This stunning book by Piers Bizony from Taschen goes well beyond the infinite wonders of the film.

The physical heft this interestingly oblong tome seems to promise that The Making of Stanley Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ is the definitive text on the iconic film. Then, when you slide the book out of its sleeve and open it, this promise is upheld. And man, does this book deliver. Numerous full-color pages and foldout leaves dazzle and delight. The astounding trove of behind-the-scenes images and descriptive text brings my appreciation of the film to a whole new level. The extent to which it details the realization of the film is unbelievable and even overwhelming. 

This book from came to my attention through a fascinating WIRED article discussing it, and after I found out the second edition was only $70 compared to the $1000 first edition, I decided to take this deep dive into the world of 2001. And the plunge ended up being much deeper than I expected. This book immerses the reader in the extensive research and meticulous concepting for the film. The thoroughness involved in crafting this vision of the future makes it incredibly clear why it has aged so well, still striking me as realistic and convincing. So much so that I still love watching many of the scenes on the Discovery One space craft as well as the visually engrossing and enigmatic ending.