DK guide to space

Baton Rouge Magazine

Neptune is so far away that it would take over 200 years to get there at the speed of the Concorde. Don't wait 200 years to take a look at this book.

Book Browsing with Phyllis Straughan

You'll learn amazing facts about everything from the Big Bang to the end of time.

Book Report

This stunning, oversized volume is sure to attract the attention of anyone interested in space and its exploration. The book is packed with photographs, many from the Hubble space telescope, and information. The pages, printed predominately on a black background, draw readers into the illusion that they are exploring space. Each topic is addressed in a two-page spread filled with photographs and informative blocks of text. While the scope of the book is general, it contains a great deal of specific information, much of which has been gained as a result of the Hubble mission and other recent, robotic space exploration. This book would be useful for both browsing and research projects—it is a natural addition to any classroom study of astronomy and space. The volume's size, while a bit awkward to handle, complements the immense topic at hand. The final two pages of the book are filled with "space facts" in chart and table form. This one won't spend much time sitting on the shelf.

kidsreads.com

Beautiful, accessible photographs and clear writing fill DK's GUIDE TO SPACE. Peter Bond begins with a long view of the solar system, and then devotes two glossy pages to each planet and two to our most famous star. A photograph of our orange, fiery sun accompanies information about the corona, plasma, and sunspots. Solar and lunar eclipses are explained and illustrated with rare clarity. Photographs in the section on the birth of stars are so breathtaking they look like glorifies Phantom Menace special effects. Galaxies, the Milky Way, rockets, and the whole universe get coverage, and Bond goes into some depth describing satellites, space missions, and possible life on other planets. You can even sneak a peak at the latest photos from the Hubble telescope.

Children's Literature - Marilyn Courtot

In this beautiful oversized book, Bond takes readers on a photographic journey through the universe. The difference in clarity and detail when looking at the stars through a conventional telescope compared to the Hubble, which sits out in space beyond earth's atmosphere, is astounding. Each of the planets, their major moons, and the sun are visited during the journey as well as stars within and beyond our galaxy. The concise text (many of the pages have white text set on black pages) is accompanied by crisp full-color photographs. For those planets where there have been probe launches, photographs of the terrain, views of the planets from space, and summaries of what is known about these heavenly bodies are recapped for young astronomers. A great introduction to the heavens.

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6-Aimed at a younger audience than Sue Becklake's The Visual Dictionary of the Universe (DK, 1993), this tour of the solar system and beyond is illustrated almost entirely with photos: big, enhanced-color shots that capitalize on the beauty and dramatic power of the best space photography. In the customary one spread per topic format, Bond begins with a glimpse of modern stargazing before moving to the Sun, passing each planet in succession, and launching outward past Pluto and the Kuiper Belt. He sails past stars, nebulae, and galaxies before looping back to visit several spacecraft and space stations, and concludes with a spread of summary charts and Web sites. Midsized blocks of text tucked between illustrations contain an easily digestible mix of basic facts and colorful factoids: of the Sun's 27 million degree core, for instance, the author writes, "If the head of a pin were this hot, it would set fire to everything within 62 miles." Picture captions extend the text with additional or reiterated information. Despite a few design bobbles, such as an occasional superimposed label that is hard to see, or a rare view of Venus without clouds that is partly lost in a gutter, this oversized volume is a better-than-average addition, eminently suitable both for browsing or research.-John Peters, New York Public Library Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.