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マンガでわかる [Manga de Wakaru]
The Manga Guide to the Universe
Join Kanna, Kanta, Yamane, and Gloria in The Manga Guide to the Universe as they explore our solar system, the Milky Way, and faraway galaxies in search of the universe’s greatest mysteries: dark matter, cosmic expansion, and the Big Bang itself.
As you rocket across the night sky, you’ll become acquainted with modern astronomy and astrophysics, as well as the classical discoveries and theories on which they’re built. You’ll even learn why some scientists believe finding extraterrestrial life is inevitable!
You’ll also learn about:
Discoveries made by Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Hubble, and other seminal astronomers
Theories of the universe’s origins, evolution, and geometry
The ways you can measure and observe heavenly bodies with different telescopes, and how astronomers calculate distances in space
Stellar classifications and how the temperature, size, and magnitude of a star are related
Cosmic background radiation, what the WMAP satellite discovered, and scientists’ predictions for the future of the universe
So dust off your flight suit and take a fantastic voyage through the cosmos in The Manga Guide to the Universe.
As you rocket across the night sky, you’ll become acquainted with modern astronomy and astrophysics, as well as the classical discoveries and theories on which they’re built. You’ll even learn why some scientists believe finding extraterrestrial life is inevitable!
You’ll also learn about:
Discoveries made by Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Hubble, and other seminal astronomers
Theories of the universe’s origins, evolution, and geometry
The ways you can measure and observe heavenly bodies with different telescopes, and how astronomers calculate distances in space
Stellar classifications and how the temperature, size, and magnitude of a star are related
Cosmic background radiation, what the WMAP satellite discovered, and scientists’ predictions for the future of the universe
So dust off your flight suit and take a fantastic voyage through the cosmos in The Manga Guide to the Universe.
256 pages, Paperback
First published November 28, 2008
13 people are currently reading
387 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
June 27, 2011
The Manga Guide to the Universe is another offering in The Manga Guide to . . ., this time focusing on modern astronomy. And this is not astronomy as in star watching, this is astronomy as in modern physics. It tries to get across the fact that science is about answering questions through reason and data. But with cosmology as the subject, the plot is more obviously contrived than others in this series, and in this case may be too distracting to achieve its purpose.
Reading The Manga Guide reminded me of an astronomy course I took back in college. Like the others in the series, it presents the material in the context of an anime storyline set in a japanese high school, with a plot that involves some schoolgirls in a situation that requires some knowledge about astronomy to solve. In this case, they need to put on a play, and they require expert assistance in updating a traditional story for a play for modern audiences. But because too much of traditional folklore is not believable due to scientific advances, they re-write it so that the principle characters are from other places, consulting with a local university astronomy student and an astrophysics professor to join them along the way.
The plot takes us to the moon, solar system, the Milky way and beyond. Each step has the characters identify a logical flaw in the current understanding, and then they reason through a solution, with the professor giving expositions as needed to fill in the facts or to demonstrate why the reasoned out solution is in fact correct (or not). While it can be fun, the writers clearly had more trouble on this one than in others, as the exposition often has to go on for pages, unlike other Manga Guide to the ... which usually only gives exposition to present a more concise and complete explanation of the principle that was just illustrated in the story. Because of this, while it is mostly entertaining, I think that The Manga Guide to the Universe may have been a stretch too far covering too much ground for the format.
Note: I received a free electronic copy of The Manga Guide to the Universe from O'Reilly Press from their blogger program.
Reading The Manga Guide reminded me of an astronomy course I took back in college. Like the others in the series, it presents the material in the context of an anime storyline set in a japanese high school, with a plot that involves some schoolgirls in a situation that requires some knowledge about astronomy to solve. In this case, they need to put on a play, and they require expert assistance in updating a traditional story for a play for modern audiences. But because too much of traditional folklore is not believable due to scientific advances, they re-write it so that the principle characters are from other places, consulting with a local university astronomy student and an astrophysics professor to join them along the way.
The plot takes us to the moon, solar system, the Milky way and beyond. Each step has the characters identify a logical flaw in the current understanding, and then they reason through a solution, with the professor giving expositions as needed to fill in the facts or to demonstrate why the reasoned out solution is in fact correct (or not). While it can be fun, the writers clearly had more trouble on this one than in others, as the exposition often has to go on for pages, unlike other Manga Guide to the ... which usually only gives exposition to present a more concise and complete explanation of the principle that was just illustrated in the story. Because of this, while it is mostly entertaining, I think that The Manga Guide to the Universe may have been a stretch too far covering too much ground for the format.
Note: I received a free electronic copy of The Manga Guide to the Universe from O'Reilly Press from their blogger program.
August 26, 2016
Once again, the "Manga Guide to" series failed to disappoint. I was mesmerized by the fantastic content and sat for hours endulging in it's rewarding adventures. Exellenet graphics as well as story line. The common high school student would most likeyl obtain a plethora of advice from the text capable of being used for projects and reports. I read it for pure entertainment but can pour facts like a fountain thanks to the read. There is simply no contest for this novel.
August 19, 2018
Very good, explaining the universe in an entertaining way.
Except for the final chapter “5. Our Ever-Expanding Universe”, which feels rushed, like something that was added later, and which is mostly text and no manga. The possible curvature of the universe, at least their explanation, gave me a headache.
Four stars for each of the first 4 chapters and two stars for the fifth chapter.
Except for the final chapter “5. Our Ever-Expanding Universe”, which feels rushed, like something that was added later, and which is mostly text and no manga. The possible curvature of the universe, at least their explanation, gave me a headache.
Four stars for each of the first 4 chapters and two stars for the fifth chapter.
February 23, 2018
I suppose it is intended for simpler concepts but I had different expectations for it
March 12, 2017
I liked how they mixed in the science with the manga to help explain complicated parts.
August 24, 2011
I love this series so much for it's simple clarity and because the stories introduce the material in such a way that it's easier to visualize and understand.
In this one, 3 students need to put on a play to avoid losing their drama club. They decide to do the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, an ancient story about a bamboo cutter who finds a child in bamboo, the child is from the moon. Talking about it, they realize that they need to know a lot more about space so they can update the story and make it their own. The brother of one of the students is a university student studying astrophysics. With his help, and the help of his teacher, they learn a lot more about the universe.
The authors use things like soccer to demonstrate some of the current theories and discuss the history of astrophysics from the time when people thought the earth was the center of a very small universe, to realizing we weren't even the center of our solar system and on to realizing just how vast the universe is.
They explain the measurements used and a little bit about how our current data is being accumulated. They discuss theories as well as what is known and explain how tests and math are validating the theories that scientists currently have about the universe, it's origins, it's possible eventual end, and how it all works. Even talking about the possibility of extra-terrestrial life.
It's a fantastic introduction into basic astrophysics. Not just for kids but also for adults who would like more understanding. I'm not a scientist. Just an occasional dabbler, I watch Nova and read some of the more popular books on the subject. Where these books absolutely shine is how easy it is to apply the material to things you know so that you can learn it in the stories. The further detail in the text sections is then building on what you've learned so you can have a deeper understanding. Because it's engagingly written, these books have a strong appeal both to teens and adults.
In this one, 3 students need to put on a play to avoid losing their drama club. They decide to do the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, an ancient story about a bamboo cutter who finds a child in bamboo, the child is from the moon. Talking about it, they realize that they need to know a lot more about space so they can update the story and make it their own. The brother of one of the students is a university student studying astrophysics. With his help, and the help of his teacher, they learn a lot more about the universe.
The authors use things like soccer to demonstrate some of the current theories and discuss the history of astrophysics from the time when people thought the earth was the center of a very small universe, to realizing we weren't even the center of our solar system and on to realizing just how vast the universe is.
They explain the measurements used and a little bit about how our current data is being accumulated. They discuss theories as well as what is known and explain how tests and math are validating the theories that scientists currently have about the universe, it's origins, it's possible eventual end, and how it all works. Even talking about the possibility of extra-terrestrial life.
It's a fantastic introduction into basic astrophysics. Not just for kids but also for adults who would like more understanding. I'm not a scientist. Just an occasional dabbler, I watch Nova and read some of the more popular books on the subject. Where these books absolutely shine is how easy it is to apply the material to things you know so that you can learn it in the stories. The further detail in the text sections is then building on what you've learned so you can have a deeper understanding. Because it's engagingly written, these books have a strong appeal both to teens and adults.
August 4, 2022
Beh, decisamente meglio degli altri che ho letto. Ci sono meno formule e quindi il mio cervello non è andato in tilt. Però è ricco di contenuti e dà molto da pensare.
La storia manga è praticamente inesistente. Allo stesso tempo, tra i tre che ho letto, questo è quello che ha maggiori rimandi alla cultura giapponese. Kagura-Hyme, la festa di Tanabata, il Tanuki. Questa cosa che son sempre le ragazze ad avere bisogno di aiuto da personaggi di sesso maschile comincia ad irritarmi. Ci sarà mai una manga guide in cui una donna è un'esperta e l'adolescente maschio è quello bisognoso di aiuto?
Come detto, in questa guida ci sono pochissime forme e la narrazione è molto più discorsiva. A volta l'astronomia si mescola con la filosofia, specialmente verso la fine. Come gli altri, il discorso si fa via via più difficile. La parte sulla forma e sui confini dell'universo è particolarmente impegnativa. Però sì, ci sono scritte cose su cui non avevo mai riflettuto prima.
Va beh, ormai mi leggo anche gli altri cinque allegati alla Repubblica e gli altri li recupererò in inglese.
La storia manga è praticamente inesistente. Allo stesso tempo, tra i tre che ho letto, questo è quello che ha maggiori rimandi alla cultura giapponese. Kagura-Hyme, la festa di Tanabata, il Tanuki. Questa cosa che son sempre le ragazze ad avere bisogno di aiuto da personaggi di sesso maschile comincia ad irritarmi. Ci sarà mai una manga guide in cui una donna è un'esperta e l'adolescente maschio è quello bisognoso di aiuto?
Come detto, in questa guida ci sono pochissime forme e la narrazione è molto più discorsiva. A volta l'astronomia si mescola con la filosofia, specialmente verso la fine. Come gli altri, il discorso si fa via via più difficile. La parte sulla forma e sui confini dell'universo è particolarmente impegnativa. Però sì, ci sono scritte cose su cui non avevo mai riflettuto prima.
Va beh, ormai mi leggo anche gli altri cinque allegati alla Repubblica e gli altri li recupererò in inglese.
November 4, 2011
This is a fairly enjoyable manga book that aims to teach the scientific principles about our universe to a wide audience. As I said in my full Manga Guide to the Universe review over at the About.com Physics website, I'm not a huge fan of manga, and I found the fictional storyline to be fairly contrived and unengaging ... but the science is spot on, and for a person who enjoys manga, then I think it would be quite a good way of making the scientific concepts accessible.
November 9, 2023
L'astronomia a qualcunə risulta una cosa così distante da non avere nemmeno idea di cosa sia. Per altrə è una materia imprescindibile di ricerca. I due casi potrebbero leggere opere di fantascienza o mitologia, ed altre volte... manga. Ed ecco che i Manga delle Scienze hanno deciso di dedicare il sesto volume a questo argomento. E ci sono riusciti, mettendoci un tocco mitologico, un tocco artistico, capacità esplicativa ed esempi di vita reale. Si può sempre rimanere sorpresi da come sono fatti e da come rendono semplice ciò che non lo sembra. Rimangono comunque un approccio introduttivo, ma se... qualche domanda sorge... si può sempre decidere di andare a ricercarla ;-)
April 28, 2020
in this book, you learn about what is outside space and you get to explore the universe in an illustrated way and understand the universe as it is written in a very understandable way as it is written for children and teens. The book explains how the universe works and has small texts in between showing facts and shows the positions of all the planets. The paragraphs also show the size of some of the planets and teach us about the milky way and it was very entertaining to read.
May 4, 2015
This was a fun and worthwhile read, despite being a hybrid between a text-book and a manga. Or rather, in spite of being one. There's enough information here to satisfy the majority of astronomy fans and to help the majority of high-school/college astronomy students, and just enough of a story to satisfy manga fans too. Overall, it's a fun read if you're a fan of both.
September 17, 2011
Read this as part of a piece I'm doing on recent science books. It's a manga and an easy-to-read textbook about the universe! As a manga, it gets a little tough, but as a textbook it is a delight. Ice on Mercury? Who knew!
July 8, 2015
Solid astronomy and cosmology book, although less of it is explained in the comics/manga format that I would have liked. Basically a very good science education book with occasional manga interludes.
November 19, 2011
Pengetahuan mengenai alam semesta yang disampaikan ala manga yang kocak.
August 7, 2012
Ignoring the frivolous story line, this book is good for helping to visualize simple astronomical concepts but doesn't really help with complex topics.
May 20, 2013
I really enjoyed reading this :)
the story isn't really special ...but It was really simplified that even someone like me with no background about physics or astronomy could understand it ^^
the story isn't really special ...but It was really simplified that even someone like me with no background about physics or astronomy could understand it ^^
October 27, 2013
I liked the book a lot, but I didn't like the subjects they were focusing on in it. Otherwise it was pretty good. There are better aspects of astronomy to read about.
April 15, 2015
Can Kaguya-hime be our guide through cosmology? It is a fun trip, anyway.
May 11, 2016
The comic portion was a bit too disconnected from the material on this one but still good.
January 11, 2017
Più che astronomia, ormai si parla di cosmologia, una disciplina scientifica ai limiti della filosofia. Molto testo e poco fumetto, ma mi sembra necessario. Argomenti affascinanti direi ben trattati.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews