“What are Marcia Bartusiak’s Best Books?” We looked at all of Bartusiak’s authored bibliography and ranked them against one another to answer that very question!

We took all of the books written by Marcia Bartusiak and looked at her Goodreads, Amazon, and LibraryThing scores, ranking them against one another to see which books came out on top. The books are ranked in our list below based on which titles have the highest overall score between all 3 review sites in comparison with all of the other books by the same author. The process isn’t super scientific and in reality, most books aren’t “better” than other books as much as they are just different. That being said, we do enjoy seeing where our favorites landed, and if you aren’t familiar with the author at all, the rankings can help you see what books might be best to start with.

The full ranking chart is also included below the countdown on the bottom of the page.

Happy Scrolling!

The Top Book’s Of Marcia Bartusiak

6 ) Einstein’s Unfinished Symphony: Listening to the Sounds of Space-Time

Review Website Ranks:

• Goodreads: 5
• Amazon: 5
• LibraryThing: 5

In February 2016, astronomers announced that they had verified the last remaining prediction of Einstein’s general theory of relativity—vibrations in space-time, called gravitational waves. Humanity can now tune in to a cosmic orchestra. We have heard the chirp of two black holes dancing toward a violent union. We will hear the cymbal crashes from exploding stars, the periodic drumbeats from swiftly rotating pulsars, and maybe even the echoes from the Big Bang itself.

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5 ) Thursday’s Universe

Review Website Ranks:

• Goodreads: 6
• Amazon: 1
• LibraryThing: 6

From the history of the science to the cutting edge of knowledge and technology, the story of modern astrophysics is told through interviews with and profiles of leading scientists and theoreticians

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4 ) Black Hole

Review Website Ranks:

• Goodreads: 4
• Amazon: 5
• LibraryThing: 2

For more than half a century, physicists and astronomers engaged in heated dispute over the possibility of black holes in the universe. The weirdly alien notion of a space-time abyss from which nothing escapes—not even light—seemed to confound all logic. This engrossing book tells the story of the fierce black hole debates and the contributions of Einstein and Hawking and other leading thinkers who completely altered our view of the universe. Renowned science writer Marcia Bartusiak shows how the black hole helped revive Einstein’s greatest achievement, the general theory of relativity, after decades during which it had been pushed into the shadows. Not until astronomers discovered such surprising new phenomena as neutron stars and black holes did the once-sedate universe transform into an Einsteinian cosmos, filled with sources of titanic energy that can be understood only in the light of relativity. This book celebrates the hundredth anniversary of general relativity, uncovers how the black hole really got its name, and recounts the scientists’ frustrating, exhilarating, and at times humorous battles over the acceptance of one of history’s most dazzling ideas.

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3 ) The Day We Found the Universe

Review Website Ranks:

• Goodreads: 3
• Amazon: 4
• LibraryThing: 1

“The riveting and mesmerizing story behind a watershed period in human history, the discovery of the startling size and true nature of our universe.

On New Years Day in 1925, a young Edwin Hubble released his finding that our Universe was far bigger, eventually measured as a thousand trillion times larger than previously believed. Hubble’s proclamation sent shock waves through the scientific community. Six years later, in a series of meetings at Mount Wilson Observatory, Hubble and others convinced Albert Einstein that the Universe was not static but in fact expanding. Here Marcia Bartusiak reveals the key players, battles of will, clever insights, incredible technology, ground-breaking research, and wrong turns made by the early investigators of the heavens as they raced to uncover what many consider one of most significant discoveries in scientific history.”

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2 ) Through a Universe Darkly

Review Website Ranks:

• Goodreads: 2
• Amazon: 1
• LibraryThing: 4

Providing the history of astronomy from the ancient Greeks up to today, an award-winning science writer shows how the quest for dark matter is the latest step in the long evolution of our view of the cosmos. Conveying the exhilaration of discovery that has driven astronomers for centuries, the author interweaves history, scientific personalities, and philosophy in a story of the exploration of the universe’s contents.

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1 ) Archives of the Universe: A Treasury of Astronomy’s Historic Works of Discovery

Review Website Ranks:

• Goodreads: 1
• Amazon: 1
• LibraryThing: 3

“An unparalleled history of astronomy presented in the words of the scientists who made the discoveries. Here are the writings of Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton, Halley, Hubble, and Einstein, as well as that of dozens of others who have significantly contributed to our picture of the universe.

From Aristotle’s proof that the Earth is round to the 1998 paper that posited an accelerating universe, this book contains 100 entries spanning the history of astronomy. Award-winning science writer Marcia Bartusiak provides enormously entertaining introductions, putting the material in context and explaining its place in the literature. Archives of the Universe is essential reading for professional astronomers, science history buffs, and backyard stargazers alike.”

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Marcia Bartusiak’s Best Books

Marcia Bartusiak Review Website Bibliography Rankings