I Read, Therefore I Blog

First Space: Activity and Colouring Book by National Geographic Kids

2025-04-20T21:08:08Z

The Blurb On The Back:

Blast off into space in this fun-packed activity book for young children.

Brimming with mazes, matching pairs, counting, spot the difference, dot-to-dots, colouring and drawing.

Discover the moon, planets, stars and beyond, learning fun facts along the way.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

National Geographic’s activity book for readers aged 5+ (part of a series) mixes facts about the solar system with plenty of fun activities to keep young readers busy, including maze puzzles, dot-to-dot pictures and pictures to colour. If you have a young reader who’s interested in space then this will definitely keep them entertained but I would have liked more facts than are given and more cohesion (e.g. there is nothing on the ice planets).

FIRST SPACE ACTIVITY AND COLOURING BOOK was released in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2025. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

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Lightspeed: The Ghostly Aether And The Race To Measure The Speed Of Light by John C. H. Spence

2024-02-10T23:17:30Z

The Blurb On The Back:

This book tells the human story of one of man’s greatest intellectual adventures - how it came to be understood that light travels at a finite speed, so that when we look up at the stars, we are looking back in time. And how the search for an absolute frame of reference in the universe led so improbably to Einstein’s famous equation E = mc2,, which represents the energy that powers the stars and unclear weapons. From the ancient Greeks measuring the distance to the Sun, to today’s satellite navigation, the book takes the reader on a gripping historical journey. We see how Galileo with his new telescope discovered the moons of Jupiter and used their eclipses as a global clock, allowing travellers to find their Longitude. And how Ole Roemer, noticing that the eclipses were a little late, used this to obtain the first measurement of the speed of light, which takes eight minutes to get to us from the Sun. We then move from the remarkable international collaborations to observe the Transits of Venus, including Cook’s voyage to Australia, to the extraordinary achievements of Young and Fresnel, whose discoveries eventually taught us that light travels as a wave but arrives as a particle, and all the quantum weirdness which follows. In the nineteenth century, we find Faraday and Maxwell, struggling to understand how light can propagate through the vacuum of space unless space is filled with a ghostly vortex Aether foam. We follow the brilliantly gifted experimentalists Hertz, discoverer of radio, Michelson with his search for the Aether wind, and Foucault and Fizeau with their spinning mirrors and light beams across the rooftops of Paris. Messaging faster than light, Einstein’s theory, quantum entanglement, and the reality of the quantum world, conclude this saga.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

John C H. Spence teaches physics at Arizona State University and is Snell Professor and Director of Science for the National Science Foundation’s BioXFEL Consortium. This is an absorbing historical account of how scientists learned to measure the speed of light but although I enjoyed the personal details Spence gives on the scientists and he does try to simplify the complicated mathematical formulae, some of the book was above my skill level.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

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The Scientific Method by Massimiliano Di Ventra

2019-10-28T22:27:26Z

The Blurb On The Back:

This book looks at how science investigates the natural world around us. It is an examination of the scientific method, the foundation of science and basis on which our scientific knowledge is built. Written in a clear, concise, and colloquial style, the book addresses all concepts pertaining to the scientific method. It includes discussions on objective reality, hypotheses and theory, and the fundamental and inalienable role of experimental evidence in scientific knowledge.

This collection of personal reflections on the scientific methodology shows the observations and daily uses of an experienced practitioner. Massimiliano Di Ventra also examines the limits of science and the errors we make when abusing its method in non scientific contexts. By reflecting on the general method, the reader can critically sort through other types of scientific claims, and judge their ability to apply it in study and in practice.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Massimiliano Di Ventra is Professor of Physics at the University of California, San Diego. In this book (illustrated by Matteo Di Ventra) he aims to provide readers with an understanding of scientific methodology and its limitations so that readers can evaluate scientific claims. However, while it’s intended as an easy read, you need some scientific knowledge to follow everything and while I got the overall gist, at times I was left confused.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

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