Our Universe: A Guide to What's Out There - Hardcover

Grade 4-6?A breezy lecture on the history, building blocks, and natural laws of the universe, with special emphasis on the lives of stars and on the complex, interrelated chain of events and forces that make life as we know it possible. Stannard seems unsure of his audience, using the term "merry-go-round" rather than "centripetal" force in discussing orbits, but later mentioning "angular momentum"; or writing of electron and neutron "soup" in the cores of collapsed stars, but assuming some knowledge of mathematics. He discusses supernovas but not novas, never mentions quasars or string theory, and in describing black holes uses the term "horizon" rather than the more common "event horizon." The author closes with the suggestion that the universe is potentially a fluke, one of many, or deliberately designed by a creator?he prefers the third option, but invites readers to make up their own minds. Each chapter ends with review questions, all of which are answered in a back section. The illustrations are decorative but seldom useful: small pen-and-ink cartoons, and vague, swirling, full-color paintings. Stick with more complete, consistent surveys, such as Iain Nicolson's Illustrated World of Space (S.&S., 1991) or the Visual Dictionary of the Universe (Dorling Kindersley, 1993).?John Peters, New York Public Library
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