Universe

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 512 pages
• Published by: DK ADULT October 3, 2005
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0756613647
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0756613648
• Book Dimensions: 11.8 x 9.9 x 1.4 inches
• Weighs: 5.8 pounds

From Booklist
*Starred Review* Notable for its outstanding color illustrations, this work was written by a team of astronomers and science writers in language accessible to high-school students and the general reader. The topically arranged entries range in length from a short paragraph to several pages. This book should be of interest to anyone who appreciates the wonders of the universe and would enjoy a gorgeously illustrated guided tour by experts.

The volume is divided into three sections. The first, called "Introduction," presents an overview of basic concepts, organized under the broad topics "What Is the Universe?" "The Beginning and End of the Universe," "The View from Earth," and "Exploring Space." The next section, "Guide to the Universe," focuses on the features of the solar system, the Milky Way, and the regions beyond. Among the topics that are covered here are the planets; asteroids, comets, and meteors; the stars; and galaxy clusters. Treatment is quite detailed; for example, more than 15 pages are devoted to Mars. Finally, the book has a section called "The Night Sky," with entries on each of the 88 constellations, including maps. Seventy pages of sky guides, which provide both background information and double-page monthly sky guides for both the northern and southern latitudes for 2005-2012, should prove highly useful to sky gazers. Throughout the text, sidebars offer brief profiles of astronomers and others, highlight discoveries and investigations, or describe space-related stories and myths. An eight-page glossary offers succinct definitions of key terms. A well-constructed index provides subject access to the contents.

Stunning color photographs and illustrations, abundant on every page, supplement the text. Images from space probes and telescopes are interspersed with digital artworks. The illustrations alone make this volume well worth the modest cost. The four-volume Encyclopedia of Astronomy and astrophysics (Institute of Physics, 2001), written for an academic and professional audience, is a far more comprehensive (and therefore more expensive) set and is particularly suited for academic and special libraries. Universe, written for a general audience, is highly recommended for high-school, academic, and public libraries. Nancy Cannon
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Description
Continuing in the bestselling tradition of Animal and Earth, DK brings you Universe - a truly definitive guide that takes you on a tour from the Solar System to the farthest limits of space.

Reader Reviews
DK has been putting out this sort of high end "picture book" for a number of years now, but this is the first one I've seen that really packs the information in on every page. Some of their past titles look great but turn out to be rather light and fluffy on actual information once you get past the pictures. But this book abounds with both gorgeous images and a sufficient amount of textual information that it goes beyond anything they've done before. Browsing through this (very large) book, I repeatedly came across pages where I said to myself "ok, I need to own this book if only for that page". I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the Universe (hopefully that's everyone :-) and definitely as an educational book for kids. Another thing that sold me is that the overall editor of the book is Sir Martin Rees, who I greatly admire as a cosmologist and humanist. All his books are worth reading as well. So, this one gets my highest recommendation, and I think you'll really enjoy it. G.