Published 28th September 2023 by Icon Books.
From the cover of the book:
Take a voyage into space to explore the wonders of the galaxy and beyond.With award-winning science writer Brian Clegg as your deep space guide, step on board the starship Endurance and marvel at the fascinating sights of deepest, darkest space.
Although our vessel is fictional, the phenomena you will visit, from the vast nebulae that are birthplaces of stars to stellar explosions in vast supernovas, creating the elements necessary for life - or from the planets of other solar systems to the unbelievably supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way - all reflect the best picture current science has to offer.
Accompanying Interstellar Tours is an online gallery with over fifty images and videos in full colour, each directly accessible from the page using QR codes.
It may never be possible to undertake a voyage through the stars for real. But with Interstellar Tours, you can enjoy the ultimate cruise across the Milky Way.
***********
In this fun and informative book, Brian Clegg welcomes you aboard his fictional starship Endurance for a tour among the stars, where he introduces the wonders on offer in our galaxy.
The book takes the form of part-travelogue and part popular science text, covering an astonishing array of galactic phenomena for your space tourist delectation. From sinister black holes to a speculatively ballistic Betelgeuse, via all manner of planetary, starry, and satellite surprises, this trip allows you experience our corner of the cosmos in amazing detail. Clegg packs in facts about what we know about our galaxy; the work of the pioneers who have brought this knowledge to us; and the mechanics of space travel. He also conjectures about the things we may yet discover, and how to make this imaginary journey possible in the future.
The physics Clegg covers is challenging at times, and even though he does his level best to explain it in easy terms, these are advanced concepts and theories. As a novice when it comes to the physics of space and time, despite being a fan of a grand space opera, I did struggle with parts of this book. However, if you love to revel in facts and theories and enjoy getting into the nitty gritty of the complex and conflicting notions of conventional and quantum physics, then you will find lots here to get your teeth into. I would recommend taking this book in small bites though, as there is a wealth of information to take on board in one go.
My favourite thing about this book is the way Clegg uses the interstellar voyage concept as a theme, mixing in snippets of humour and references to some of the sci-fi shows we know and love, such as Star Trek. In a clever twist, rather than including illustrations, there are QR codes throughout to access photographs and videos to allow you to 'view' the wonders he is describing too, just as if you actually were sitting comfortably aboard an interstellar spaceship. This is very helpful in understanding the phenomena you are 'seeing through the starship windows'.
This is not my usual kind of read, but it makes for an engaging mix of fact and fiction to dip in and out of. I learned many new things about the galaxy in which we live, and it made me ponder about what might really be possible in the future in terms of space travel. Highly recommended if you are a fan, or writer, of sci-fi space adventures too, as it is a useful resource about many of the weird and wonderful things that crop up in interstellar stories.
Interstellar Tours is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.
Thank you to Icon Books for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.
About the author:
No comments:
Post a Comment