Book Reviews Archives

June 18, 2013December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Book Review: The Milky Way, An Insider’s Guide

About 70 pages into The Milky Way, An Insider’s Guide, a strange craving for hamburgers overtook me.

The text of William H. Waller, an astronomer and author, was in the midst of a discussion of a kind of organic molecule called PAHs, or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. As I was reading about the Spitzer Space Telescope’s discoveries in this field, the last sentence in the paragraph struck me:

“On Earth, PAHs are as familiar to us as the mouth-watering aromas of a barbecued hamburger, the sweetly acrid odors of burning tobacco, and the choking fumes behind a diesel bus,” Waller wrote. “If we had big enough nostrils, what would our home galaxy smell like?”

I’m never going to read about PAHs again without wanting to run to that greasy joint nearby my place. Or, I guess, run in the opposite direction from the nearest bus stop.

A digital all-sky mosaic of our view of the Milky Way from Earth, assembled from more than 3,000 individual CCD frames. Credit: Axel Mellinger. Click on image to view a zoomable panorama. — A digital all-sky mosaic of our view of the Milky Way from Earth, assembled from more than 3,000 individual CCD frames. Credit: Axel Mellinger.

Waller’s book is designed as a reference guide for those with a serious interest in astronomy, but who perhaps are just starting to think about taking it in school. Another audience could be the serious amateur astronomer wanting to understand more about telescopic targets.

While not light cottage reading, Waller isn’t afraid to throw in references to popular culture or to drop in humor now and then, much like a kindly Astronomy 101 professor trying to snap your attention back when it might be wandering.

On that note, this illustration in the book (with some important context) may be my favorite astronomy textbook image of all time. It’s another example of how science can, kinda sorta, meet science fiction.

The USS Enterprise has many uses for its deflector shields, including repelling the Borg (Paramount Pictures) — You will find Star Trek references in this book, we promise you. (Paramount Pictures)

The breadth of material Waller covers is astonishing. One 43-page chapter is essentially a history of how we looked at the sky mythologically, philosophically and of course scientifically — a feat that is more interesting when you realize a goodly number of those pages are actually in-context, interesting illustrations.

The book’s bulk, though, looks to summarize astronomical phenomena. It’s definitely not for the beginning reader; for example, the term “nebula” is referred to several times before finally being defined some pages into the book. But if you know what Waller is aiming at, you’ll learn quite a bit.

The book purports to be about galaxies, but much of it is also devoted to what I think of as hacking the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram showing the types of stars in relation to each other.

Three full chapters are devoted to star birth, the lives of stars and stellar afterlives (y’know, supernovae and the like.) This makes perfect sense as galaxies are collections of stars, so it is only by studying these individual members that we can truly appreciate what a galaxy is about.

The more serious reader will be pleased to see equations included (such as calculating parallax) and a detailed explanation of Drake’s Equation showing the factors behind the probability of finding extraterrestrial life.

So to sum up: definitely not for the person with a nascent interest in astronomy, but a valuable reference for those looking to learn about it seriously. As a space journalist, I’ll definitely keep this book on my shelf.

June 12, 2013December 23, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Win a Copy of “Beyond the Solar System” for the Kids in Your Life

In reviewing the book “Beyond the Solar System: Exploring Galaxies, Black Holes, Alien Planets, and More; A History with 21 Activities” by Mary Kay Carson, UT writer Eva Gallant described it as “written for children and for the inquisitive child within us.”

Thanks to the publisher, Universe Today has three free copies of this book to giveaway — perfect for the kids in your life (even if that’s you!)

This contest will run for a week starting today, so get your entries in! How?

In order to be entered into the giveaway drawing, just put your email address into the box at the bottom of this post (where it says “Enter the Giveaway”) before Monday, June 19, 2013. We’ll send you a confirmation email, so you’ll need to click that to be entered into the drawing.

We’re only going to use these email addresses for Universe Today giveaways/contests and announcements. We won’t be using them for any other purpose, and we definitely won’t be selling the addresses to anyone else. Once you’re on the giveaway notification list, you’ll be able to unsubscribe any time you like.

June 12, 2013December 23, 2015 by Eva Gallant

Kids Book Review: “Beyond the Solar System”

It is probably a safe bet that even as children, Universe Today readers gazed at the night sky with awe and wonder. Did you wish upon the first star light, star bright in the sky? Cultures across time have spun tales around constellations – images projected on the night’s expanse based on our perceptions. As science and technology progressed we realized the vast depths of space are truly full of wonder. There’s an incredible array of amazing things to be discovered, researched and understood.

Beyond the Solar System: Exploring Galaxies, Black Holes, Alien Planets, and More; A History with 21 Activities by Mary Kay Carson is an informative and detailed book for both young and old alike. It is written for children and for the inquisitive child within us. The attention grabbing chapters span from space-time tricks and quasars to frothy galaxies. Even as an adult, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this collection.

Find out how you can win a copy of this book here!

The images within the chapters are well appointed. For example, at the beginning of the book during a journey from prehistory-1600 you’ll find a fantastic Library of Congress image of the Great Bear constellation, joined by the British Library’s ancient Chinese Star Map, that dates back to the 600’s A.D. This reviewer will definitely be trying some of the activities explained among the chapters such as “Make a 3-D Starscape” found on page 32. This craft project demonstrates the artificial grouping we’ve given our constellations and shows that they are actually comprised of stars great distances from each other and us.

Perhaps the best review of this book comes from my 8 year old daughter. For the past week, she has been reading this book in the car while travelling to school. A recent morning’s question from the back seat was “What’s a pulsar?” She’s excited to try all of the activities; first up will be making a radio picture found on page 82 or turning a friend into a pulsar by spinning them in a chair with two flashlights on page 89. In addition to her “two thumbs” up eagerness to read this every morning, she simply stated “I love this book.”

I extend a thank you to the author for creating a fun, educational STEM source that attracted not only the attention of my science oriented 14 year old boy, but also my daughter, who is as equally bright, capable and curious about the world around her.

May 31, 2013December 23, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Win a Copy of Lee Smolin’s Book “Time Reborn”

Is time real or is it just an illusion of the human experience? An intriguing new book “Time Reborn” by theoretical physicist Lee Smolin discusses this concept. You can read our full review of this here, but we also have three free copies of this book to give away.

In order to be entered into the giveaway drawing, just put your email address into the box at the bottom of this post (where it says “Enter the Giveaway”) before Wednesday June 5, 2013. We’ll send you a confirmation email, so you’ll need to click that to be entered into the drawing.

If you’d like to purchase the book, you can find it on Amazon.

May 31, 2013December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Book Review: Time Reborn

Time Reborn: From the Crisis of Physics to the Future of the Universe is one of those books intended to provoke discussion. Right from the first pages, author Lee Smolin — a Canadian theoretical physicist who also teaches philosophy — puts forward a position: time is real, and not an illusion of the human experience (as other physicists try to argue).

Smolin, in fact, uses that concept of time as a basis for human free will. If time is real, he writes, this is the result: “Novelty is real. We can create, with our imagination, outcomes not computable from knowledge of the present.”

Physics as philosophy. A powerful statement to make in the opening parts of the book. The only challenge is understanding the rest of it.

Smolin advertises his book as open to the general reader who has no background in physics or mathematics, promising that there aren’t even equations to worry about. He also breaks up the involved explanations with wry observations of fatherhood, or by bringing up anecdotes from his past.

Artist concept of Gravity Probe B orbiting the Earth to measure space-time, a four-dimensional description of the universe including height, width, length, and time. Image credit: NASA

It works, but you need to be patient. Theoretical physics is so far outside of the everyday that at times it took me (with education focusing on journalism and space policy, admittedly) two or three readings of the same passage to understand what was going on.

But as I took my time, a whole world opened up to me.

I found myself understanding more about Einstein’s special and general relativity than I did in readings during high school and university. The book also made me think differently about cosmology (the nature of the universe), especially in relation to biological laws.

While the book is enjoyable, it is probably best not to read it in isolation as it is a positional one — a book that gathers information scientifically and analytically, to be sure, but one that does not have a neutral point of view to the conclusions.

We’d recommend picking up other books such as the classic A Brief History of Time (by physicist Stephen Hawking) to learn more about the universe, and how other scientists see time work.

May 21, 2013December 23, 2015 by Katrina Cain

Giveaway: “Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier” by Neil deGrasse Tyson

Neil deGrasse Tyson’s new book, Space Chronicles: Facing The Ultimate Frontier, at times, reads like an updated version of some of Carl Sagan’s classic work about the history of astronomy and our place in the Universe. You can read our full review of Tyson’s new book here, but we also have two free copies of this book to give away.

In order to be entered into the giveaway drawing, just put your email address into the box at the bottom of this post (where it says “Enter the Giveaway”) before Tuesday, May 28 2013. We’ll send you a confirmation email, so you’ll need to click that to be entered into the drawing.

But if you are feeling unlucky, then you can buy the book from Amazon.

May 21, 2013December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Book Review: “Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier” by Neil de Grasse Tyson

For those fans of Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot, there’s finally a successor volume to that.

Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Space Chronicles: Facing The Ultimate Frontier, at times, reads like an updated version of Sagan’s classic book about the history of astronomy and our place in the universe. Like Sagan, Tyson talks about the human perception of astronomy over the years, starting from our belief that everything centered around us and then gradually graduating to the more nuanced perception of the universe that we have today.

Find out how you can win a copy of this book here!

The book is an anthology of interviews, magazine articles and other writings of Tyson, who is currently the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. His eloquence helps carry the reader through difficult concepts: “Engineering technology replaces muscle energy with machine energy”, he writes in part of the Industrial Revolution. In another part of the book, “Risks cancellations and failures are just part of the game” comes during an explanation of how some astronomical missions die before receiving funding from Congress.

Collecting his writings as an anthology, however, leads to some frustration for the reader who wants to read the book from the front to the back. Though Tyson awes with his knowledge of astronomy, popular culture and history, he sometimes uses the same anecdotes across different essays. There are at least three references concerning gas stations across the universe, for example, and he refers to the same John F. Kennedy speech (albeit different passages, for the most part) a few times as well.

The book is also aimed squarely at an American audience. The appendices are full of useful information on NASA, particularly its budget as it relates to government activities. Additionally, Space Chronicles opens with a new essay concerning NASA funding over the years and how it relates to American presidencies in a sort of echo of Spaceflight and the Myth of Presidential Leadership.

Tyson argues that space is non-partisan and that it takes more than a strong leader to move the program forward. Tyson criticizes NASA for de-emphasizing science in some of its past budgets. He refers to the controversy of Obama’s cancellation of George W. Bush’s 2004 vision for space exploration, and says one great weakness of NASA’s work is that it is continually handed mandates by new presidents with little follow-up on the grand ideas.

Through the book, Tyson talks about his ideas for NASA, mentioning initiatives such as asteroid tracking as high priorities. He also refers to the space committees he has been on and the people he has spoken to, and his efforts to bring space to children to encourage their participation in science, education, technology and mathematics.

Perhaps his most powerful essay comes at the end of the book. Tyson acknowledges the nature of his work sometimes makes him forget about Earthly problems: “When I pause and reflect on our expanding universe … sometimes I forget that uncounted people walk this Earth without food or shelter, and that children are disproportionately represented among them.”

That dilemma may never disappear, but Tyson’s book — at the least — provides powerful words for exploring the universe.

May 7, 2013December 23, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Win a Copy of Buzz Aldrin’s Book, Mission to Mars

Buzz Aldrin, celebrated Apollo astronaut and an outspoken champion for the pursuit of space exploration, is on a mission. He has written a new book titled “Mission to Mars.” While the title focuses on Mars, the book covers much more. Buzz lays out his goals for the space program and how he believes we can get humans to Mars by the 2030s. He makes the case and argues passionately for pushing our boundaries of knowledge and exploration of our solar system and presents his “unified space vision.” He emphasizes space exploration should not be a competition, but with cooperation a stronger path to a sustainable future in space could be forged.

Read part 1 of our interview with Buzz Aldrin about his new book and his unified vision.

Want to win a copy of “Mission to Mars?” We have five copies to give away to our readers. However, this giveaway is limited to US residents only.

In order to be entered into the giveaway drawing, put your email address into the box at the bottom of this post (where it says “Enter the Giveaway”) before Monday, May 13, 2013. We’ll send you a confirmation email, so you’ll need to click that to be entered into the drawing. Remember, US residents only for this giveaway.

“Mission to Mars” is available for purchase at Amazon and other book outlets.

April 29, 2013December 23, 2015 by Eva Gallant

Book Review: Weird Life: The Search for Life That is Very, Very Different from Our Own

Think about Dr. Seuss’ classic book If I Ran The Zoo. Young Gerald McGrew has an active imagination creating heretofore unheard of creatures to make his zoo the most astounding by far. All of Gerald’s inventions are quite interesting. But add them to the long list of different beings humans across time have dreamt up – from the Sphinx to the Griffin – and they still pale in comparison to actual creatures in existence. And yet, says author David Toomey in his new book Weird Life: The Search for Life That is Very, Very Different from Our Own, there are likely countless undiscovered forms of very weird life that we can’t even begin to imagine.

Find out how to win a copy of this book here!

The very definition of weird involves words such as strikingly odd, strange, and bizarre. David Toomey travels down the strange path of Weird Life starting at the striking discoveries of extremophiles. Extremophile organisms push the boundaries of what conditions we thought life could exist in, thriving in environments too extreme for humans.

Astrobiologists soak up extremophiles because similar environmental conditions in our solar system might correlate with similar extreme life elsewhere. Would life elsewhere look exactly like our cold or acid-loving extremophiles on Earth or would they be even weirder? Vast lakes of liquid methane exist on Saturn’s moon, Titan. Can we find evidence of microscopic life in such an environment? We need to know how to isolate it, what exactly to test for and finance a mission to explore it. The fun part is that Titan is among a handful of strange places we theorize may harbor life in our own solar system. Recent discoveries of planets in other star systems are fodder for speculation of life, familiar to us or what we would deem as weird life.

My family and I recently visited Roswell, New Mexico. The entire town markets itself on the human notion that life exists elsewhere in a varied form from what we see in the mirror every day. Chapter Seven in Toomey’s book discusses “Intelligent Weird Life”. While some scientists having the thrilling job of searching for signs of intelligent life in the universe, some scientists enjoy the search for life on a much smaller scale on Earth – from the ocean’s bottom to the clouds above. Extremophiles push the boundaries of our beliefs and expectations. We are constantly made aware of what little we actually know. It’s possible a strange brew of exotic life exists here on Earth; we’re just not able to detect it, yet.

If phrases like “shadow biosphere”, “silicon life,” “desert varnish,” and “cloud borne Venusians” don’t pique your interest then perhaps this isn’t the book for you. For those interested in life very, very different from our own, this is right up your alley. Chapters entitled “A Bestiary of Weird Life” and “Weird Life in the Multiverse” certainly made this reviewer turn the pages of Weird Life with a childlike glee. Without a doubt, David Toomey’s book will teach you something you don’t know. Information interspersed with humor, appropriate science bios and anecdotes makes this a well rounded book for your bedside reading.

April 26, 2013December 23, 2015 by Alana Hams

Sci-Fi Book Review: “Pilot” by R.D. Drabble

“Pilot,” a new sci-fi thriller, follows law enforcement officer Legitt Redd, as he finds himself in the middle of an extraordinary set of circumstances. It is set in a solar system where humans occupy 6 life-supporting planets. Each planet has a different role to the civilisation, one being an energy source, another a prison, another a holiday destination, for example. Legitt is a low ranking officer whom serves for the oppressive government, ‘The Ministry.’ He is introduced as a fairly ordinary, uninspired man whose main duty is to transport prisoners to and from the Prison planet Gorby for processing. He has a long standing friendship and affiliation with one such prisoner – Afyd Geller whom has a reputation as a leader in the underworld and has the respect of many amongst law enforcement. Once a free man, Afyd often invites Leggit for drinking sessions. It‘s on one of these ordinary drinking sessions that the out-of-the-ordinary sequence of events begins. After a few adventure and violent encounters, they travel to the Litton where the apparent real figure head of the underworld resides. Leggit find out that the mythical ‘boogie man’ of child stories of old, Murlon Furlong is in fact a real person, and the all-powerful ruler of criminals.

Murlon sets Leggit, Afyd and other members of this motley crew, on a task to kidnap a spiritual leader. There is a back story of the civilisation’s theology which, in short includes the beginning of time and the eventual coming of salvation.

When this goes horribly wrong Legitt realises his true potential, and attempts to conquer Murlon and avoid swift and violent punishment of The Ministry. This means a whole lot more than he realises and intends the reader to question what is good and what is evil.

This book has great potential. Author R.D. Drabble paints pictures with his words, as if he can see them all around him. Initially this was inspiring to read. You can really imagine the frames in which Drabble was describing. But this positive is also a negative and too much visual description means at times it reads like a script, rather than a novel. There is only the present tense and only one story line, which leaves the reader feeling a bit flat with this one dimensional presentation of an otherwise interesting plot. It would have been a lot more enjoyable if there was a sub-plot or scenes that did not include the main character. Even though Leggit was in every scene, I still felt I didn’t have much insight into him as a character.

Having said that, there are definitely great moments. The technological creations and concepts found in Pilot are really inspiring. They seem to mix the spiritual human elements with technological fantasy. And the Drabble paints an Orwell-esque picture of the Ministry ruled worlds, and there were some phrases that were so poignant and poetic, that is will make you read them twice. The book starts of in a very certain black and white view of the world but progresses a grey outlook, at the same time that character Legitt questions his own morality in certain situations.

But these great moments are sandwiched between cliché, yet lovable characters and the many un-foreshadowed random unnecessary scenarios. There is an appendix of illustrations to support the story lines and backstories, but these don’t really add value or are explored.

Having said that it is clear that Drabble has an amazing amount of imagination. The 6 worlds and their stories are quiet intricate and to be honest, could be explored further in future books. I hope Drabble can express this obvious talent of imagination in future stories, especially if they are in comic or graphic novel format.

Overall, it’s a great read with some cool concepts.

R.D. Drabble is an electrician and science fiction fanatic who has had a lifelong obsession with the strange and inexplicable. It was his love for the unusual that inspired him to write his debut novel Pilot.

Pilot is available on Amazon.com and Lulu.com