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A refreshing approach to studying astronomy and space, this series explores both commonly studied space subjects as well as more "offbeat" ones -- such as UFOs and ETs.
Critiques (2)
Critique de School Library Journal
Gr 5-7While there is a need for fresh, up-to-date material on astronomy, these routine surveys take a step back in quality of presentation. Opening with the incorrect assertion that solar and nuclear energy are the Earth's only sources of heat, the prolific Branley updates his Mysteries of the Planets (Dutton, 1988; o.p.) with a history of the solar system and our exploration of it. He includes phenomena observed by the Voyager and Galileo probes, but barely mentions the sun's inner structure, scants the planets' moons to the point that Ganymede, the largest, isn't even mentioned, and pads the text with tangential side essays on eclipses, the difference between mass and weight, and the like. The full-color photos and paintings do not depict Pluto, but do include an image of the entire Milky Way Galaxy. Marsh's subject is more restricted, enabling her to include a higher level of detail. To her account of the origins, behavior, and study of Asteroids, she adds a tribute to Carolyn Shoemaker and other women astronomers, plus information about how comets and asteroids are named. She does not, however, explain how meteorites of martian or lunar origin reached Earth, and putting the Kuiper Belt "just outside the orbit of the planet Neptune" and extending to a "few hundred times Earth's distance from the Sun" will leave most readers in the dark about its location. The back matter in both books includes several Internet sites, but that's not enough to carry them past Seymour Simon's work or Patricia Lauber's Journey to the Planets (Crown, 1993).John Peters, New York Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Critique de Booklist
Gr. 4^-6. These two volumes from the new Secrets of Space series offer children up-to-date information on astronomy. Sun considers the origin of the solar system, the historical view of the earth and its place in the universe, the earth and its moon, the inner planets, and the outer planets. Besides the main text, sidebars present such topics as eclipses, craters, the difference between mass and weight, and the collision of comet Shoemaker-Levy with planet Jupiter. Asteroids discusses the discovery of the nature of comets, asteroids, and meteors, from the observations and beliefs of ancient Greek and Chinese astronomers to the first sighting of comet Hyakutake earlier this year. Many colorful illustrations, photographs as well as diagrams and paintings, complement the succinctly written texts. Good basic astronomy books for library collections. --Carolyn Phelan