Joel Levy is a writer who specializes in history and science. In this book he acknowledges the difficulty of understanding the complexities of science when it involves difficult equations, vast distances and the unimaginably small. Educators turn to analogies to help students understand difficult concepts. Levy has created an attractive book that covers scientific concepts in physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, earth science, the human body and technology. An analogy is a resemblance or similarity which leads to from a familiar concept to an unfamiliar one.
The well-known "a bee in a cathedral" analogy describes the size of an atom and its nucleus in understandable terms. The analogy goes that if an atom were expanded to the size of a cathedral, the nucleus would be only about the size of a bee. Or, if you wanted to play soccer with an atom, you have to enlarge it 1.5 billion times the original size, is an analogy that helps you understand the size of an atom. This book really intrigued me as a way to interest students in science. I admit to only sampling the book and not reading the whole thing. I was disappointed that errors were reported by other reviewers: I can't wholly recommend this book now. Let's hope the publishers will correct the errors.
Caveat: Be aware that some customer reviewers on Amazon who were genuinely excited about this book have noted some errors in the book and criticized the busy layout - which makes it difficult to read. This should probably be looked at more carefully by science teachers. (High School).