The BBC documentary series Space is sure to inspire purchases of the accompanying coffee-table book. Some will buy it for the pictures--and they won't be disappointed. Young stars eject gas and dust in pearl-coloured billows that wrinkle up under their own weight until they resemble morel. Radiation sculpts a molecular cloud into fingers clustered with rings of newborn suns.
Those who buy Space for its account of the Cosmos, however, are in for the biggest treat. The author, John Gribbin, is a scientist of some reputation, having helped calculate the best current estimate of the age of the universe. But it is in the rarely celebrated role of popular educator that Gribbin excels. He is a most prolific science writer (not least thanks to his wife Mary, a science writer in her own right and John's frequent and adept collaborator).
In Space, Gribbin's task is to cover everything cosmological. In the first few pages, we learn that the Sun is a star. By the end, we're slipping comfortably and entertainingly through mini essays on quantum fluctuations, the negativity of gravity and how to create your own universe. And this in a book of only 230 pages, many filled by pictures.
This book would inspire a budding astronomer--if only her dad wouldn't keep nicking it. The design is lively and not too fussy. "Topic guides" in the margins relate articles together in themed reading plans; they look naff, but are genuinely useful. The bibliography is a bit short--but who wouldn't be left wanting more after such an exhilarating introduction? --Simon Ings