Vacation Guide to the Solar System
Science for the Savvy Space Traveler!
Ratings4
Average rating4.4
When I was in middle school, I spent many hours playing the computer game Where in Space is Carmen San Diego, and I voraciously memorized trivia about the planets and moons of our solar system (as well as the mythologies they were named after). This book - a stylish, beautifully designed fictional travel guide to the solar system - brought back fond memories of that game. This book is gorgeous and has some fun information in it. I definitely learned some new facts and got inspired by the crazy variety of environments that revolve around our sun.
My big complaint with this book is that it shares a shortcoming with a lot of “ain't it cool” science books and TV shows: it shares a lot of interesting facts about the solar system without really explaining why (what scientific forces or concepts explain these phenomena) or how we know about them. I suppose I'm asking for a drier, less approachable book, but I found the level of explanation lacking and want to look up more.
Oh, also - this book has amazing NASA images, but I wish they had included more. These were some of the best parts of the book!
Cute idea and excellent execution in this guide to our Solar System (from the perspective of a travel guide). Here is a description of skydiving into Saturn:
“...You'll start your fall in a layer of wispy, yellowish ammonia ice clouds. After falling ten minutes or so you'll have traveled more than sixty miles, and you'll start to encounter thicker, redder ammonia hydrosulfide ice clouds. Finally, you'll reach some more familiar, white water vapor clouds. The entire fall will be very dark—the sunlight is only 1 percent that on Earth at the cloud tops, and rapidly gets darker the deeper into the atmosphere you fall. Eventually the skies will fade to pitch-black. Feel free to fall for a bit into the dark abyss. You're in no danger of hitting the ground because there is no ground to hit, but it is possible to go so deep that your suit implodes under the pressure...”