Ben Bova was born on November 8, 1932, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1953, while attending Temple University, he married Rosa Cucinotta, they had a son and a daughter. He would later divorce Rosa in 1974. In that same year he married Barbara Berson Rose.
Bova was an avid fencer and organized Avco Everett’s fencing club. He was an environmentalist but rejected Luddism.
Bova was a technical writer for Project Vanguard and later for Avco Everett in the 1960s when they did research in lasers and fluid dynamics. It was there that he met Arthur R. Kantrowitz later of the Foresight Institute.
In 1971 he became editor of Analog Science Fiction after John W. Campbell’s death. After leaving Analog, he went on to edit Omni during 1978-1982.
He has written over 120 books in both the science fiction and fact arenas, with most of his stories seeking to explore the idea of humanity’s expansion across the solar system.
With numerous awards to his name, Ben Bova has played important roles in both the Science Fiction Writers of America as well as the National Space Society, mostly in the role of president.
Books in order of publication:
Watchmen/The Others Books
| The Star Conquerors | (1959) | |
| Star Watchman | (1964) | |
| The Dueling Machine | (1969) |
Exiles Books
| Exiled from Earth | (1971) | |
| Flight of Exiles | (1972) | |
| End of Exile | (1975) |
Kinsman Books
| Millennium | (1976) | |
| Kinsman | (1979) |
Voyagers Books
| Voyagers | (1981) | |
| The Alien Within | (1986) | |
| Star Brothers | (1990) | |
| The Return | (2009) |
Orion Books
| Orion | (1984) | |
| Vengeance of Orion | (1988) | |
| Orion In The Dying Time | (1990) | |
| Orion and the Conqueror | (1994) | |
| Orion Among the Stars | (1995) | |
| Orion and King Arthur | (2011) |
Grand Tour Books
| Privateers | (1985) | |
| Mars | (1992) | |
| Empire Builders | (1993) | |
| Return to Mars | (1999) | |
| Venus | (2000) | |
| Jupiter | (2000) | |
| Saturn | (2003) | |
| Mercury | (2005) | |
| Powersat | (2005) | |
| Titan | (2006) | |
| Mars Life | (2008) | |
| Leviathans of Jupiter | (2011) | |
| Farside | (2013) | |
| New Earth | (2013) | |
| Earth | (2019) |
Star Quest Trilogy
| Death Wave | (2015) |
| Apes and Angels | (2016) |
| Survival | (2017) |
Publication Order of Outer Planets Books
| Uranus | (2020) | |
| Neptune | (2021) |
Sam Gunn Books
| Sam Gunn Unlimited | (1992) | |
| Sam Gunn Forever | (1998) | |
| The Sam Gunn Omnibus: New Stories | (2007) | |
| Sam Gunn Jr. | (2022) |
Moonbase Saga Books
| Moonrise | (1996) | |
| Moonwar | (1997) |
The Asteroid Wars Books
| The Precipice | (2001) | |
| The Rock Rats | (2002) | |
| The Silent War | (2004) | |
| Aftermath | (2007) |
Billionaire’s Club Books
| Mars, Inc. | (2013) |
Jake Ross Books
| Power Play | (2012) | |
| Power Surge | (2015) | |
| Power Failure | (2018) | |
| Power Challenges | (2021) | |
Standalone Novels
The Weather-Makers (1967)
Out of the Sun (1968)
Escape! (1970)
THX 1138 (With: George Lucas) (1971)
As On A Darkling Plain (1972)
The Winds of Altair (1973)
When the Sky Burned (1973)
Gremlins Go Home (With: Gordon R. Dickson) (1974)
The Starcrossed (1975)
City Of Darkness (1976)
Multiple Man (1976)
Colony (1978)
Test of Fire (1982)
The Peacekeepers (1988)
Cyberbooks (1989)
The Trikon Deception (With: William R. Pogue) (1992)
Triumph (1993)
Death Dream (1994)
Brothers (1995)
The Green Trap (2006)
The Immortality Factor (2009)
Able One (2010)
The Hittite (2010)
Transhuman (2014)
Rescue Mode (With: Les Johnson) (2014)
Space Station Down (2020)
Short Stories/Novellas
The Next Logical Step (2010)
Short Story Collections
Forward In Time (1973)
Maxwell’s Demons (1978)
Escape Plus (1984)
Astral Mirror (1985)
Prometheans (1986)
Battle Station (1990)
Future Crime (1990)
Challenges (1993)
The Future Quartet: Earth in the Year 2042 (1994)
Twice Seven (1998)
The Towers of Titan and Other Stories (2010)
The Callahan Kids (With: ) (2012)
New Frontiers (2014)
Mercury and Prometheans (2015)
The Best of Bova (2016)
The Best of Bova, Volume II (2016)
The Best of Bova, Volume III (2017) My Favorites (2020)
Non-Fiction Books
| The Milky Way Galaxy | (1961) | |
| Giants of the animal world | (1962) | |
| Reptiles since the world began, | (1964) | |
| The uses of space, | (1965) | |
| Planets, Life & Lgm | (1970) | |
| In Quest of Quasars | (1971) | |
| The Amazing Laser | (1971) | |
| Man Changes the Weather | (1973) | |
| The Weather Changes Man | (1973) | |
| The New Astronomies | (1973) | |
| Starflight and Other Improbabilities, | (1973) | |
| The Fourth State of Matter | (1974) | |
| Analog Science Fact Reader | (1974) | |
| Workshops in Space | (1974) | |
| Through Eyes of Wonder | (1975) | |
| Notes to a Science Fiction Writer | (1975) | |
| Science–Who Needs It? | (1975) | |
| Viewpoint | (1977) | |
| Closeup, New Worlds | (1977) | |
| The Seeds of Tomorrow | (1977) | |
| High Road | (1981) | |
| Vision of the Future | (1982) | |
| Assured Survival | (1984) | |
| Star Peace | (1986) | |
| Welcome to Moon Base | (1987) | |
| Interactions | (1988) | |
| The Beauty of Light | (1988) | |
| Immortality | (1990) | |
| First Contact (With: Byron Preiss) | (1990) | |
| Are We Alone In The Cosmos? The Guide To The Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence | (1992) | |
| The Craft of Writing Science Fiction That Sells | (1994) | |
| Space Travel: A Writer’s Guide to the Science of Interplanetary and Interstellar Travel (With: Anthony R. Lewis) | (1997) | |
| The Story of Light | (2001) | |
| The Living Universe | (2002) | |
| Faint Echoes, Distant Stars | (2004) |
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