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 astrophysicist and author of the national bestseller The Edge of Space Time, a journey into the world of particle physics and the cosmos - and a call for a more just, inclusive practice of science. "A love letter to the wonderous...
The sixth extinction : an unnatural history
Kolbert, Elizabeth.
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW'S 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST A major book about the future of the world, blending intellectual and...
The physics of Star Trek
Krauss, Lawrence Maxwell.
Paper Book
What warps when you're traveling at warp speed? What's the difference between a holodeck and a hologram? What happens when you get beamed up? What's the difference between a wormhole and a black hole? What is antimatter, and why does the Enterprise need it? Are time loops really...
Afrofuturism : a history of Black futures
Strait, Kevin Michael Angelo
Paper Book
This timely and gorgeously illustrated companion book to an exciting Smithsonian exhibition explores the power of Afrofuturism to reclaim the past and reimagine Black futures Afrofuturism- A History of Black Futures explores the evolving and exhilarating concept of...
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, Brian,
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, Brian
Paper Book
A new edition of the New York Times bestseller--now a three-part Nova special: a fascinating and thought-provoking journey through the mysteries of space, time, and matter. Now with a new preface (not in any other edition) that will review the enormous public...
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...
Six easy pieces : essentials of physics explained by its most brilliant teacher
Feynman, Richard P.
Paper Book
Learn how to think like a physicist from a Nobel laureate with these six classic and beloved lessons "If one book was all that could be passed on to the next generation of scientists it would undoubtedly have to be Six Easy Pieces."―John Gribbin,...
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...
Sapiens : a brief history of humankind
Harari, Yuval N.
Paper Book
#1 New York Times Bestseller * New York Times Readers' Pick: Top 100 Books of the 21st Century * The Summer Reading Pick for President Barack Obama and Bill Gates Official U.S. edition with full color illustrations throughout. From renowned historian Yuval Noah Harari...
A short history of nearly everything
Bryson, Bill.
Paper Book
THE #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER, UPDATED FOR 2025 * A wonder-filled quest to understand everything that has happened in the history of the Earth, from the Big Bang theory to the rise of civilization and beyond--revised to reflect the last two decades of scientific advancement ...
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...
Hidden figures : the American dream and the untold story of the Black women mathematicians who helped win the space race
Shetterly, Margot Lee
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times bestseller -WINNER OF ANISFIELD-WOLF AWARD FOR NONFICTION -WINNER BLACK CAUCUS OF AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION BEST NONFICTION BOOK -WINNER NAACP IMAGE AWARD BEST NONFICTION BOOK -WINNER NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES, ENGINEERING...
Origins : fourteen billion years of cosmic evolution
Tyson, Neil deGrasse
Paper Book
An exploration of new theories about the formation and evolution of the universe traces from the big bang, through the first three billion years on Earth, to today's search for life on other planets.
The Milky Way : an autobiography of our galaxy
McTier, Moiya
Paper Book
In this approachable and fascinating biography of the galaxy, an astrophysicist and folklorist details everything humans have discovered--from the Milky Way's formation to its eventual death, and what else there is to learn about the universe we call home.  ...
A city on Mars : can we settle space, should we settle space, and have we really thought this through?
Weinersmith, Kelly
Paper Book
* THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Winner of the Hugo Award * Scientific American's #1 Book for 2023 * Winner of Royal Society's Trivedi Prize * A Guardian Best Book of 2024 * A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice * A Times Best Science and...
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 ...
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...
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...
The singularity is nearer : when we merge with Al
Kurzweil, Ray
Paper Book
Since it was first published in 2005, Ray Kurzweil's The Singularity Is Near (Duckworth) and its vision of the future have been influential in spawning a worldwide movement with millions of followers, hundreds of books, and major films (Her, Lucy, Ex Machina). During the succeeding decade many of...
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...
The code breaker : Jennifer Doudna, gene editing, and the future of the human race
Isaacson, Walter
Paper Book
A Best Book of 2021 by Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Time, and The Washington Post The bestselling author of Leonardo da Vinci and Steve Jobs returns with a "compelling" (The Washington Post) account of how Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna...
The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks
Skloot, Rebecca
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestseller -- Henrietta Lacks, a poor Southern tobacco farmer, was buried in an unmarked grave sixty years ago. Yet her cells -- taken without her knowledge, grown in culture and bought and sold by the billions -- became one of the most important tools in medical research. Rebecca...
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 : exploring the marvelous materials that shape our man-made world
Miodownik, Mark
Paper Book
ANew York Times Bestseller An eye-opening adventure deep inside the everyday materials that surround us, packed with surprising stories and fascinating science Why is glass see-through? What makes elastic stretchy?...
Entangled life : how fungi make our worlds, change our minds & shape our futures
Sheldrake, Merlin
Paper Book
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WITH OVER ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE A "brilliant [and] entrancing" (The Guardian) journey into the hidden lives of fungi--the great connectors of the living world--and their astonishing and intimate roles in human life, with...
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
A New York Times Bestseller A Washington Post Bestseller Named a "Best Essay Collection of the Decade" by Literary Hub As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member...
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...
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 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...
A paradise built in hell : the extraordinary communities that arise in disaster
Solnit, Rebecca.
Paper Book
A startling investigation of what people do in disasters and why it matters Why is it that in the aftermath of a disaster? whether manmade or natural?people suddenly become altruistic, resourceful, and brave? What makes the newfound communities and purpose many find in the...
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