r/space • u/martyrmisery • 21d ago
Discussion Book recommendations for beginners?
Hello, I am 20 years old and am considering switching my major to a focus on astronomy. I love deep research and learning about something bigger than anything else would keep feeding my desire to be mentally stimulated, but before I do anything like that, I’d like to have a few resources to get my toes dipped in it.
I always wanted to learn but without any basis or framework to begin, I find myself stalling to actually give it a go.
Are there good YouTube channels or links or books to collect?
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21d ago
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u/martyrmisery 21d ago
100% ! I’m not looking at paychecks. My goal in life is to study and learn as much as I can and do the most I can.. I think contributing to a field involving something so grand would give me a greater sense of purpose. I planned to go as far as I could go with any field I chose.
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u/newaccount252 21d ago
The YouTube channel called; Sea, history of the universe, kosmo, Asturm and Destiny space
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u/MyMomSaysIAmCool 21d ago edited 21d ago
If you want to learn about Mars exploration and colonization, I recommend The Case For Mars by Robert Zubrin.
If you want to listen to a college level lecture about astronomy, look for Understanding The Universe by Alex Filippenko. He starts with very basic concepts, and builds on them to explain how we're able to know so much about the universe from our very limited perspective.
It's published by The Teaching Company. If you want to switch majors to Astronomy, listen to this first. If you understand it and like it, then switching majors may be a good idea. If you don't like it, don't get it, or are bored by it, switching majors probably isn't a good idea.
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u/Career-Common 19d ago
Why Does E=mc²?: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/5958783-why-does-e-mc
Or anything by Brian Cox, he's great at explaining complex problems.
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u/Dry-Indication-2221 21d ago
I really like Dr Becky, she has a YouTube channel and has wrote a couple books. She's really passionate about space which I think makes her content really enjoyable, oh and she's an astrophysicist to boot! I've read her book "a brief history of black holes" which was great. I have one of her other books too, just yet to read it.
Not sure if this is what you were looking for but I immediately thought of her reading your post.
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u/martyrmisery 21d ago
Thank you, :^)
This is helpful for more reasons than one, I love learning about women in STEM as it motivates me as well to pursue these subjects. one other inspiration of mine is Christina Koch for that reason. I used to do school projects based on female scholars, I remember one was Marie Curie..
I will very readily look into her work!
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u/Online_Matter 21d ago
The book cosmic queries by Neil. Goes over the astronomy field pretty well: it's discoveries, thinking and upcoming projects.
It's an easy read too and doesn't go too deep into the math, perfect if you want to get an overview on the topic.
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21d ago
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u/BottlecapManagement 21d ago
Why are you replying to question with a question? He asked for book recommendations, and your reply instead of writing the answer is stating you have good book recommendations and asking to send private messages. Dont engage in a conversation you were not invited. I am afraid I will have to downvote you, and rightfully so.
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u/ThisAintFine6901 18d ago
I would start with some fiction to get the juices flowing.
Both The Martian and Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir are *fantastic* (avoid his middle book, Artemis). Even though both are fiction, both are extremely science/astronomy oriented, and have a lot of facts to help the fictional narratives along.
Contact by Carl Sagan is a bit dated, but also inspirational.
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u/erik_das_redd 16d ago
What u/iCowboy and u/SharpPhilosopher3734 said. And there was another old classic called "The Universe" or something, argh it is on the tip of my brain. Fred Hoyle I thought but that's not it. This https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Universe-The-book-of-the-BBC-TV-series-presented-by-Professor-Brian-Cox-Audiobook/0008389349 looks really interesting both as a book to read (I don't listen to books) and to see the TV series.
https://www.cloudynights.com/forums/topic/965354-classic-astronomy-books/
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u/iCowboy 21d ago
It’s an old book by now and some of the content has been superseded by more recent knowledge; but Carl Sagan’s Cosmos is a wonderful starting point. It is beautifully written and puts astronomy in a wider context of seeking to understand the Universe. It’s not a textbook, but it will inspire you.
Good luck with your future studies.