He is the author of the upper-level undergraduate textbook
Extrasolar Planets and Astrobiology, published in 2008 by University Science Books, CA. This book won the 2011 Chambliss Astronomical Writing Award and medal from the
American Astronomical Society. He has many published professional papers in peer-reviewed journals, with 109 papers listed in the SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS); three have been cited over 100 times each: the highest counts are 264 139, 116, all in
The Astrophysical Journal. His blog
Life, Unbounded appears at
Scientific American and covers topics in astronomy, exoplanetary science, and astrobiology. Scharf is the author of a number of popular science books. ''Gravity's Engines: The Other Side of
Black Holes (US subtitle: How Bubble-Blowing Black Holes Rule Galaxies, Stars, and Life in the Universe
) was published in December 2012. It was listed as one of the New Scientist top 10 books to read in 2012 and as one of The Barnes and Noble Review'' Editors' Picks: Best Nonfiction of 2012. His next book,
The Copernicus Complex, was published in 2014 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and in 2017
The Zoomable Universe, with illustrations by
Ron Miller, was published by Scientific American/Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ==Bibliography==