Lebans: The Quirks and Quarks Guide to Space
From Scienticity
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If you are lucky enough to get CBC radio, you probably already know about "Quirks and Quarks", the science show broadcast on Saturdays. Host Bob MacDonald explains all the newest scientific discoveries, in everyday language and with humor. I was very excited to see this book released, and it is going to have a prominent place on my desk at school. During physics classes, the most amazing questions can be asked, and I don't know the answer to many of them, astronomy not being my strong suit. I may even start reading a chapter out loud every day or so, because this is the stuff that people want to know.
To give you an idea of the tone of the book, which is very readable, the opening quote is from Douglas Adams, "Space is big. Really big...." Lebans, a producer with the "Quirks and Quarks" show, tackles 42 questions and then answers them. Where does space begin? (100km above Earth.) Can I run fast and jump into orbit? (Theoretically, but not really.) What moons are worth visiting? (Jupiter's Europa and Saturn's Titan might be very interesting.) How fast are we moving through space? (It's all relative to what else is moving, but pretty fast.)
Lebans does a great job of explaining why Pluto isn't a planet anymore, and what might happen if you fell into a black hole, which involves 'spaghettifying.' I first heard that phrase when watching 'A Brief History of Time,' the documentary based on Stephen Hawking's book of the same name. I am not up to date enough to know if everything is accurate, but since science changes so rapidly, I'll assume it is good for now. I plan to reread some of the Big Bang Theory questions later, and I hope I'll be lending this out to those inquisitive students who love physics.
-- Notes by RG3
