Review by Library Journal Review
Coauthors Arcand and Watzke (NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory; Your Ticket to the Universe) infuse romance, beauty, and excitement into celestial objects seen with everything from radio to gamma rays, complementing images with well-placed, legible text on black semigloss pages. Alas, the authors inadequately explain quantities, definitions, and spectra. The volume lacks a chart defining powers of ten, and its iconic thermometer makes light frequencies a falsely linear progression. The authors omit why scientists prefer "electromagnetic radiation" but choose "light" instead, and a periodic table and cartoon atom don't illustrate molecules' light emissions as well as spectra and/or flame tests. This will work well in the genre of popular science works alongside such titles as Wolfgang Stuppy and Rob Kessler's Seeds and Mark Laita's Sea. For a gentle introduction to wave physics, consult Stan Gibilisco's Physics Demystified and William C. Robertson's Light, while Joann Eckstut and Arielle Ackstut's The Secret Language of Color covers color in depth. VERDICT Despite the book's issues, anyone ready to see the stars in a new light will enjoy this pictorial tour.-Eileen H. Kramer, Georgia Perimeter Coll. Lib., Clarkston © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
