Category: Book Reviews

Dictionaries, as guides, ensure everyone uses words in a like manner. Specialized dictionaries allow more complete coverage for particular fields. Ian Ridpath has updated A Dictionary of Astronomy that, as the title implies, gives definitions to much of the astronomer’s vernacular. It’s as unexciting as any reference text but as valuable as any fine resource.

Spoken words allow people to readily communicate. Being able to convey abstract ideas and images separates humans from other species and raises us to be the most technically accomplished. This, coupled with our unending curiosity and inventiveness, keeps our language growing and morphing.

One would think that, with all this change, a dictionary is counter-productive. Yet, we need a common basis when communicating, and Ridpath’s dictionary provides such. In this book, explanations describe over 4200 entries. These can be generally and almost evenly divided into: technical, proper names and personal names. Definitions for each can be as succinct as a few words or as voluminous as a couple of pages. However, most are at a moderate paragraph in length. And, as with most dictionaries, the explanations are adequate, being neither fluffy nor abbreviated. An omission is the lack of any help with pronunciation. A nice addition, though, is a clever method that clearly indicates when an explanation has words or expressions that are themselves defined elsewhere in the book. Hence, this dictionary does wonderfully as the ready reference it needs to be.

In regard to this dictionary’s scope, Ridpath has kept it closely aligned to astronomy. There’s no ingress from rocketry or space flight aside from a table of the Apollo flights in the appendix. And only the slightest allowance is made for special terms from physics. Yet, many common words arise, though with definitions appropriated purely for this field. Consider the moustache, a small, very bright point in solar active regions. Personal favourites include; almucantar, gnomon and regmaglypt. Finding these and others is simply a matter of using the leading and trailing entries shown at the top of each page. Thus, as the dictionary is to clarify and standardize, this dictionary meets this measure.

This dictionary is a good reference for a generalist who only occasionally dips their toes into astronomy. Also, for a specialist in one realm of astronomy, like telescopes, who’s perhaps weak in others, like comet compositions, this book will speed the process. Of course, for anyone who has a suspect memory and wants a quick verification of an astronomical term, this book will do just fine.

One thing, this is the second edition. Ridpath mentions he enlisted the assistance of many specialists to review entries. Presumably this has increased the quality. However, I’m unable to make any comparison to the first edition, as I’m without a copy.

Ready fingertips grab for references whenever questions arise. Astronomy has its own broad set of particular terms. Ian Ridpath’s book, A Dictionary of Astronomy is ready to be of service when those fingers want to go walking. It’s one more valuable tool to keep people talking in harmony.

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Flying bricks shouldn’t invoke glamorous images, but NASA’s space shuttle does just that. Its bright white paint glowing over a heavy matt black base conveys the sense of majesty and strength that well belongs to this craft. Pat Duggins’ book Final Countdown – NASA and the End of the Space Shuttle Program builds on this impression, even if it contains an undertone similar to an eulogy.

With NASA setting a hard deadline finalizing the flights of the space shuttle, we know the end is near. After tens of years and wild swings of fortune, this dream of ready space transportation is being laid to rest. Many reasons accompany this decision, from political shenanigans to technical tom foolery, and many other options in between. Perhaps, though, it’s just the lack of public interest that’s doomed this endeavour.

In Duggins’ book, many of the reasons for the end of the shuttle program get mentioned. As well, it covers major milestones for the program. But, it’s not a concise history nor a program review. Rather, Duggins book takes the reader on a human perspective. In it, the social issues come more to the fore than those of a technical nature. As such, he places no expectations on the reader being enamoured by the technology. But, Duggins apparently has great fondness for the space industry, admiration for the practitioners and lofty dreams of humanity’s capabilities. Thus, the book reflects Duggins appreciation of the space shuttle program, from its early inception of being an inexpensive replacement for Apollo to its present being the fundamental tool for space station construction. Though he acknowledges the shuttle’s shortcomings, he also lauds it successes.

Central to Duggins’ discussion is the dramatic influence of politics upon the space shuttle. Whether as a sword to impress foreign nations, a bribe to placate trade partners or a means toward global peace, the shuttle is shown to have had its part to play. This forms the basis of the book’s reasoning. The shuttle, upon inception, had no real purpose, so one had to be found. But, even with a purpose, constant public support was crucial. A reader’s interest in this play and counter-play of politics and public support will easily extend to an interest in this book.

However, while Duggins brings the reader along for the ride that’s been the space shuttle program, he doesn’t venture beyond. Yes, the space shuttle now has a final countdown and much discussion and effort is ongoing to regarding its successor. And, as shown, not only must the protege meet mission requirements, it must also have a mission. Nevertheless, aside from reciting some lessons learned, Duggins adds little to this. Hence, a reader looking for an enjoyable read that encompasses the space shuttle program to date will find this book warm, provoking and encompassing. Those looking for depth and deductions will be less rewarded.

Space travel has always forced harsh cold reality onto brave dreams. The space shuttle is a continuance of the dream of humankind’s aspirations to readily fly away from Earth. Pat Duggins in his book Final Countdown – NASA and the End of the Space Shuttle Program shows the results of our best attempt, to date, to make ready space travel a reality. And, the end of the space shuttle program is just the beginning of another chapter of our space fairing dream.

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Crawling and wriggling, flapping and yelping, life blooms all about us on planet Earth. We can’t avoid it nor live without it. But, what’s the scientific consideration of life? Here, Lewis Dartnell with his book Life in the Universe: A Beginner’s Guide provides a simple, viable definition. And, as the title suggests, this forms the basis for searching for life elsewhere. Especially searching way out there just beyond the tip of our telescopes.

We are alive. The plants and animals we see around us are alive. But, more than 5 kilometres beneath the Earth’s surface, bacteria live, divide and multiply. They also live in sunken Antarctic lakes, astride vents on the ocean shore and swimming in pools of nasty chemicals. So many locations on Earth have shown themselves supportive of life that we are more and more hopeful and expectant that life thrives elsewhere, beyond Earth.

Dartnell’s book takes the reader by the hand and gently and carefully leads them through the burgeoning field of astrobiology. Astrobiology is the study of (or for) life off of Earth. The book demands a simple prerequisite: an open mind. A basic knowledge of chemistry also helps. The introduction sets the stage by raising many proposed definitions of life and their short coming. Then, it expands on this by looking at some of the most basic forms of life on Earth: the eukaryotes and prokaryotes. The reader will discover that the claim to fame of these little ones rests upon their ability to use energy for their own purposes. The energy often results from simple chemical reactions, hence the benefit in knowing something of this field.

With this basis, Dartnell’s book continues on with looking at the existence of life throughout Earth. Then it makes the jump to off our world. Starting with considerations on panspermia, it progresses out to possible life on Mars, Venus, Titan and Europa. Last, there’s a summary on current attempts to identify far away stars that have orbiting planets that may have the potential for life. Having read through this, , the reader will more greatly appreciate both the efforts in place to support astrobiology and the results that regularly come in.

Though Dartnell’s book is a beginner’s guide, it places some expectations on the reader. Sometimes it delves deep, as with the description of eukaryotic cells and their chromosomes, mitochondria and vesicles. Then there’s fornamide with it three phases limited by temperature and pressure similarly to water. And, almost half the total solar energy absorbed by Venus is at the ultraviolet wavelength. Particulars like these contribute to the discussions in the book but don’t limit the understanding of the central theme. Also, as if to lighten the air, Dartnell plays with the metaphors. For instance, the surface of Titan is described as a crème brulee of a hard crust covering a ground sodden with liquid methane. Such analogies and other light moments keep the reader’s interest and perhaps a slight smile on the face.

The challenging thing about astrobiology, and this book, is the separation between fact and hypothesis. We strongly believe that the Earth is over 4 billion years old. But, there aren’t any fossils of the same age, so we can only guess the true age and when our oldest ancestors appeared. In another matter, we can measure spectra of light that travels through the Earth’s atmosphere and bounces off the Moon. Then, we can measure spectra from planets circling other stars and look for similarities and then make deductions. This reliance upon hypothesis and deduction makes the incipient field of astrobiology both exciting and exasperating. The same goes for this book.

Yet, it is the book’s subject that causes the exasperation, not the book nor the writing. Dartnell has a busy writing style, nearly all of it specifically directed to the understanding of the physical meaning of life. This alone makes this book a strong calling card, as who doesn’t want to know a bit more about what makes themselves tick? Further, given that some of the strongest mandate for space exploration has been and continues to be to find life, reading this book will put the reader into the frame of mind of those doing the work. For this alone, this book is recommended to all living beings.

A human’s life span, though personally very important, means little over the duration of the universe. Life may be elsewhere or perhaps everywhere. Lewis Dartnell’s book Life in the Universe: A Beginner’s Guide tells us what we can expect life to be like and where we might find it. As we keep finding life in the most unexpected places on Earth, there’s every reason to expect finding it places well off of Earth as well.

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Who would not be chastened at the impish pleasures shown by Icharus. He let his vision beguile him ever higher until the environment of space ruined his aspirations. Perhaps this was the beginning of humankind’s venture into space, it just took awhile to bear fruit. Nevertheless, most people begin our space age with the successful launch of Sputnik. Ted Spitzmiller uses this event to begin his two volume book-set, Astronautics – A Historical Perspective of Mankind’s Efforts to Conquer the Cosmos. Within it, he chronicles 50 years of the technical progress that put reality into so many dreams of yesteryears.

Astronautics refers to events of human derivation that occur at greater than 100 kilometres above the Earth’s surface. People, rockets, probes, missiles, debris have all achieved this arbitrary yet wondrous height. For at that lofty elevation, the Earth’s gravity becomes less an issue while the harsh and empty vastness of the remainder of space prevails upon the senses. Yet, our space age began as a technical race and has remained fairly solidly ensconced in the domain of the technophile. Passion could not raise a rocket off Earth, but liquid hydrogen, bell shaped thrust chambers and turbo pumps could. Such a technical bent thus accompanies any perspective of humankind and space.

Spiztmiller’s books do cover the 50 years of humankind in space. And, they do so from the direct perspective favoured by the technically inclined. For within the books, loads of facts and figures draw the reader ever further into rocketry, its difficulties and its achievements. And, being an historical perspective, there’s no surprises. Book 1 provides the standard, brief accolade to the early visionaries such as Jules Verne, Tsiolkovsky and Goddard. Then, it leaps to the European practitioners, particularly, Von Braun and the German war effort. This flows into the space race and the book ends with the USA vainly trying to catch up via the Mercury program. Book 2 picks right up from there, continuing on with the race, then transitioning through Skylab and into the era of the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station. It wraps up with brief chapters on envisioned expendable launchers and Hubble replacements. Its been a busy 50 years and Spitzmiller’s book describes much of it.

As well as following the common route of space development, Spitzmiller includes some perhaps lesser known endeavours. For example, the Convair MX-774 and the French Veronique get mention. But, the focus remains on the well known, principally USA programs. And for each program, the books follow a standard pattern. A brief historical view relays the program’s purpose, political or social impacts get mentioned, technical novelties and equipment specifications follow in a list, and, last, the program’s achievements get summarized. With this, there’s little need of an author’s added value and nearly none is present. Being mostly a regurgitation of facts, these two books skip from one program to the next. The books’ chapters each describe a significant step along our space journey. The chapter’s contents are chronologically ordered and the chapters themselves are roughly chronological in order however a particular event or program may re-occur multiple times. Its been a busy time and these books well show the many advances we’ve achieved along the way.

There’s no surprise that a historical perspective of 50 years of humankind’s space history needs more than one volume. Actually, tens of volumes might still be inadequate. Hence, Spitzmiller acknowledges that his books attempt to simplify and clarify technology so as not to overwhelm the reader. And while he does achieve a reasonable balance between detail and readability, the balance also defines the audience likely to benefit. Specialist and space aficionados will find little or nothing new. Those just starting to look for an historical basis for our current space capability will find clearly delineated chapters and plenty of detail in these two books. And, though the astronautics theme is broad enough, Spitzmiller extends it further. He includes the effects of patents, the problems with bureaucracy, the impact of politics and slightly related quips such as the origination of the bionic man. Interesting it certainly is, but perhaps a little too broad in scope.

Most puzzling in these books is the lack of illustrations. A paltry quantity of pictures and sketches accompany innumerable paragraphs that include data and numbers. This may leave the reader with the feeling that spreadsheets or data tables somehow fell through a word grinder and ended up as paragraphs. For those who prefer reading data in this format, these books will be a pleasure. Others, however may find themselves skipping long expanses. In a different format, these books might have been condensible into one practical volume.

As well, Spitzmiller has fallen into the trap of being a lazy historian. That is, he compiles the information but doesn’t draw from it. After over four hundred and seventy pages of data, he provides two pages on what this might portray for the future. His consideration of the impact and value of astronautics to humankind is sorely lacking. Further, using a subtitle claiming that efforts are ‘to conquer the cosmos’ makes for a nice image but a less than accurate reflection of humankind’s efforts or the books contents. Thus, these volumes make for a ready reference for the hobbyist or general enthusiast who want encouragement that humankind can accomplish greatness, if they have the will.

Having a dream separates the visionaries from the masses. Humankind’s advances have relied upon these people with great foresight who picture a better future and then make it happen. Thus, humankind has blossomed from simple agrarians to flyers in space. Ted Spitzmiller’s two volume book-set entitled, Astronautics – A Historical Perspective of Mankind’s Efforts to Conquer the Cosmos recounts fifty years, 1957 to 2007, during which humankind began placing objects into space and living a dream that extends beyond the surface of Earth.

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Invisible, forceful, noisy and ever-present. We can’t get away from the air surrounding our bodies. It keeps us balanced, allows us to communicate, but most of all facilitates the ready transport of energy and material. Gabrielle Walker in her book An Ocean of Air – Why the Wind Blows and Other Mysteries of the Atmosphere reawakens our knowledge and appreciation of this wondrous medium. Her stories amplify the importance that humanity’s placed on air and the results of our continuing interest in this fascinating, ethereal element.

In ancient times, the air was credited with being a fundamental element. Though unseen and barely felt, people recognized it as being an essential commodity. Yet, with the dawn of enlightenment, certain individuals let their curiosity guide them into realms yet visited. Playing with enclosed spaces, altering temperatures, and capturing exhaust from chemical reactions all allowed these investigators to learn more and more about our featureless but very particular and special atmosphere. Now, with certainty, we know about the composition of air’s chemical elements, air’s different layers when ascending, and its role in moving dust and water about the Earth’s surface. But, its been hundreds of years of journeying in fits and starts that resulted in what we know about the air enveloping and protecting Earth’s surface.

Gabrielle Walker’s book gently accompanies the reader along the journey of humankind’s learning about Earth’s atmosphere. Within, she begins with Galileo and his measuring of the weight of air and ends with the confirmation of the existence of the Van Allen protective belts. However her approach for relaying humanity’s progress is far removed from the typical recitation of facts that are found in text books. Rather, she progresses from one unique personality to another during her chronology. For instance, after Galileo, she portrays Evangelista Torricelli, a compatriot of Galileo but who disagreed with some of Galileo’s ideas. She writes how Torricelli experimented but was afraid to promulgate results because of the Church and its belief in the heretical nature of a vacuum. Later, there’s Oliver Heaviside, a striking, very, very strange man who wore a tea cozy on his head and manicured his nails cherry red. Nevertheless, Walker shows Heaviside’s vital influence in defining the attributes of the ionosphere. Such is the state of progress in Walker’s book that the reader quickly accepts the special and complete nature of the individuals who kept adding to our knowledge of the Earth’s atmosphere.

This inclusion of the experimenters, together with their results, makes the book. But, given this focus, the book leans more to the pleasant than technical side of things. Walker seems only to include details of our atmosphere as learned through her chosen individuals. For example, Lavoisier isolated and named the constituent “oxygene”. Yet, aside from a few other elements or compounds, no other constituent parts or their discoverers get identified. Further, the choice of topics, though always fascinating, doesn’t necessarily flow. Properties of the atmosphere begin the book. Later, the reader learns of glaciation and carbon dioxide concentration, then the reason for the direction of trade winds, and finally the effects of the ionosphere on the propagation of radio waves. Accompanying these are tales of the Titanic, Sputnik and global warming. From this, the book altogether feels distinctive but it doesn’t have a comprehensive feel.

Nevertheless, Walker has written a very pleasant book to read. It’s as if she’s collected notes while popping all about in a little time machine. With this, both history and science take on a fascinating and very human dimension. For those who are fascinated by science but have long ago given up on science texts as being far too boring, then this book should easily re-awaken their fascination. Walker’s special rendition of unique, almost crazy individuals who valued knowledge much more than tradition is particularly captivating. Her solid basis on facts is assuring. Her choice of topic, that so often resides in today’s news headlines, proclaims its immediacy. There’s no doubt the average reader will have an entertaining and instructive time with this book.

Combining a famous scientist’s personal characteristics, together with an explanation of their discoveries, brings these great individuals back from the halls of the renown and into the common theatre of life. Gabrielle Walker’s book An Ocean of Air – Why the Wind Blows and Other Mysteries of the Atmosphere does just this in rekindling many great discoveries. As well, she includes details of the special characteristics of our atmosphere to remind us of the debt we owe these people in their investigation of the unseen air.

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A butterfly’s flapping wings may alter the weather a thousand kilometres away. This marvel of chaos also symbolizes Earth’s many interconnections. Such connections appear again and again in the book Our Changing Planet – The View From Space edited by M. King, C. Parkinson, K. Partington and R. Williams. Its collection of essays and vibrant depictions allow a reader to grasp meaning from random variability and arrive at a comprehension about the system that supports our lives on Earth.

The space age brought two great assets to weather forecasting; the satellite and computers. These tools allowed us to detect trends and relationships. For example, cold air over the Pacific Ocean during the spring time may lead to overly dry conditions along the west coast of the Americas. And, at a smaller scale, we see cities causing heat islands that effect their immediate climates. Through this experience, we can take current conditions and extrapolate them into the future. The goal is thus to ameliorate conditions, like tsunamis, that may be disadvantageous to human existence. However, this is a new field, so making predictions beyond a year, or perhaps a decade, still come with a great deal of uncertainty.

Nevertheless, we can make connections, and this book gives the reader an appreciation of what’s been done with our knowledge and where we might be going. The four editors; King, Parkinson, Partington and Williams have included within their book over 60 independent essays so as to provide a perspective of the dynamics of Earth. Most of these are weather related, though selections on plate tectonics, glaciers and vegetation show how weather affects and is affected by so much. For example, aerosols from ship’s exhaust cause a plume that satellites can detect well after the ship’s moved on. As well, Ebola outbreaks have a direct association with the end of rainy seasons. Also included within the book are little tidbits of information. An average hurricane will condense 20,000 million tons of water a day. And, over 1% of global total emission of man-made sulphur dioxide come from a few smelters at Noril’sk in north central Siberia. As these demonstrate, there’s little that can hide from today’s satellite technology, and this book readily shows this to great avail.

Yet, this book particularly shines through its illustrations. The book is physically of an overly large format. With this, the editors provide broad, expansive colour images, usually from satellites. For instance, a dramatic two page spread shows the mighty Lambert Glacier flowing out to the ocean. However, the book’s true bread and butter are the many GIS themed maps. Whether showing net primary productivity on a global scale or tsunami wave heights in the Indian Ocean, the reader is given simple yet informative visual pictures of the data. By providing a series of these maps, all annotated with dates, the reader can then easily grasp how our planet’s features change over time and how they effect all of Earth’s residents.

With the illustrations and their associated essays, the reader will see that the Earth changes. But, this isn’t news to anyone. And, this is a weakness of the book. The editors have omitted the inclusion of a common theme to drive the reader through the book. General interest and appreciation of great illustrations will start the reader into the book, but it may not be enough to keep them going. There’s an implicit understanding throughout the text that any change will affect humans. But, as people cover the globe, this comes as no surprise. Thus, the editors have missed an opportunity to build upon the knowledge. Especially, they’ve shied away from trying to combine trends seen from the individual case studies. It is apparent that the editors have gotten essays from very knowledgeable writers, but the writers appear to have worked mostly in isolation. Hence, aside from a general theme of a changing Earth, the essays have little that relate to each.

Nevertheless, this book makes for a great reference. In particular, it epitomizes the value of geographical information systems (GIS). With only rudimentary geographical knowledge, any reader can appreciate ebbs and flows across our globe. And, by the very nature of satellites, the reader will quickly forget about national boundaries and appreciate the inter-connected nature of our existence. However, this book keeps science within easy reach, more for the student or general reader than a researcher. Thus, though a wonderful reference either for data or for themes, this book is a starting point and a typical reader will be looking elsewhere to build upon the presentations.

With the Earth spinning by at well over 1600 kilometres an hour, many things get tossed and turned about. Add to this the effects of the occasional volcano and some very active residents, and, changes will abound. Such becomes readily apparent in the book Our Changing Planet – The View From Space edited by M. King, C. Parkinson, K. Partington and R. Williams. Through glowing illustrations and bright essays within it, our Earth becomes much more complete and more precious.

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People as a group don’t get credit for making great advances. Individuals are the ones who rise above the background noise of humanity, and their suggestions or offerings provide a new thrust for our civilization. Edison brought ready energy to peoples’ houses; the Wright brothers brought ready transport across vast distances. Michael Belfiore in his book Rocketeers – How a Visionary Band of Business Leaders, Engineers, and Pilots is Boldly Privatizing Space gives identity to some of today’s individuals who are trying to rise above. His is the story of these individuals who want to enable the ready travel of people beyond Earth’s atmosphere.

Just recently, SpaceShipOne won the Ansari X Prize by privately funding a craft that could rise to more than 328,000 feet. Belfiore sees this as a starting point to a grand adventure for humankind. He claims, and writes, how individuals are able to accomplish tasks once solely in the realm of government. These few people, with great drive and smarts, set their special skills to attaining a specific goal. And some, almost miraculously, achieve it. The author also describes how most of these people, if not all, have great expectations on seeing their results become a cornerstone to another, new vibrant industry.

In this book, Belfiore is, if nothing else, amazingly vibrant and cheerful. Think, a cheerleader on steroids after drinking an overly caffeinated drink. He glamourizes imagery and enlightens background situations. In doing, he leaves no doubt as to the challenge of building rockets, the risk with flying them and the utmost joy upon a mission’s success. He relays the fear of having a plane door flap open during flight, the amazement of using a rocket to power a bicycle, and the dejection of months of effort evaporating with the failure of one small, relatively inexpensive, component. Within this book, everything is happening immediately, in front of the reader. Great distances and many people dash by, as the book follows the author while he visits airfield operators, financial underwriters and rocket developers. He conveys the feeling of no time to waste, as in any start-up industry.

This traveling about by the author is the greatest appeal to this book. Belfiore includes passages that show he hasn’t just read clippings and then written a book. Rather, he’s gone out, met the people and got first hand information. He writes of meetings with Bigelow, Feeney, Ansari and many others. He describes many of the manufacturing facilities, test sites and mock-ups which he visited. Included within the book are photographs and fun anecdotal events to back up these travels. With these, the book really comes alive for the reader. The reader becomes part of the working group gathered around the restaurant table, all drawing schematics on paper napkins.

But, this optimism and vibrancy throughout the text makes for a very one-sided appreciation of the undertaking. Entrepreneurs and experimenters with near-limitless funding or with connections to wealthy benefactors are all nearly eulogized as being the best. The government comes across as lost, misdirected or obstructionist. Further, there’s only reference to efforts in the United States. Therefore, as wonderful as this will read for any rich citizen in the United States, others may have some difficulty in sharing in the excitement and hope. Given references to one hundred thousand dollar tickets to fly to orbit and back, most people on this planet will never experience this pleasure. Hence, though Belfiore is careful to write that the goal is to benefit all humankind, the book’s details impart a different story.

Hence, if a reader is very much into space and rocket travel, this book is great fun. Rocket plane races, weddings in space and orbiting hotels make for exciting visions of the future. Those readers who perhaps dwell deeper in the practicalities will find this book a bit overly optimistic and thin. But, anyone who enjoys fast paced, lively writing on technical subjects will enjoy this book probably as much as Belfiore says he had in gathering the information.

Working for the future allows us to put substance into our dreams. Waiting for a finished product to service our longings may mean never doing it. In Rocketeers – How a Visionary Band of Business Leaders, Engineers, and Pilots is Boldly Privatizing Space, Michael Belfiore writes of those doing the deed rather than waiting for a provider. For them, a ticket to ride can never come soon enough and their dreams may just enable ours.

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Universe Today’s resident book reviewer, Mark Mortimer, recalls his favourite space and astronomy books of 2007.

Books inflame the imagination or flame into ashes. Such is their lot. A bookseller, complaining about the inability to even give away books, torched his stash this year. Whether to generate advertising or clear storage space, he barbecued away. I’m a book lover and this image frightens me. Though the Internet is an amazing electronic library, I prefer the sensuous nature of the pages, the soft glow of the ambient light and the quiet strains of music drifting across the room. I need the solidity of paper and the warmth of my reading environment to help channel the authors’ ideas. Books are precious, have done much to raise our civilization and are worth all the respect we can muster.

During this calendar year, over 200 000 books were published in North America. I read only a smattering of these, though I felt well rewarded upon completing each. Some of these were large tomes that addressed broad ranges of recent scientific results. In others, though technically detailed, equations were few and far between. This is a shame, as many paragraphs may be necessary to fully explain the equivalent of a couple of simple mathematical relationships. Yet, I suspect this reflects more the publisher’s impression of the readership than the author’s ability. This reflects a fundamental divide in the books I reviewed. Some authors expect their readers to have sufficient background information or initiative to learn, and so write accordingly. I also suspect these fascinating but technical books suffer in the sales department. Such is the fate of many science books.

My favourite of the year surprisingly has less to do with outer space or astronomy. Gotz Hoeppe’s book, Why the Sky is Blue says so much about how regular people did and still can add to science that I highly recommend it.

Michael Michaud, in his book Contact with Alien Civilizations also wonderfully keeps the reader thinking, but pushes them into realms well off our planet.

For those readers who enjoy the rewards of science and may not have the training, there’s Lives of the Planets by Richard Corfield. In it, he succinctly tells the reader why we benefit from the research that’s gone before us and why we might benefit in the future.

And, as if to emphasize the need to keep going, there’s A.J. Meadows’ book The Future of the Universe within which he really lays out how our specie’s survival is more fortunate than predetermined. These, and the remainder, have all been a joy for me to read.

I have one honourable mention that wasn’t reviewed for Universe Today during the year. I greatly enjoy science fiction, as writers have no limits on the worlds that base their story. The annual anthology The Year’s Best Science Fiction edited by Gardner Dozois is a regular treat for me. In it, are his selections of short and medium length stories from a variety of sources. All stories are ‘hard’ science in that the physics is often as fascinating as the characters. Enjoy!

Again this year, comets have dazzled our skies and robots have scurried across foreign landscape. In additional to the superficial enjoyment of these events, we’ve used them to build upon our knowledge of our existence and where we may be heading. Books distill this into common lore according to the author’s prerogative and for the benefit of the reader. To all, happy reading and let’s keep the flames upon the candles and off of the books.

Just in case you want to go back through all of Mark’s reviews, you can access them all here.

The allure of toys like Lego lies with their nearly inexhaustible ways to combine elements into whatever the imagination desires. At one time, humanity’s voyage into space had a similar allure, particularly with the previous presidential mandate to land on the Moon. With this, imaginations went wild, as seen in Robert Godwin’s book, The Lunar Exploration Scrapbook – A Pictorial History of Lunar Vehicles. Showcased within are an amazing collection of ‘might-have-beens’ that epitomize the ingenuity and imagination of our species.

During the race to the moon, many people believed that landing a person was the first step to a great adventure. Their vision imagined a vibrant colony of humans living on the Moon who performed valuable daily tasks much like everyday life in a small town on Earth. They even hoped for further travels to Mars soon thereafter. In response to these visions, many industrial companies strove to identify, present and sell all sorts of aids and devices to realize this future. However, much guess work was involved. No one had been to the Moon, few support systems were finalized and space flight experience was seriously lacking on all fronts. Not surprisingly then, imaginations were at the forefront.

In memory of these heady times, Godwin’s scrapbook dusts off prints and specifications of many a proposed payload. Whether lunar direct or Earth orbit rendezvous, whether on the Saturn IC or its big brother the Nova, opportunities abounded. With these slim constraints, the hodgepodge of drawings, photographs and layouts clearly show the heady rush to adapt Earth culture to the Apollo program. Two main groups define the selections in the book. One group shows various types of lunar landers for the lunar orbit rendezvous. These structures could act as power supplies, base stations, research laboratories, or maintenance garages. The other group shows possible methods of mobility on the lunar surface. For example, a complete study, the MOBEV, ranged from a small hand controlled cart up to a three passenger manned mobile laboratory that could sustain the crew for 90days and over 3000 kilometres. But, this is certainly not an exhaustive list of what’s in the book. Many others, including an exoskeleton, Fleming’s lunar direct model and a single person rocket sled fill the pages. With these, this scrapbook provides a very clear idea of the range of thought and breadth of application planned for establishing people on the Moon.

However, this scrapbook contains much more than illustrations,. With either guess work or slim specifications, Godwin rebuilt many of the items using current 3-dimensional software drawings. Usually each item is shown as face-on, side and from overtop. Occasionally these software models get placed on a mock-up lunar surface, complete with a lunar-suited figurine. From these, it’s very easy for the reader to create a mental image of the configuration of the structure and its probable employment on the Moon. Also, by isolating vehicles or crafts on a pair of facing pages, Godwin’s effectively providing a synopsis of the item. Then by adding a few written paragraphs for each, he highlights any important distinctions and provides interesting numerical specifications and manufacturer notes. For example, a preliminary lunar lander employed a knotted rope for egress and ingress rather than a ladder, quite a novel idea. Thus, like a scrapbook, each pair of pages brings to life one particular special subject.

However, though a scrapbook has its fun elements, it also has drawbacks. In particular, there’s little cohesion or traceability. Though Godwin has tried to keep each item in a chronological order, inferences in one item refer to the design or specialisation of another. Thus, the reader will find it challenging to determine the evolutionary trend and will also find it difficult to follow threads. Thus calling this a scrapbook is very applicable.

And, though this scrapbook is great fun and will be greatly enjoyed by anyone who’s lived through the Apollo era, others may find it less enchanting. As mentioned, these designs were dropped as better ones were developed or functions not needed. Hence, many readers might find amusement but little practicality. Nevertheless, this scrapbook does capture the imagination of the designers and some very well thought out equipment. Thus, readers looking for a spark of imagination for their own design work would benefit in reading this book.

A surprising variety of responses are possible when asked for the design of a vehicle. Tracked, wheeled, exposed, and airborne, all are possible variants. So when NASA went looking for responses in the 1960s, there was an opportunity for imaginations to be freed. Many results are shown in Robert Godwin’s book, The Lunar Exploration Scrapbook – A Pictorial History of Lunar Vehicles. Who knows, maybe some of these will work themselves into NASA’s current plans to return to the Moon.

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It’s no mean feat to translate scientific information into material that’s readily digestible to the average person. The challenge lies in keeping to the facts while making a story worth reading. Richard Corfield in his book Lives of the Planets – A Natural History of the Solar System wonderfully succeeds in making such a translation. In a planet by planet tale, he provides to the reader an engaging review of the information we’ve accumulated.

For the average graduate of our primary schooling system, there’s little unknown about the solar system. Nine planets with some exotically different characteristics revolve about our Sun. But, with a little digging, our solar system gets quite involved. Big moons and small planets, rings galore and volcanic eruptions, life and lifeless are only a few special descriptors that can arise. And, since humanity’s space age got underway, we’ve added a close probe’s-eye view of all the planets and many of the dwarf planets and satellites. Yet, for those who’ve left school, many of these great discoveries have passed by with nary a nod.

Apparently trying to counter this morass of the disinterested, Corfield sweeps through the solar system in a fine literary journey. Using simple but entertaining words, he takes a planet by planet approach. As is common for literary books that encompass the solar system, he begins with a description of the Sun and its relevance to Earth’s early human occupants. For example, he reveals the magic of Stonehenge and the Aubrey stones. Afterwards, his narration expands with humanity’s expanding knowledge. Galileo and his twinkling telescopes quickly give way to the Genesis mission of 2001 that attempted to sample the solar wind. Corfield uses this same historical progression as his chapters progress along from planet to planet. However, though this treatment is typical for books about our solar system, it’s Corfield’s style that makes this one more of a pleasure.

This special style has two components that make this book apt for those who’ve fallen away from science. The first is special tuning toward the human interest, that is, an anthropocentric sense. The lure of finding life, water oceans and other liveable planets arises again and again. Corfield picks away at the perceived uniqueness of humanity, the potential of the solar system and the grand potential of the universe. We may be alone, we may not. Should we go exploring? What value is there from being curious? These and other questions fall to the wayside as the chapters unfold.

The second component welcoming component of this book is Corfield’s style of writing and his choice of words. For example, the Opportunity rover landed ‘smack-bang on the Martian prime meridian’ or ‘the entropy gradient – a pocket of winding-up in a universe that is running down’ brings lots of imagination into the narrative. Added to this are moments for common culture. For example, the crew of the starship Enterprise get mentioned and Corfield provides a sound lambasting of those who laud the lunar landing as a hoax. Yet, it’s this attention to detail that makes this book worthy. For, the reader will readily recall how the book’s passages reflect innumerable twenty second sound bites over the years and, thus, they will come to realize the comprehensive, cohesive picture of science’s progress.

However, blending science into common prose isn’t without its pitfalls. Too much science and too little prose can make the wording stiff. At times, this book reads as if Corfield had a list of facts that just needed to make it into a chapter. These passages come across like a text book rather than a story. Fortunately, these seldom occur. But, to Corfield’s credit, he doesn’t use his stories to mask ignorance. He provides extensive detail about objectives, designs, results and problems so as to easily convince the reader of the accuracy of the book’s contents that’s based upon the breadth of his own knowledge.

Many people today consider space sciences and exploration to be a waste of time and money. Hopefully, there are many more who maintain an open mind and are willing to believe humanity’s future includes more than Earth. These willing to and interested in thinking beyond the day to day will enjoy this book and its synopsis of the natural history of the solar system that humanity’s pieced together.

In a short span of ten thousand years, people have amassed more technical knowledge than any other creature before us on Earth. Though we’ve been looking up and beyond the Earth’s horizon, only within the last few hundred years have we gotten information to satisfy our curiosity. Richard Corfield in his book Lives of the Planets – A Natural History of the Solar System gives the reader an easy to read yet information packed review. With it, the reader can discover that personal knowledge can accrue simply by picking up and reading a book.

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