Say you’ve got an idea for the perfect science book. You know the subject inside out and you know how you want to write about it. Now what?

As a mission-driven imprint, we aim to help exceptional writers and distinguished scientists better understand the publishing process as they develop and write their first popular science book. To that end, some of these blog posts will help shed light on our acquisitions, editorial, and production processes. Today we’ll share some of the factors we consider when evaluating submissions. (For more on what to include in your proposal, take a look at our newly posted submissions page.)

At Quanta Books we publish a list of three to five books a year. We want to devote ample time and attention to supporting every author we publish, so we’re necessarily selective about the projects we acquire.

So what are we looking for? We’re looking for books that elucidate basic, fundamental science and mathematics through reported narratives, authoritative explainers, and the occasional biography. We seek projects that tackle big, ambitious ideas in physics (including astrophysics), math, biology (including neuroscience), chemistry, theoretical computer science, and select earth science and history of science. We’re drawn to books that give us a new way to see the world (like Terence Tao’s SIX MATH ESSENTIALS), that tell a little-known story about a major revolution in a field (like Kevin Hartnett’s THE PROOF IN THE CODE), and that bring to life a famously difficult subject through delightful stories and vivid metaphor (like David Tong’s EVERYTHING IS FIELDS). Most of all, we’re looking for books that capture the wonder and discovery of science, that enthrall and entertain, that illuminate the big questions about how our universe works.

More concretely, while reading queries and proposals we ask:

  • Why is this subject scientifically important, and how well does the author convey its intellectual richness while illuminating key science or math insights?
  • What makes this a must-read for the general public? How will readers be transformed by this book?
  • Does the author have a well-defined vision for the book and a demonstrated ability to make its stories and ideas accessible and compelling to a non-expert reader?

Here are a few of our favorite science books (from other publishers), ones that share a sensibility with Quanta Books:

  • Steven Strogatz’s INFINITE POWERS (Mariner, 2019) is a lively historical overview of the development of calculus in Strogatz’s trademark friendly, clear style. You come away with a keen sense of both how calculus works and why it’s so important in the sciences and in our general understanding of the world. (Incidentally, Strogatz has a new book coming this fall called BIG MATH—check it out here.)
  • Siddhartha Mukherjee’s SONG OF THE CELL (Scribner, 2022) explores the fundamental nature of life through the wonders of basic biology. Mukherjee beautifully weaves together scientific inquiry and stories about his own experience as a researcher and doctor to tell the story of how humans came to understand their own building blocks.
  • Katherine J. (Katie) Mack’s THE END OF EVERYTHING (Astrophysically Speaking) (Simon & Schuster, 2020) takes readers on a journey to explore the biggest ideas in astrophysics through five scenarios for how the universe might end. Mack has a gift for making challenging physics concepts companionable, and the result is a funny, engrossing read.
  • James Gleick’s CHAOS (Viking, 1987) is a brilliantly written and reported scientific narrative—the story of chaos theory, its development, and its emergence—that announced the arrival of a new and important field and ushered it into the public consciousness.

(You should also of course read our books!)