Hamza Mounir
Book Share
Have you ever wondered about how we fit in the universe and what is our role?
The stimulating non fiction entitled “ Universe was skilfully authored by Robin Kerrod. Once the book starts, it immediately dives into the how earth and humans fit in the solar system. After learning about the solar system and about the heliocentric theory ( a theory that the 8 planets revolve around the sun) was discussed with the reader, Robin Kerrod plunges into how the universe works. From the rings of saturn, to the deepest black holes, Kerrod explains how the Universe is actually made up of scattered islands of blank matter. The reader climbs aboard their spaceship and visits the wonders of the universe. Images from international telescopes illustrate mars and venus. Diagrams prove that the sun goes through periods of solar maximum and solar minimum. Then, after all these facts are introduced, Robin Kerrod takes the reader back into the journey, but through a more scientific point of view. Kerrod compares the planets and other forms and landforms in the universe. After introducing these concepts, the reader is directed towards the world of Asteroids, meteors and meteorites. Dark and blurry images show telescopes measuring data and rovers picking up samples on meteors. Since the section the reader is in is introducing the hazards in space, Robin shows Comets (Icy Wanderers) receive sunlight and going through Comas. Kerbs also popularises the idea that there are many galaxies which may all contain different solar systems and maybe life. The book starts showing curios images of U.F.O’s and how life may be on another planet. Finally the book ends on a section about life on earth which may have come from space. In conclusion, Robin Kerrod’s book was all at once intuitive and fun at the same time.
“Universe” related to many careers in the domain of physical and space science. Astronauts and astronomers are shown and also their job. The reader can clearly observe the very precise work of thousands of astronomers. “Universe” also has a section devoted to astronomy. Astronomy is the study of physical science in the universe as a whole. Their are many diagrams throughout the book that explain how astronomers sketch the universe without even going into space. The fact that their is life on earth, helps strengthen the belief of life somewhere elsewhere. Very respected scientists have made some hypotheses about aline life in other galaxy. Our solar system’s other planets are not suitable for life because of their thick atmosphere and lack of water. This information may update the world of science in a way that no one will expect. The evidence of alien life may be close. If there is one earth , there may be others. This non fiction miracle of writing relates to a lot of information we have learned during science class. For instance, we learned about the sun, earth, moon relationship. The book goes a little deeper and proposes an interesting hypothesis, “If smaller mass orbits around larger mass, then the galaxies revolve around other galaxies.” Another example of relation with science class is the section that teaches the reader about gravity. Gravity is the force that pulls smaller mass towards a larger mass. Again, the book goes little deeper explaining the gravity system in a black hole. Finally, this book related to the well to the world and space in general.
“Universe” wouldn’t be a book that I would recommend to 6th and s7th graders because of several reasons. First of all, the book doesn’t explain everything, so it is preferable to have a dictionary. Sometimes I just skipped captions and information because it is hard to understand. This book would be too hard for middle school. I would recommend this book as a research book in 9th grade. Also, the book has sometimes some blanks in the answer. The information sometimes doesn’t always answer all of your questions which frustrates the reader while reading. Finally, I wouldn’t recommend this book because the information in the next section never relates the last section which makes it frustrating because you start from scratch. Hence, these are the reasons why I wouldn’t recommend this book.