Spectacular full-color photographs and computer images will attract readers to this volume of current information about the universe, but Scott (Twins!, p. 117) assumes a lot of prior knowledge on the part of readers, and there is no glossary of terms nor timeline to help with the context. The discussion begins with early telescopes and scientists, including Ptolemy, Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, and Newton, and proceeds rapidly on to Hubble’s Theory of the Expanding Universe. She explains how images from the Hubble Telescope support earlier theories and have changed scientist’s ideas about the formation of the universe, the planets in our solar system, and distant galaxies. Throughout are thumbnail sketches of contemporary astronomers and their work. Also included: a discussion of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet collision with Jupiter in 1995, the birth and death of stars and galaxies, protoplanetary disks in Orion, supernovas, and speculation on black holes and life on other planets. The fussy design detracts from the discussion: Text superimposed on photographs is difficult to read; boxes of colored type are inserted in photographs or into the margins. It’s a challenging title, with appeal mostly for highly motivated science enthusiasts. (index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: May 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-7868-0147-6
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1998
In this abridged and illustrated version of his Short History of Nearly Everything (2003), Bryson invites a younger crowd of seekers on a tour of time, space and science—from the Big Bang and the birth of the solar system to the growth and study of life on Earth. The single-topic spreads are adorned with cartoon portraits of scientists, explorers and (frequently) the author himself, which go with small nature photos and the occasional chart or cutaway view. Though occasionally subject to sweeping and dubious statements—“There’s no chance we could ever make a journey through the solar system”—Bryson makes a genial guide (“for you to be here now, trillions of drifting atoms had somehow to come together in a complicated and obliging manner to create you”), and readers with even a flicker of curiosity in their souls about Big Ideas will come away sharing his wonder at living in such a “fickle and eventful universe.” (index) (Nonfiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: Oct. 27, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-385-73810-1
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2009
Remarking that ``nothing about the weather is very simple,'' Simon goes on to describe how the sun, atmosphere, earth's rotation, ground cover, altitude, pollution, and other factors influence it; briefly, he also tells how weather balloons gather information. Even for this outstanding author, it's a tough, complex topic, and he's not entirely successful in simplifying it; moreover, the import of the striking uncaptioned color photos here isn't always clear. One passage—``Cumulus clouds sometimes build up into towering masses called cumulus congestus, or swelling cumulus, which may turn into cumulonimbus clouds''—is superimposed on a blue-gray, cloud-covered landscape. But which kind of clouds are these? Another photo, in blue-black and white, shows what might be precipitation in the upper atmosphere, or rain falling on a darkened landscape, or...? Generally competent and certainly attractive, but not Simon's best. (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-688-10546-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1993
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