Genre guide · Nonfiction
Popular Science: word count & book length
How long a popular science book should be, which trim sizes suit it and what that means in printed pages. Typical length: 70,000–100,000 words.
About popular science
Science explained for curious non-specialists, often through stories of discovery and the people behind it.
Printed length in recommended trim sizes
| Trim | Pages at 11 pt | Spine (white) |
|---|---|---|
| 6 x 9 in US Trade | 218–314 pages | 0.49–0.71 in |
Page counts for these lengths
Tips for this category
- Line diagrams reproduce better than photos on uncoated book paper.
About Popular Science
Popular science is an interpretation or presentation of science intended for a general audience. Works of popular science may take many forms, including books, film and television documentaries, magazine articles, and web pages. Popular science may be written by scientists themselves or by professional journalists. While science journalism focuses specifically on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad-ranging.
From the Wikipedia article “Popular science”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Most-published popular science works in Open Library
| Title | Author | First published | Editions |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Brief History of Time | Stephen Hawking | 1988 | 120 |
| A short history of nearly everything | Bill Bryson | 2003 | 57 |
| The Blind Watchmaker | Richard Dawkins | 1986 | 28 |
| The Gene | Siddhartha Mukherjee, Dennis Boutsikaris | 2016 | 20 |
| A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived | Adam Rutherford, Siddhartha Mukherjee | 2016 | 16 |
| Brief Answers to the Big Questions | Stephen Hawking | 2014 | 16 |
| Elementary Science Methods | David Jerner Martin, David Martin (undifferentiated) | 1996 | 10 |
| The Particle at the End of the Universe | Sean M. Carroll | 2012 | 10 |
| Classical Mechanics (Physics) | Leonard Susskind, George Hrabovsky | 2013 | 10 |
| The Golem at Large Canto Classics | Trevor Pinch, Harry Collins | 1998 | 10 |
Open Library lists 350 works under this subject.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a popular science book be?
What trim size is best for popular science?
Sources & data
- Subject statistics from Open Library.
- Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).