrical prose about our pending Armageddon."--Andrew Solomon, author of The Noonday Demon NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY...
The heat will kill you first : life and death on a scorched planet
Goodell, Jeff
Paper Book
An Instant New York Times Bestseller!   New York Times best-selling journalist Jeff Goodell presents an important examination of the impact that temperature rise will have on our lives and on our planet,...
The world without us
Weisman, Alan.
Paper Book
A penetrating, page-turning tour of a post-human Earth In The World Without Us, Alan Weisman offers an utterly original approach to questions of humanity's impact on the planet: he asks us to envision our Earth, without us.In this far-reaching narrative, Weisman explains how...
Nuclear war : a scenario
Jacobsen, Annie
Paper Book
Every generation, a journalist has looked deep into the heart of the nuclear military establishment: the technologies, the safeguards, the plans, and the risks. These projects are vital to how we understand the world we really live in: where one nuclear missile begets one in return; where the...
This is how they tell me the world ends : the cyber weapons arms race
Perlroth, Nicole
Ebook
A paradise built in hell : the extraordinary communities that arise in disasters
Solnit, Rebecca
Paper Book
The most startling thing about disasters, according to award-winning author Rebecca Solnit, is not merely that so many people rise to the occasion, but that they do so with joy. That joy reveals an ordinarily unmet yearning for community, purposefulness, and meaningful work that disaster often...
The knowledge : how to rebuild our world from scratch
Dartnell, Lewis
Paper Book
How to invent everything : a survival guide for the stranded time traveler
North, Ryan
Paper Book
An NPR Best Book of 2018 "How to Invent Everything is such a cool book. It's essential reading for anyone who needs to duplicate an industrial civilization quickly." --Randall Munroe, xkcd creator and New York Times-bestselling author of What If? The...
Comet madness : how the 1910 return of Halley's comet (almost) destroyed civilization
Goodrich, Richard J.
Paper Book
Halley's Comet visits the earth every seventy-five years. Since the dawn of civilization, humans had believed comets were evil portents. In 1705, Edmond Halley liberated humanity from these primordial superstitions (or so it was thought), proving that Newtonian mechanics rather than the will of the...
Imaginary cities : a tour of dream cities, nightmare cities, and everywhere in between
Anderson, Darran
Paper Book
For as long as humans have gathered in cities, those cities have had their shining--or shadowy--counterparts. Imaginary cities, potential cities, future cities, perfect cities. It is as if the city itself, its inescapable gritty reality and elbow-to-elbow nature, demands we call into being some...
Sand talk : how indigenous thinking can save the world
Yunkaporta, Tyson
Paper Book
A paradigm-shifting book in the vein of Sapiens that brings a crucial Indigenous perspective to historical and cultural issues of history, education, money, power, and sustainability--and offers a new template for living. As an indigenous person, Tyson Yunkaporta looks at global systems...
Space oddities : the mysterious anomalies challenging our understanding of the universe
Cliff, Harry
Paper Book
'As fascinating as its title suggests . . . Cliff recounts with vivid clarity the stories of some of the most striking oddnesses that have lit up the landscape of modern physics.' - Philip PullmanNewly discovered strangenesses could transform our understanding of the fundamentals of physics - and of...
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