MY FIRST BOOK OF THE COSMOS

Take a deep dive into the creation, arrangement, and composition of the universe.

This book covers a wide range of material, including gravity, the Big Bang, the shape and age of the universe, stars, planetary bodies, black holes, dark matter, and the cosmic calendar. Less-common topics include space-time, gravitational lenses, wormholes, and dark energy. The narrative style is conversational and makes sure to include logical steps and multiple references for readers to follow. Altarriba’s early–Space Age design is the book’s real strength, however. It visually conveys the information in supereffective ways, promoting interest without ever growing too busy. The pages show great compositional diversity, utilizing illustrations, graphs, diagrams, sidebars, and more. Perhaps surprisingly, the book contains only one photo (of cosmic background radiation). Although many terms are defined when introduced and there are some cross-references, there is no readily accessible glossary, and the text presupposes a certain level of conceptualization and theoretical thinking, belying the “First” in the title. Readers with an established general understanding of scientific and/or cosmological concepts, such as mass and revolution, as well as good reading comprehension skills and/or a more knowledgeable co-reader to work through the pages with them will find plenty to hold their interest. In addition, there is no bibliography or further reading, so curious thinkers will need to do their own outside research.

A practical survey of cosmic undertaking.