Satisfying popular science, just right for the budding astronomer in the household.
A smooth survey of the planets and satellites.
With nations reviving an interest in human space exploration, this expert overview by Murdin, emeritus professor of astronomy at Cambridge, is a welcome description of what’s out there. The author, who was part of a team that discovered Cygnus X-1, a galactic X-ray source thought to be the first accepted as a black hole, discusses planets (once nine, now eight), some interesting moons, and several miscellaneous bodies. The nearest four planets—Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars—are small and rocky, while the distant four—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune—are large and gassy. Mercury resembles the moon, airless and cratered but larger and hotter. As hot as melting lead, cloud-covered Venus resembles an Earth with its greenhouse gases out of control. Barren and cold with almost no atmosphere, Mars may be barely tolerable. Hopefully, we will know in a decade or two. Massive Jupiter and Saturn are the “gas giants.” Not so massive but colder, Uranus and Neptune are “ice giants.” Even further, colder, tiny, and with a wacky orbit, Pluto has been demoted to the considerable family of dwarf planets. Earth receives the longest chapter. Many readers take comfort that it orbits in the “Goldilocks Zone,” the distance from the sun where liquid water can exist. But life also requires a large magnetic field to fend off solar radiation—Earth’s won’t last forever—as well as an atmosphere with greenhouse gases. With none, it freezes; with too much, it overheats. Earth’s huge moon stabilizes the planet’s axis and seasons. Since human life requires liquid water, the author focuses intently on that topic. Mars contains almost none, but several moons of Jupiter and one of Saturn contain oceans beneath their surfaces. Another moon of Saturn, Titan, has an atmosphere as well as rivers and oceans of methane. Astronomers, science fiction writers, and Murdin remain fascinated by methane-based life.
Satisfying popular science, just right for the budding astronomer in the household.Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-64313-336-2
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Pegasus
Review Posted Online: June 12, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
A remarkably thorough and thoughtful case for the reconciliation between science and faith.
A duo of French mathematicians makes the scientific case for God in this nonfiction book.
Since its 2021 French-language publication in Paris, this work by Bolloré and Bonnassies has sold more than 400,000 copies. Now translated into English for the first time by West and Jones, the book offers a new introduction featuring endorsements from a range of scientists and religious leaders, including Nobel Prize-winning astronomers and Roman Catholic cardinals. This appeal to authority, both religious and scientific, distinguishes this volume from a genre of Christian apologetics that tends to reject, rather than embrace, scientific consensus. Central to the book’s argument is that contemporary scientific advancements have undone past emphases on materialist interpretations of the universe (and their parallel doubts of spirituality). According to the authors’ reasoned arguments, what now forms people’s present understanding of the universe—including quantum mechanics, relativity, and the Big Bang—puts “the question of the existence of a creator God back on the table,” given the underlying implications. Einstein’s theory of relativity, for instance, presupposes that if a cause exists behind the origin of the universe, then it must be atemporal, non-spatial, and immaterial. While the book’s contentions related to Christianity specifically, such as its belief in the “indisputable truths contained in the Bible,” may not be as convincing as its broader argument on how the idea of a creator God fits into contemporary scientific understanding, the volume nevertheless offers a refreshingly nuanced approach to the topic. From the work’s outset, the authors (academically trained in math and engineering) reject fundamentalist interpretations of creationism (such as claims that Earth is only 6,000 years old) as “fanciful beliefs” while challenging the philosophical underpinnings of a purely materialist understanding of the universe that may not fit into recent scientific paradigm shifts. Featuring over 500 pages and more than 600 research notes, this book strikes a balance between its academic foundations and an accessible writing style, complemented by dozens of photographs from various sources, diagrams, and charts.
A remarkably thorough and thoughtful case for the reconciliation between science and faith.Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2025
ISBN: 9789998782402
Page Count: 562
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A straightforward, carefully detailed presentation of how ``fruit comes from flowers,'' from winter's snow-covered buds through pollination and growth to ripening and harvest. Like the text, the illustrations are admirably clear and attractive, including the larger-than-life depiction of the parts of the flower at different stages. An excellent contribution to the solidly useful ``Let's-Read-and-Find-Out-Science'' series. (Nonfiction/Picture book. 4-9)
Pub Date: Jan. 30, 1992
ISBN: 0-06-020055-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1991
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