The Sun: A Biography

by David Whitehouse

This is a comprehensive biography of the sun, written by leading BBC journalist David Whitehouse. Since man first became conscious he has sought to understand the nature of the sun; he has worshipped it, been inspired to produce great art about it, researched it and even died for it. Understanding the nature of the sun is key to understanding our universe and to life on earth. Whitehouse skilfully weaves his extraordinary scientific knowledge with history, philosophy, archaeology and religion to produce this fascinating account of the life and future of the sun.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Astronomy

344 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Deborah Pickstone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting in parts and seemed to drone on in others! I read this for the geocaching challenge - it was the fifth different book I selected to have the sun on the cover and then could not get the title or the correct edition or whatever and had to reselect. So, I never would have read this otherwise but am not sorry to have done so! :)

[Jonne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Leuk geprobeerd

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

First half quite interesting, second part more like scientific bits from here and there, history of sun "exploration" told since ancient times up until modern day seemed sometimes like copy-paste from different books. Lots of important facts but often had a feeling like skipping a few pages. The ending was pure mumbling of " how lucky we are that according to some scientific research we are going to survive on Earth extra 200 millions of years adding to already predicted billions before the Sun will loose the energy and disappear " Such a rubbish. We have difficulties sending spacecraft to Mars and deep oceans still so....overall average read.

[Evan Quinlan · Rating 3 out of 5]

David Whitehouse communicates solar science through a loose sequence of vignettes. I learned a lot, although I might have liked to have a better sense of narrative direction. One chapter strays a bit into climate change denial, which seems shoehorned in, but it's still relatively thoughtful and informative. The Sun is fascinating, and David fully describes humanity's state-of-the-art understanding of it as of 2004. There's a little bit of mythology covered as well, but not much.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes thorough, well-researched scientific narratives and doesn't mind a few dry spells here and there.

[Nour · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Abhishek Dafria · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Sun: A Biography is basically what the title says - it is the story of the Sun. Author David Whitehouse wrote this book after covering something similar on the Moon. In The Sun: A Biography, Whitehouse covers two aspects: the myths and legends told about the Sun for centuries and the science that has been working overtime to learn more about this fascinating star. Whitehouse's narrative may not be a linear chronological account always, for there is a bit of overlapping that could have been better edited, but he does paint an interesting path on how human perception about the Sun has been changing and how our knowledge has been expanding. It is fascinating when one realises that this book isn't the work of Whitehouse alone, but of many many astronomers, physicists and enthusiasts who have played important roles in man's understanding of the Sun. David Whitehouse also talks about the future of the Sun, and the implications on Earth when the Sun's life comes to an end.

David Whitehouse writes with the authority derived by years of experience in working in the field of astronomy, before he shifted to journalism. His writing style has a nice warm touch that makes the journey of discovering the Sun as much enjoyable as he must have found it to be. There are chapters though in the book that carry a lot of scientific jargon which appear more like pages from a science textbook. If you are truly enthusiastic about physics and astronomy, then those chapters will suit your taste. Barring those few chapters, Whitehouse made me appreciate and admire the Sun all the more. The book was published about a decade back, and I am hoping there would be newer editions that can document the developments that have happened during this period too.

[Kimberly Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great book with a whole lot of information, especially if you have the type of mind (which I do not) that can amass all the information and make enough sense of it, so that you might actually comprehend all that science!

"Within the first second, superhot gas - referred to as a plasma - a substance we will discuss often because the Sun is made of it - may have cooled enough for particles called quarks (Ah, so this is what they are) that had condensed out of the energy to combine and form protons and neutrons the building blocks of atoms. After about three (how does he know this?) minutes, a small portion of the neutrons bonded with protons.......Three to four hundred thousand years passed in this way, with the hot plasma eventually cooling and allowing the and allowing atomic nuclei to hold onto electrons to make hydrogen and helium."

And so it went..... What I actually did comprehend was all the Creation 'myths" and that is what I enjoyed... There was also a photograph of a petroglyph: "The oldest recorded solar eclipse? 3340 BC"

As for the remainder of the book.... I basically have no idea what it was about or what it meant, which is why I am not a science major.

[Naree · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read the companion book of this one, "The Moon: a Biography" which I'd like to describe it as "romantic". The Sun, however, has a more masculine feel to it. A lot of it about how human attempted to find out about the Sun and ultimately how to view it. Later on in the book, the author David Whitehouse, himself an astronomer, then explain succinctly the complex science of the Sun and its inevitable eventual ending. I find the book really beautiful in a way that it's now at the back of my mind the energy giving process of Sun and how much we depend on our star.

Whitehouse wrote extensively in the book about the sunspots cycles and how it effects the Earth's climate. He presented theories and possibilities as a scientist would but, despite favouring the sunspots' influence on climate change, Whitehouse is no climate-change denier. He simply presented an informed theory based on researches and facts.

A thoughtful book with long lasting effect on me.

[Dustin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book, I liked the first 6-7 chapters very much and the final 5-6 chapters. I wasn't a fan of the central part of the book, I felt like the author was droning on and the storyline/history was scattered as far as direction and goal. The beginning and end sections seemed to read like a novel whereas the middle part was kind of a mangled history book.

I feel like the scientific and historical data was good but only the last 5 chapters really had direction.