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| The 200-inch Hale Telescope at Palomar |
It's a poignant, thought-provoking documentary which sees four ageing astronomers - all British, each involved in some of the biggest breakthroughs in astronomy over the past fifty years - recreating a roadtrip and hike they made in 1960, against a backdrop of ponderings on their own mortality, humanity and the secrets to friendship and success.
With our love for space and science at Mostly Books, we needed no excuse to put together a bookstall at the event, and gives us a chance today to tell you about some of the new books out this Autumn which we think will stimulate the mind and send your imagination soaring...
Anyone who has come into the shop in the last couple of years will have had a copy of 'Sapiens' by Yuval Noah Harari pressed into their hands. There aren't many books that get universally recommended in our shop, we think everyone deserves personalised recommendations, but with 'Sapiens' (like 'The Martian' or 'Pride and Prejudice') we make an exception: everyone should read. It featured in Mark's essay on 'How Reading Shapes Our Realities' and is no less than the epic story of our species. But the ending finished on a bit of a cliffhanger - what's going to happen next to our species?
In 'Homo Deus' Harari sets off to find out, along the way taking in a variety of post-apocalyptic and frankly frightening scenarios, mostly involving the end of the world as a whimper rather than a bang, with a few spectacular Jeff Bezos-style winners, but the vast majority not losers as such, but managed, monitored, little more than biochemical systems plugged into a global network relieving boredom in ever more immersive virtual-reality fictions to save our fragile mental states.
If all this sounds depressing, it isn't. Harari offers plenty of 'it doesn't have to be that way' alternatives which actually makes this book surprisingly upbeat and inspiring. After all, the big thing about the future is that it hasn't happened yet.
Where did the Earth come from? Or the Universe for that matter. In fact, where does 'matter' come from? Where does anything come from?
New Scientist deputy editor Graham Lawton and illustrator Jennifer Daniel try - with the aid of a few scientists and 13.7 billion years of universal history - to tell you about the origins of almost everything. After starting with some of the big stuff, they go into more human-scale things such as the origin of oil, human emotions, cities and alcohol, and stuff from post-it notes to the QWERTY keyboard.
Informative and surprising, and topped off with a great foreward by Prof Stephen Hawking, this book entertains and educates in equal amounts and it's been produced in a gorgeous hardback that we think works for anyone young or old. And you do need to know this stuff. After all, as legendary astronomer Carl Sagan once said, 'if you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe'.
A lot of people run screaming from maths and physics, which is a shame, because if you are not too bothered by the maths equations and instead focus on the concepts, you can discover some of the truly wonderful and weird theories about how the universe works. Rovelli's small (78 page) book will not take you long to get through, but you'll definitely feel more comfortable with some of the biggest ideas in modern physics. He is a masterful science communicator, and the effect is an armchair chat with someone who's overriding goal is to prove that you are way smarter than you think you are.
This was a big hit in the shop when it came out in a gorgeous paperback last year, and now available in an equally lovingly-produced paperback.
Astronaut Tim Peake visited Harwell this week, but he would be the first to admit that the rock star of the astronaut world is 'Chris Hadfield', the guy who made space cool again, with his tweets from the International Space Station, and his in-orbit rendition of 'Space Oddity' becoming one of the most-watched videos in history.
In this, his first book for children, Chris tells the story of a young boy who is scared of the dark, but through watching real astronauts on the Moon, discovers that there are places in the universe darker yet more exciting. It's a pitch-perfect, heartwarming story about facing fears and following dreams - even when they are slightly scary.
The illustrations - from Toronto illustrators Eric and Terry Fan - are both cute and adorable, and the whole story is based on Chris’ own childhood. Children (and adults) can read about this softly-spoken, inspirational man and realise that we can all face our fears, and end up doing whatever we want to.
Few people do space better than Usborne, and we're huge fans of author Louie Stowell. We've a big selection of Usborne's space books at the moment, but we've picked out her 'Story of Astronomy and Space' which we love.
It's the history of spaceflight told in a masterful storytelling experience, packed with scientific facts about the solar system, comets, the Big Bang theory, telescopes and space exploration. Complex ideas are easy and fun, and there's also star charts, a glossary, and an astronomy timeline.
We love this book - simple as. The 60s-style retro illustrations are a joy, the content is perfectly thought-out and presented.
Professor Astrocat is a brave and engaging guide, together with his mouse companion, as he explains all kinds of complex ideas from energy and gravity to what atoms are made of. The result is a brilliant primer for children of all ages, and a sneaky pleasure for anyone who likes original and beautifully produced books.
To infinity and beyond! If you've any space books you'd like to share, tweet them to us - or post something on the blog.
Brilliant event - sparkling speaker, stellar film and scintillating collection of books!
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