Class: Nonfiction
Reviewed by: Douglas G. Adler
Title: Wonderful Worlds of Science Fiction and Science Truth
Creator: Keith Cooper
Format: Hardcover/Kindle
Pages: 224
Writer: Reaktion Books
Date: Might, 2025
Retail value: $22.50/$13.50
ISBN: 978-1789149944
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Science fiction is enjoyable and thrilling. Robots, laser weapons, hyperspace, and starships battling for dominance amidst the celebrities are all grist for the mill. Astronomy, past the “gee whiz” issue, rapidly turns into a really dense and technical space of research that takes a few years to grasp. Planetary astronomy, specifically, has been experiencing a interval of explosive development and widespread curiosity ever for the reason that extrasolar planet (exoplanet) 51 Pegasi b was found in 1995.
This usually leaves readers selecting between science fiction works that describe purely imagined worlds and astronomy books that delve into dense technical materials, with little within the center. Whereas the fictional phrases of Tatooine and Arrakis appear very actual to tens of millions of Star Wars and Dune followers, precise extrasolar planets akin to Iota Draconis b or OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb are, let’s consider, more difficult to get to know.
Into the hole between these two sources of fabric steps Keith Cooper with Wonderful Worlds of Science Fiction and Science Truth. The e book cleverly makes use of reader’s familiarity with invented worlds from science fiction tv applications, movies, and books as a solution to get them to consider astronomy on the whole and precise extrasolar planets specifically.
The desert planets Tatooine and Arrakis are used to debate extrasolar planets the place water is prone to be scarce. The frozen world of Hoth from The Empire Strikes Again is used to introduce readers to worlds of ice, to debate planetary ice ages, geology ideas, and different components that might make a world completely frigid. Tatooine can be closely mentioned within the context of phrases orbiting binary and even trinary star techniques (for the file, Tatooine’s suns are formally named Tatoo I and Tatoo II). Might a planet orbiting two or extra suns be liveable? Would its orbit be steady? What kind of life would possibly evolve on such a world? Cooper addresses these kinds of questions, and extra.
The e book assumes that the reader is no less than aware of probably the most well-known titles in trendy science fiction canon, and likewise mentions and describes an important many lesser-known works and their authors. As a lifetime reader of science fiction and a scholar of astronomy, I loved the rapid-fire, round-robin tenor of the e book as references to many books and movies I had loved got here up for dialogue. There’s vital consideration paid to real-world exoplanets and the missions that found them, giving readers a way of how briskly this space of research is progressing.
Sadly, and considerably surprisingly given the subject material, there’s a paucity of illustrations past a couple of shade plates. The e book would have benefited from extra photos and diagrams to assist illustrate the numerous attention-grabbing ideas described, particularly for youthful readers. The duvet picture, of a Saturn-like world rising over an unnamed rocky exoplanet, appears to be deliberately suggestive of the works of famed house artist Chesley Bonestell.
General, this can be a worthy effort that’s largely geared to readers occupied with planetary astronomy and cosmology who’ve learn their share of science fiction books and who had been weaned on Star Trek and the Star Wars trilogy. The tone is lighthearted however nonetheless manages to convey a number of attention-grabbing info whereas not getting slowed down in too many technical particulars of the nuts and bolts of house telescopes such because the CHaracterising ExOPlanets Satellite tv for pc (CHEOPS) or Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite tv for pc (TESS). I believe readers of Advert Astra would discover the e book interesting on a number of ranges.
© 2025 Douglas G. Adler
