Up
Lucy Rogers Doubleday (2026)
Engineer Lucy Rogers notes that “we do not cast our eyes upwards as often as our great-grandparents did”, instead looking down at our smartphones’ glow. Living on a narrowboat pushes her to learn from looking up, and her vivid book traces what she finds by paying attention to air, sky and space. In Borneo, she watches millions of bats stream from a jungle cave at dusk; in India, she observes kites fluttering above rooftops during a festival; and in Florida, she stands among spectators witnessing astronauts lift off.
The Invention of the Future
Bruno Carvalho Princeton Univ. Press (2026)
In 2018, 55% of the world’s population lived in cities; the share is projected to reach 68% by 2050. This shift — and its uneven history — animates Bruno Carvalho’s wide-ranging study, which weaves together multidisciplinary insights. “Cities are places where things happen, but they also make things happen,” he writes. Beginning with Lisbon’s rebuilding after the devastating 1755 earthquake, he moves through other pivotal transformations, such as Manhattan’s 1811 grid plan and Rio de Janeiro’s modernization from 1903 to 1906.
Mission Ready
Lindy Elkins-Tanton Basic Venture (2026)
The metal-rich asteroid 16 Psyche orbits the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. NASA’s Psyche mission — launched in 2023 after years of preparation led by planetary scientist Lindy Elkins-Tanton — aims to reach it in 2029. Her experience shapes this thoughtful book, which shifts the focus to the people behind such missions. Drawing on both challenges and breakthroughs, she explores how scientific and societal teams function, highlighting five essential attributes, with “human-to-human connection” at their core.
Rocks
Vojta Hybl Frances Lincoln (2026)
