Sep 05 2008
“Hubble: The Mirror on the Universe” by Robin Kerrod & Carole Stott
Hubble: The Mirror on the Universe by Robin Kerrod & Carole Stott is a flat-out gorgeous book. I picked it up because the front cover was eye catching and because my inner child still wants to grow up and be an astronaut.
And I fell in love with it from page one. I have always been a huge astronomy fan, starting from when I would take long walks with my father out in the desert. We’d look at the different constellations, with him giving me info on each one.
So it’s not surprising that I’d be interested in a book about the Hubble telescope. What is surprising is how much I learned from the book, and how much I enjoyed reading it. Some of the pictures taken by Hubble are jaw dropping. Spread over two pages, they are colorful, gorgeous snapshots of deep space.
The pictures are the best part of this book, but that’s not to say that the text isn’t interesting. The book was loaded with everything from black holes to pulsar stars, and the history behind each discovery. I felt as if I had taken an in-depth astronomy class by time I finished reading the book. Even better, it wasn’t dry, boring facts, just thoroughly engrossing reading.
I was really excited to find a site online that allowed me to download a picture from the inside of the book. Now granted, this picture isn’t one of the larger ones, and it isn’t as colorful as some of the other pictures, and it’ll definitely lose something in translation (from the book to the website to my computer to my website to your computer - whew!!) but at least it gives you an idea of what the book offers.
Isn’t that a cool picture? One of the things that I was excited to find out is that none of the pictures in the book were “touched up” to provide brighter or more eye-catching colors. All of the pictures were published exactly how the galaxies look in outer space. I had no idea our universe was so colorful!
So whether you’re a homeschooling mom who wants to do a section on space, or just someone with even a mild interest in astronomy and the universe, you really need to pick this one up! I honestly cannot think of a single thing to change about it. I enjoyed the book from beginning to end.
A rare 5 out of 5 stars for Hubble: The Mirror on the Universe. Kudos to Robin Kerrod and Carole Stott for a job well done.
Havs
I loved my astronomy class in college, but haven’t sought out anything to read about it since then. Sounds like this book might be a good place for me to start.