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Facts Visually Explained
How Space Works: The Facts Visually Explained
Embark on an awe-inspiring and informative journey through our Solar System and beyond in this illuminating astronomy book! Discover how big the Universe is, why our view of the sky is constantly changing, what came before the Big Bang, and so much more in 3... 2... 1…. Blast Off! Inside the pages of this comprehensive guide to astronomy for beginners, you’ll • Simple text and step-by-step graphics that make astronomy easy to understand • Fun facts and tip-of-the-tongue questions are presented through bite-sized factoids and question-and-answer features • Clear explanations demystifying more advanced topics such as cosmic rays, dark matter, and black hole collisions Take a peek at what lies beyond the stratosphereThis out-of-this-world reference book about space introduces you to the weird and wonderful discipline of astronomy and space exploration. From the structure of the Milky Way to the Earth’s nearest celestial body, the Moon, How Space Works takes you on an unforgettable tour through the stars and galaxies, and to the furthest reaches of space!Answering all your burning questions about space, from ancient white dwarf stars to the Mars Rover, this visual guide explains the essentials of astronomy through bold graphics and step-by-step artworks. It’s the ultimate book for armchair astronomers and space-technology enthusiasts looking for reliable and up-to-date facts and explanations.Don’t let the learning stop - try the rest of the series!DK's How Things Work series uses dynamic graphics and jargon-free text to explain the modern world simply and clearly. Packed with fascinating facts and stats, these visual guides cover everything from science to philosophy, making complex topics more accessible than ever before!
223 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 2, 2021
118 people are currently reading
705 people want to read
About the author
D.K. Publishing
9,025 books2,096 followersDorling Kindersley (DK) is a British multinational publishing company specializing in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 62 languages. It is part of Penguin Random House, a consumer publishing company jointly owned by Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA and Pearson PLC. Bertelsmann owns 53% of the company and Pearson owns 47%.
Established in 1974, DK publishes a range of titles in genres including travel (including Eyewitness Travel Guides), arts and crafts, business, history, cooking, gaming, gardening, health and fitness, natural history, parenting, science and reference. They also publish books for children, toddlers and babies, covering such topics as history, the human body, animals and activities, as well as licensed properties such as LEGO, Disney and DeLiSo, licensor of the toy Sophie la Girafe. DK has offices in New York, London, Munich, New Delhi, Toronto and Melbourne.
Source: Wikipedia.
Established in 1974, DK publishes a range of titles in genres including travel (including Eyewitness Travel Guides), arts and crafts, business, history, cooking, gaming, gardening, health and fitness, natural history, parenting, science and reference. They also publish books for children, toddlers and babies, covering such topics as history, the human body, animals and activities, as well as licensed properties such as LEGO, Disney and DeLiSo, licensor of the toy Sophie la Girafe. DK has offices in New York, London, Munich, New Delhi, Toronto and Melbourne.
Source: Wikipedia.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 12, 2022
The whole truth? I am a space junkie in both senses of that word:
Have a story about the new Webb telescope? I will postpone dinner to read it.
Have a yarn about what life on other planets might be like? I will at least look it over.
This book primarily appeals to the first of those tendencies. By section it covers:
Space from Earth
The Solar System
Stars
Galaxies and the Universe
Space Exploration (covering everything from satellites to space suits to future spacecraft)
I bought the electronic edition to use on my Kindle Fire. It works well. I hoped that my granddaughter (who has an astronomy calendar hung in her room) would be interested in it even though much of the text is beyond an eight year old. Thanks to the fine work DK does with graphics, it is working well and provides more time between the two of us. Life is good.
Have a story about the new Webb telescope? I will postpone dinner to read it.
Have a yarn about what life on other planets might be like? I will at least look it over.
This book primarily appeals to the first of those tendencies. By section it covers:
Space from Earth
The Solar System
Stars
Galaxies and the Universe
Space Exploration (covering everything from satellites to space suits to future spacecraft)
I bought the electronic edition to use on my Kindle Fire. It works well. I hoped that my granddaughter (who has an astronomy calendar hung in her room) would be interested in it even though much of the text is beyond an eight year old. Thanks to the fine work DK does with graphics, it is working well and provides more time between the two of us. Life is good.
March 1, 2025
DK publishes a ton of really good general knowledge books on just about any topic you can think of.
This particular series (How______Works) is relatively general in scope and seems to be targeted for teenagers, young adults and/or people who have a casual interest in a specific subject. By no means are these intended to substitute for text books.
I love DK’s offerings in general and have a hard time resisting purchasing kindle versions when they are heavily discounted on Amazon. I think I purchased this book for $2 and it’s hard to go wrong at that price.
Regarding the topics covered, they range from Earth to the solar system to the Milky Way and beyond and finally on to Space travel. Each subtopic is presented with modern artwork depicting the subject.
It’s a pretty good read and excellent to chip away at it a few pages at a time. Finally, it reads well on a Kindle app and Kindle Web, but only so-so on a Kindle device. I didn’t even bother trying on my Kindle Paperwhite, but on my Scribe it was a bit laggy at times and obviously not in colour.
This particular series (How______Works) is relatively general in scope and seems to be targeted for teenagers, young adults and/or people who have a casual interest in a specific subject. By no means are these intended to substitute for text books.
I love DK’s offerings in general and have a hard time resisting purchasing kindle versions when they are heavily discounted on Amazon. I think I purchased this book for $2 and it’s hard to go wrong at that price.
Regarding the topics covered, they range from Earth to the solar system to the Milky Way and beyond and finally on to Space travel. Each subtopic is presented with modern artwork depicting the subject.
It’s a pretty good read and excellent to chip away at it a few pages at a time. Finally, it reads well on a Kindle app and Kindle Web, but only so-so on a Kindle device. I didn’t even bother trying on my Kindle Paperwhite, but on my Scribe it was a bit laggy at times and obviously not in colour.
December 19, 2022
Wow, I have many questions from my childhood. I never got the answers of those questions, and as I grew up, I found more and more responsibilities on my shoulder, and suddenly I was losing my childish curiosity. But 1-2 years ago, I got a chance to create an environment around me to give life to my childlike curiosity. Once everything is ready, I need resources or data to help me understand my questions, and I found DK and others publisher books. These are great and how space works is one of them.
Also, I feel ashamed as I found hundreds of answers available from 1950 or 2000, and people are still unaware of them, like in 2022. :(
Also, I feel ashamed as I found hundreds of answers available from 1950 or 2000, and people are still unaware of them, like in 2022. :(
November 1, 2021
A little too casual for an adult. It does a good job of showing the reader the topic and explaining the solar system, but nothing remarkable.
March 2, 2023
The universe is incomprehensible, or even more than that if the multiverse theory proves true. Add to that the fact that we don’t know the first thing about dark matter—which makes up about sixty-percent of the known universe— and it’s even more daunting.
How Space Works makes the incomprehensible a little more approachable, by categorizing space—from Earth to exoplanets—into five main sections. If you have trouble remembering the differences between the various type of dwarf stars or the gravity of other heavenly bodies relative to Earth, this is a good, quick reference. It’s probably especially ideal for scientifically precocious kids, as it gives primacy to images and charts instead of text.
There’s something a little irritating, though, about the nonlinear nature of the presentation. It’s all down to one’s own preferred learning style of course, but I like a left-to-right sequencing. Here the eye roves around and around in circles, missing little subscripted text here, reading another caption two or even three times. The section on space tourism—courtesy of our barons who’ve yet to face a trust-busting—was also a little rushed, consisting of only a couple paragraphs about Richard Branson’s orbital hotel idea. Maybe that’s for the best, as it’s likely that Jeff Bezos & co. aren’t likely to leave behind much of an interstellar legacy, and their main local legacy will be cluttering up our solar system with cube-sats and other “space junk.”
The artwork, while satisfactory, was also underwhelming, and had me pining for the old glossy books of my childhood, the ones with the thick leather spines and intros by Carl Sagan, which still listed Pluto as a planet. Maybe that’s just nostalgia, though, clouding my judgement and enhancing my biases.
How Space Works makes the incomprehensible a little more approachable, by categorizing space—from Earth to exoplanets—into five main sections. If you have trouble remembering the differences between the various type of dwarf stars or the gravity of other heavenly bodies relative to Earth, this is a good, quick reference. It’s probably especially ideal for scientifically precocious kids, as it gives primacy to images and charts instead of text.
There’s something a little irritating, though, about the nonlinear nature of the presentation. It’s all down to one’s own preferred learning style of course, but I like a left-to-right sequencing. Here the eye roves around and around in circles, missing little subscripted text here, reading another caption two or even three times. The section on space tourism—courtesy of our barons who’ve yet to face a trust-busting—was also a little rushed, consisting of only a couple paragraphs about Richard Branson’s orbital hotel idea. Maybe that’s for the best, as it’s likely that Jeff Bezos & co. aren’t likely to leave behind much of an interstellar legacy, and their main local legacy will be cluttering up our solar system with cube-sats and other “space junk.”
The artwork, while satisfactory, was also underwhelming, and had me pining for the old glossy books of my childhood, the ones with the thick leather spines and intros by Carl Sagan, which still listed Pluto as a planet. Maybe that’s just nostalgia, though, clouding my judgement and enhancing my biases.
January 25, 2022
Just a fascinating book for those with even a casual interest it what is out there in the far beyond. It is laid out in a pictorial illustrated manner with captions. Easy to follow but also can get confusing in the layout.
It covers anything and everything to do with the universe, near to far. For me just an amazing display of the wonders. There is still so much we don't know but our space telescopes have provided so much. We still don't know what that dark matter is. The great mystery of what's out there. Eventually we will. It would be great if it is chocolate, but not likely.
It wraps up the final chapter with space hardware and what we are doing and will be doing with exploration. A bit technically wonky but the upcoming moon exploration system is truly going to be exciting.
I had to think how far behind we are when compared to what we thought might be with "2001 A Space Odyssey". But we will get there eventually and it is just about time and that looks nearly unlimited provided we don't get hit by an asteroid or meltdown from within.
It covers anything and everything to do with the universe, near to far. For me just an amazing display of the wonders. There is still so much we don't know but our space telescopes have provided so much. We still don't know what that dark matter is. The great mystery of what's out there. Eventually we will. It would be great if it is chocolate, but not likely.
It wraps up the final chapter with space hardware and what we are doing and will be doing with exploration. A bit technically wonky but the upcoming moon exploration system is truly going to be exciting.
I had to think how far behind we are when compared to what we thought might be with "2001 A Space Odyssey". But we will get there eventually and it is just about time and that looks nearly unlimited provided we don't get hit by an asteroid or meltdown from within.
April 23, 2025
Pretty awesome book for young adults and those who like images.
Personally, as a 17yo who likes having a base to branch from into my own research, it works well. It has so far set me off on different topics, since it doesn't exactly give you all the information. However, I know some people want a more in-depth study and you won't get as much of that in this book. It's a starting block, but more specific than what I was taught in school.
Dont be afraid to research what you need more clarification on or are more interested in! :]
Personally, as a 17yo who likes having a base to branch from into my own research, it works well. It has so far set me off on different topics, since it doesn't exactly give you all the information. However, I know some people want a more in-depth study and you won't get as much of that in this book. It's a starting block, but more specific than what I was taught in school.
Dont be afraid to research what you need more clarification on or are more interested in! :]
October 15, 2021
As the blurb on the back of the book mentions, this book is a series of page-long entries on important sections of the known universe. It explains what we know and how we know it in clear and concise language. The graphics are beautifully designed.
The book is great for a beginner to astronomy, and I think others will get something out of it as well. Thanks for reading this phone-based review, and see you next time.
The book is great for a beginner to astronomy, and I think others will get something out of it as well. Thanks for reading this phone-based review, and see you next time.
January 7, 2023
It was informative in an engaging way, good for kids
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January 25, 2023Wonderfully laid out. Great for anyone (like me) who wants a basic overview of what we know about space.
August 1, 2023
It's really worth reading. What an awesome manuscript
January 3, 2024
Full of information and great illustrations. Well done.
January 14, 2024
Has a lot of info with black holes binary star systems and a lot bout roketry
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 28, 2022
Very visually appealing! Taught so many good facts!
July 9, 2024
Es una muy buena guía gráfica para empezar a adentrarte en la astronomía.
Trae muchísima información, no esta nada mal en el libro, simplemente me aburrió un poco ya que explica conceptos muy básicos que ya conocía, pero igual me ayudaron a comprender mejor.
Muy sencillo de leer. 💫
Trae muchísima información, no esta nada mal en el libro, simplemente me aburrió un poco ya que explica conceptos muy básicos que ya conocía, pero igual me ayudaron a comprender mejor.
Muy sencillo de leer. 💫
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews