Customer Reviews

Universe: A Journey from Earth to the Edge of the Cosmos

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"UNIVERSE, a Journey from Earth TO THE EDGE OF THE COSMOS" is overwhelming. What else can be expected when the subject is our Universe?

Perhaps you remember a fad (mostly among boys?) to embellish the address inscribed in school textbooks: beginning with name, street, town & state, followed by "The U.S.A., North American continent, Planet Earth, The Milky Way, and ending: "THE UNIVERSE." Nicholas Cheetham, author & editor, takes the reader farther than that - on beyond the reaches of man's mind, using such sources as interplanetary probes and the Hubble Space Telescope. His (literally) soliid book contains the most currently available and glorious 'PORTRAITS' - numbering almost 200. All of these wonders are for us to see on the way to the edge of Space.

There are some like fireworks' displays, and others resembling the nanobodies in the bone marrow! Color, drama, EVEN SILENCE IS SOMEHOW VISIBLE in this wondrous photography. If you believe in a God of Creation there is plenty in this book to amaze you. The beauty of connectedness, formations, colors and shapes found in these photographs is mind-blowing. Should we close our minds to the possibility of understanding? NO! We need to learn a lesson in humility at the same time we seek out all the ways we can to learn more.

The 'table of contents' is presented in a unique horizontal chart that is a surprisingly easy aid to use. From our Solar System on pages 10-11 to the Pleiades (p.60), and Ghost Head Nebula (p.144), to 'The Mice' (p.198-99), we find our breathtaking way to the Hubble Ultra Deep Field galaxies that show order beginning to emerge from Chaos.

Explorers from our history books could only stare wordless if shown pictures of "this dawning of Time" & "the afterglow of the Big Bang itself." You don't have to be an astronomer to want to keep this book 'handy' ! You will want to refer often to its encyclopedic knowledge, the Glossary, and the magnificent, extraordinary beauty of these 'portraits'. And YES! (on pages 134-135) we are shown a dense field of nearly 10 million stars: the heart of our galaxy: THE MILKY WAY. Says mcHAIKU: 'How can we not live in awe of this, our Universe?' Absorb it, and share.

This is the ultimate "picture" book.I originally bought this book from a pile of remaindered books at a local bookstore for my young children. I'm now buying the hardcover version for myself because it's so unique from an artistic and lay-scientific view.

After the 4-page introduction, the balance of the 217 pages are devoted to strikingly glorious images of astronomic phenomena. The book ends with a computer image of dark matter, the first I've ever seen. All of the images are accompanied by a brief explanatory paragraph and by a number indicating how far in light-years (or in the case of our solar system, light-minutes or -seconds) the given nebula, galaxy, etc. is from Earth. The pages are arranged in ascending order in distance. One could learn a lot from reading this or one can simply enjoy the visuals.

This is a very interesting book for beginners who are interested in astronomy and want to know more about the universe and the objects in the cosmos. The book starts at earth and ends at probably the farthest object known to humans with descriptions for every planet, moon, star, nebula and galaxies. It also comes with a glossary at the end if you are not sure about the definitions of certain words!!
A must have book in the collection :)

Aside from the spectacular photography, this book takes the reader on a true journey through our universe. To see other planets, comets, black holes, stars, and a myriad of fascinating views, is the ultimate reason to buy this book.

The photographs of these phenomenons are crisp, clear, and utterly fascinating. The colors are amazing. Your eyes are in for a real treat!

Incredible collection of imagery, awesome surprises on almost every page. The incipient detonation of Eta Carinae, SN1987A with two perfect rings visible from 170,000 light years away only a couple of decades after the event, the tail of the Mice streaming out hundreds of thousands of light years into space, all with concise accompanying text.

Jarringly out of place is a standard boilerplate assertion of copyright over the whole contents, when virtually all the photos are products of US government research and in the public domain. Please go out and copy them! Just leave the text out.

The furthest man has traveled away from earth: 1.3 seconds. Light seconds that is. 1.3 seconds out of 13.7 billion years of total 'depth' of the universe. On cosmic scales we are incredibly immobile, but... we can look deep.

With recent scientific and technological advances (Hubble Space Telescope, WMAP) we can look where none of us will ever travel. Deep down into the history of the universe. This book gives a magnificent display of this visual journey. From our neighbor next door (the Moon) at 1.3 seconds, via the planets in the solar system (up to a few hours away), the Oort Cloud (a year away), our Galaxy (with it's center being 25 thousand years away), the Magellanic clouds (160 thousand years away), galaxies near (a few millions years) and distant (hundreds of million years), to the very edge in time: Galactic clusters, Quasars and finally the WMAP echo of the Big Bang more than 13 billion years away.

This book will make you marvel at the accomplishments of modern astronomy. Each page is a picture with a minimum amount of text: name of the object, distance from earth (in light seconds, minutes or years), and a few key facts. The pictures are magnificent. Buy this book if you want to get a perspective on mankind's place in this vast universe.

I bought the paperback. Be aware that the hardcover version can be bought for well below 10 dollar. A steal.

I bought this for my 10 and 15 year olds, they love it, great pics with great quality printing.

I bought four copies of this book when I found it at Borders a couple of years ago. One for my son, 3 as gifts. It became our "coffee table" book and everyone gets lost in it. It is meditative, awe-inspiring, informative, and has served as artistic inspiration for a few friends. The photos are beyond beautiful and they look computer-generated---it is hard to believe our universe looks this amazing! Beyond our ability to conceive, it becomes clear as you become lost in this book that nebulas are living collectives; organisms. Simply astounding. I cannot say enough wonderful things about this book; it is a must for anyone who loves outer space, for scientists, and a great family staple. Absolutely exquisite- you will never tire of looking at these pages over and over throughout your life.