Book Reviews | Universe Today

Good mystery novels keep you in suspense to the very end. Luckily, our universe does the same to us. While we learn more, we learn that we have so much more to go. Helen Quinn and Yossi Nir in their book The Mystery of the Missing Antimatter look at one outstanding puzzle of particle physics. Suspense may lack somewhat but there's no doubting that some high powered intellects are exercising lots of gray matter.
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Perhaps it is time for a female president. If nothing else, this would continue the laborious road to equality. Mabel Armstrong shows some of the steps already taken along this road in her book Woman Astronomers: Reaching for the Stars. In it, we see that, from a long time ago until as recently as the previous generation, many ladies have been unable to achieve the desires of their hearts and minds. However, some have persevered and become pioneers for many others to follow.
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The departures screen illuminates the stark, disillusioning truth. My connecting flight's 3 hours delayed. Ahh, what is life but for living in the confines of a great, enclosed artificial space where I can watch countless others scurry from one portal to another. Letting luck rule, I meander to the nearest news stand. Fingers slowly trace along the spines, trying to sense the faintest presence of interest. They stop, almost automatically wrapping themselves about the sole piece with promise, the science fiction novel Rollback by Robert Sawyer. This time, fortune did add a nice silver lining to what might have been a very dull wait.
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A good idea gone bad. How do you describe the nuclear industry? At one time it answered everyone's dreams, from nuclear powered airplanes to shopping mall heaters. James Dewar describes one of its roles in his book To the End of the Solar System – The Story of the Nuclear Rocket. In it, he shows how scientists' practicalities came up short when confronted against politicians' questions and environmentalists' mores. For some, the benefits were huge and obvious. Others held different views.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Universe Today's resident book reviewer, Mark Mortimer, recalls his favourite space and astronomy books of 2007.
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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.
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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.
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A child wakes with boundless energy, runs and jumps through a day of fun and excitement. Then they fall, exhausted, to sleep, dreaming of another day. Authors Paul Steinhardt and Neil Turok in their book Endless Universe – Beyond the Big Bang see our universe as having similar cycles. And, just as with the child, energy plays a staring role for their universe as it goes through its motions.
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A bit of inspiration and a pound of sweat. Sounds like a perfect recipe for advancement, but sometimes more is needed. Space pioneers had inspiration and certainly worked wonders in the lab and at the desk. But, they also had to be spokespeople for the completely new field. This need is readily apparent in the book crafted by Irene Powell-Willhite entitled The voice of Dr. Wernher von Braun – An Anthology. Through careful selection and editing, she provides copies of 47 speeches given or written by Dr. von Braun. From them, it's clear that after the 9 to 5 work hours, still much effort was necessary to keep the space program alive.
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Fabulous theories predict a dynamic, temporal universe. Assuming a special beginning and a robust continuance, we can imagine a transformation to the state we see today. But, we've every reason to believe that changes continue apace. We know stars disappear in cosmically vibrant explosions. We expect stars equally arise from dust fields. This is where the book Protostars and Planets V fits in. Within its covers, the editors Bo Reipurth, David Jewitt and Klaus Keil provide a rich and rewarding collection of papers about dust, star births and other exciting dynamics.

As noted in the book's preface, a conference about early solar system formation seemed premature in the 1970s as no planets outside our solar system were known. Nevertheless, a conference and resulting publication showed the interest in this field. Since then, regular conferences with this theme have been held. The fifth in 2005 gave rise to this book. What makes this field more and more exciting is the continual discovery of planets orbiting other stars and their kin. Hence data can corroborate or stymie conjectures and true scientific progress takes place. The collection of papers in this text shows the strength and breadth that continues to make this field exciting and advancing.

Given the physical size of this book, partly due to its nearly thousand page count, there's no surprise that lots lies within. Suffice to say that, as with most scientific fields, there's broad amounts of data, analysis and modeling. The real data is somewhat sparse still yet, every new discovery or detection gets readily absorbed. The papers often have pointed reviews of data and then provide conjectures about the temporal processes and dynamics that gave rise to the observations. And, it seems all were completed by very talented and learned authors; 249 in total. These authors provide a rich and varied view and perspective, many of which will undoubtedly lead to surprises and advances.

With such a bright pool of writers and noting that this book results from a conference, the reader must be prepared to wade through without assistance. Equations are the norm rather than the exception. Given the dynamic nature of the subject, base physics involving density, temperature, pressure and photons are thrown about with the freedom that comes from every day usage. Yet, there's no appearance of showmanship. Rather, the reports in this book demonstrate an eagerness and sincerity in the belief that the offerings are making a significant contribution to science.

Nevertheless, this is the proceedings from the fifth conference and within are allusions to a sixth. Thus, the reader needs to realize that the content represents ongoing work rather than a penultimate conclusion. Presumably we will continue to build and utilize better observatories and more capable computers. Hence, this book is an excellent snapshot of activity in 2005. But, there were referrals to new observations not yet fully analyzed but likely to skew the statistics. In consequence, the book's contents would be great for a reader who wants to catch-up on this particular topic as there is no conclusion. Further, with authors' names and indications of funding sources, a reader has got a ready way to follow-up. And, they could get help directing their own work, contemplate choices about how they could aid in the research or simply keep up to date.

Given the narrowness of the topic and the complexity of the presentation, the general reader or hobbyist will have a challenge cruising through the pages. But, there's lots to discover for those so desiring. There's dust columns that might indicate the size of dust fields, metrics that indicate if a planet is in the habitable zone and models that show the likelihood of accretion or disintegration. Just be prepared to have to wade through thick details full of charts, acronyms and specialist lingo. Much can be discerned, but the average reader will have to work at it; it's not offered up on a plate.

The continual fly-by of comets shows everyone on Earth that our universe is rich in dynamics. Those with access to observatories and their resulting images know that the dynamism extends throughout space. The editors Bo Reipurth, David Jewitt and Klaus Keil provide papers in their book entitled Protostars and Planets V that show how such dynamism could lead to new stars out of a field of dust. Hence that wonderful expression, "We're all made from star dust" is all the more apt!

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Combine some dust together into a clump and you get a dust ball. Bring enough dust close together and a solar system ensues. Distant Worlds – Milestones in Planetary Explorations is a book by Peter Bond that describes our solar system. As he shows, we're amongst much more exciting things than a cloud of dust.
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The big bad wolf had big eyes to see better. But big eyes are only part of the solution for improving vision. Geoff Andersen in his book, The Telescope – Its History, Technology and Future shows there's so much more to bringing small things into focus. No wolf would have had any problem finding prey if they had some of these ultra-fine instruments to help them do the searching.
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The red planet is so close we can almost taste it. Probes, landers and robots extend our reach into its exotic terrain. To tease us even more, Discovery Channel is running the show 'Race to Mars'. In it, people take the first footfall onto the Martian surface.

Succinctly blending space opera with the trials of experienced at the Devon Island analogue, the producers of this television show demonstrate the beauty, challenges and rewards of sending people to explore the Martian surface. A spacecraft tumbling through space catapults the audience into inter-planetary transit. The craft gliding soundlessly through its orbit above the Martian surface readies us for the crescendo of landing. Determination and destiny guide the occupants as would only happen for the thoroughly committed.
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Just a few pages into Gotz Hoeppe's book, Why the Sky is Blue – Discovering the Color of Life and I was staring into the daytime sky. Sure we all know it's blue, and most of us know why. Or, at least we think we know why. This book shows that our sky comes in as many shades of blue as a painter has in their palette. But each shade has an natural explanation, hence the size and value of this enlightening book.
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Dogs were one of the first creatures to join with human tribes. Their barks and bites kept predators at bay while their wagging tails and happy disposition welcomed those coming home. Some dogs got to do incredible feats in advance of humans, as happened with the first creature to orbit Earth. Laika the graphic novel written and drawn by Nick Abadzis recounts the story of our first astronaut. For it was a dog with this name that the Soviets sent into space in advance of the many humans that followed.
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Combining large scale astronomical observations with the careful reasoning of physics leads to the widely encompassing field of astrophysics. Apparently, the physical laws that rule interactions on Earth also rule the actions across our universe. Fulvio Melia takes this consideration to task in his book The Galactic Supermassive Black Hole. Within the book, the equations bring reason to some very murky observations and sharpen our view of the heavens.
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We all look upon space voyagers with awe and envy. They've reached out and touched that which we can only glimpse. Many have shared their experiences and Walter Cunningham does just that in his presentation entitled The All-American Boys. He first wrote this as a book in 2003, but now he's made it available in audio. With this audio-book, we can listen to his words and connect in a much more personal and immediate way to this author's space based thoughts.
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Project Mercury and Project Gemini preceded the landing of a person on the Moon. These projects taught the United States how to safely fly humans in to space and out to adventure. Steve Whitfield has prepared a Pocket Space Guide for each of these. Within, he combines smooth narrative with hundreds of both colour as well as black and white pictures to bring a reader complete, colourful little synopses. Their result is a generous reminder of what people can achieve when given a task, no matter how hard.
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