On the 10th anniversary of his death, brilliant astrophysicist and Pulitzer Prize winner Carl Sagan offers a prescient exploration of the relationship between religion and science and his personal search for God.

Carl Sagan, considered one of the greatest scientific minds of our time, had a remarkable ability to explain science in terms easily understandable to the layman. In bestselling books such as Cosmos, The Dragons of Eden, and The Demon-Haunted World, he won a Pulitzer Prize and placed himself firmly next to Isaac Asimov, Stephen Jay Gould, and Oliver Sachs as one of the most important communicators of science.

In December 2006, Ann Druyan, his widow and longtime collaborator, marked the occasion by releasing Sagan's famous "Gifford Lectures in Natural Theology," The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God. The opportunity to give the Gifford Lectures is an honor reserved for the most distinguished scientists and philosophers of our civilization. In 1985, on the grand occasion of the centennial of the lectureship, Carl Sagan was invited to give them. He took the opportunity to set down in detail his thoughts on the relationship between religion and science and to describe his own personal search to understand the nature of the sacred in the vastness of the cosmos.

The Varieties of Scientific Experience, edited, updated, and with an introduction by Ann Druyan, is like eavesdropping on a delightfully intimate conversation with the late great astronomer and astrophysicist. In his charmingly down-to-earth voice, Sagan discusses his views on topics ranging from manic depression and the possibly chemical nature of transcendence to creationism and so-called intelligent design to the likelihood of intelligent life on other planets to the likelihood of nuclear annihilation of our own, and a new concept of science as "informed worship."

Exhibiting a breadth of intellect nothing short of astounding, he illuminates his explanations with examples from cosmology, physics, philosophy, literature, psychology, cultural anthropology, mythology, theology, and more. Sagan's humorous, wise, and at times stunningly prophetic observations on some of the greatest mysteries of the cosmos have the invigorating effect of stimulating the intellect, exciting the imagination, and reawakening us to the grandeur of life in the cosmos.

Stephen Hawking, the brilliant theoretical physicist, invites readers on an extraordinary journey through the universe in his book, The Universe in a Nutshell. This sequel to his multimillion-copy bestseller, A Brief History of Time, is a lavishly illustrated work that unravels the mysteries of the major breakthroughs in physics since the release of his first acclaimed book.

In this major publishing event, Hawking takes us to the cutting edge of theoretical physics, where truth is often stranger than fiction. He explains in laymen’s terms the principles that control our universe, covering topics such as quantum mechanics, M-theory, general relativity, and superstrings. He guides us on his search to uncover the secrets of the universe—from supergravity to supersymmetry, and from holography to duality.

With characteristic exuberance, Professor Hawking invites us to be fellow travelers on this extraordinary voyage through space-time. The book is filled with copious four-color illustrations that help clarify this journey into a surreal wonderland where particles, sheets, and strings move in eleven dimensions. Here, black holes evaporate and disappear, taking their secrets with them, and the original cosmic seed from which our universe sprang was a tiny nut.

The Universe in a Nutshell is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the universe in which we live. It conveys the excitement felt within the scientific community as the secrets of the cosmos reveal themselves, making it a must-read for all curious minds.

Relativity: The Special and the General Theory is an accessible version of Einstein's masterpiece of theory, written by the genius himself. According to Einstein, this book is intended "to give an exact insight into the theory of Relativity to those readers who, from a general scientific and philosophical point of view, are interested in the theory, but who are not conversant with the mathematical apparatus of theoretical physics."

When he wrote the book in 1916, Einstein's name was scarcely known outside the physics institutes. Having just completed his masterpiece, The General Theory of Relativity—which provided a brand-new theory of gravity and promised a new perspective on the cosmos as a whole—he set out at once to share his excitement with as wide a public as possible in this popular and accessible book.

This edition of Relativity features a new introduction by bestselling science author Nigel Calder, enhancing the experience for modern readers.