planet

Published in 2005, this work celebrates 50 years of space exploration, from its Cold War beginnings of satellites and manned missions into space, to orbiting space stations and unmanned exploratory missions to other planets in our solar system. Published by Smithsonian Books, this beautifully illustrated work features histories from participants in both the Soviet Union and the United States space programs. It was written by science journalist and space historian Piers Bizony, with a foreword by Sir Arthur C. Clarke.

One of the titles from the popular Golden Book children’s series, this book covers the space shuttle era and some history of space travel. It includes photographs and illustrations of what space and planetary exploration might be like in the future. Written for “junior space enthusiasts,” it is an example of the breadth of material on aviation and space flight written for a popular audience contained in the collection of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Library. 

Biologist Paul Ehrlich and director for the Center of Conservation Biology at Stanford University Anne Ehrlich dedicate this book, “To Homo sapiens, which through the extinction of others endangers itself;” an appropriate summary.  This husband and wife duo have spent decades warning about the dangers of overpopulation, and in Extinction they focus on the affect it can have on species’ populations, the environment, and, ultimately, humanity itself.  It is a straight-forward, compelling narrative that dissects why we should save even the lowliest of species, how we have threate

Harvey Harlow Nininger is considered to be the father of meteoritics. He worked tirelessly to convince the scientific community that meteorites were far more common on Earth than previously thought and a valuable source of information about the solar system and the Earth’s geologic past.