The whole Universe in 500 pages (Universe - Robert Dinwiddie)

Member Name: markos9

Product:	Universe - Robert Dinwiddie
Date:	23/03/09 (150 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very comprehensive, easy to read, stunning images

Disadvantages: The price

Astronomy is a science of extremes. The biggest, fastest, densest, hottest, coldest, and furthest away objects can all be examined by astronomers. The scale of the universe is vast, almost beyond human comprehension, and the range of objects found within the universe almost infinite.

Because of this vast scale, it would be perhaps, foolhardy for a publisher to try and encompass the whole of the universe in one book. Well, Dorling Kindersley has tried with "Universe".

The book has a good chance of succeeding since its editor is none other than Professor Martin Rees, the current Astronomer Royal and an accomplished author and publiciser of science. As well as Professor Rees, there's a host of other excellent contributors to the book.

This book needs to be big in order to do the subject justice, and it is. It's a massive 30 x 26cm and contains over 500 pages. The hardback version is certainly a weighty tome!

As expected with a Dorling Kindersley guide, the book is well laid out, easy to understand, and very readable. The publishers have been able to obtain all of the latest images from telescopes and space probes, so the book is chock full of stunning imagery as well as clear diagrams.

The book is split into three sections, "introduction", "guide to the universe", and "the night sky".

The introduction section covers a diverse range of topics, from the history of the universe to amateur astronomy, and the space race. There are some incredible facts hidden in its 113 pages.

The scale of the universe is covered and details amazing distances that can boggle the mind. For example, the nearest star to us, proxima centauri is 4.3 light years away (it takes light 4.3 years, travelling at 186,000 miles per second to reach us from this star). That's a near neighbour of ours. The galaxy we live in is 100,000 light years across and contains at least 100 million other stars!

The "guide to the universe" section covers the solar system, galaxy objects, then details the universe outside of our local galaxy.

The solar system is covered in impressive detail, for example 16 pages are devoted to Mars alone. The possibility of finding life on other worlds in the solar system (e.g. Europa and Mars) is examined and current evidence of habitability (such as the probable ocean under the ice on Europa), scrutinised.

Comets, asteroids, meteorites, stars, nebulae, and supernovae are all given the DK detailed examination and explained in easy to understand descriptions.

My favourite section, is, however, "the night sky". Astronomy is the only science where amateurs can play a big part, and you actually need no equipment to take it up. Anyone can go out on a dark night and see stars, nebulae, shooting stars, satellites, the moon, and other planets. Events such as lunar eclipses, and planetary conjunctions, can be viewed without any optical aid at all. It can be a humbling experience to sit outside in a deckchair and look up at the night sky understanding how far away everything else is.

To help with astronomy beginners, "the night sky" section has a superb guide to the constellations. This is the starting point for finding your way around the sky. The history of the naming of the constellations, together with the mythology of their names is described. More usefully, the objects and stars contained in the constellation are detailed and pictures showing what you can expect to see through a telescope given.

The furthest object visible to the naked eye is the Andromeda galaxy. This is a large galaxy that is a neighbour to our milky way. It is 2.2 million light years away. Just think, when you look up at this faint smudge in the sky, the light you're seeing left Andromeda before humans walked upright on the earth! Incredible.

Using some sort of optical aid increases the amount of detail available enormously. With a pair of binoculars, some of the planets can be viewed as discs, some nebulae are visible in good detail, and star clusters look like scatterings of diamonds on velvet.

The ultimate optical aid is, of course, a telescope and the book details the types of manual, and computer controlled telescopes available which can give you amazing views of planets, galaxies and nebulae.

The final section is a series of 'sky maps' that show how the whole night sky looks each month. These really help with planning an observing session as you can see what you're likely to be able to observe before going out.

In summary, this book is a marvel. To encompass the whole universe in a book is a demanding undertaking, but Dorling Kindersley has succeeded. The book is readable, informative, and is packed full of incredibly beautiful and awesome images. If you buy this book, as an introduction to the topic, you may never need to buy another. Highly recommended, if you've even a slight interest in our place in the universe.

It's not a cheap book; however, the hardback is available at £30.00 recommended retail price.

Summary: A fantastic resource for anyone interested in astronomy