![]() This universal principle, known as the conservation of angular momentum, is also what drives a tornado’s destructive spiral. Tornadoes, for instance, tell us how our star system was born - the processes that drive these giant rotating storms obey the same physics forces that caused clumps to form at the center of nebulae five billion years ago, around which the gas cloud collapsed and began spinning ever-faster, ordering the chaos, until the early Solar System was churned into existence. We are part of a much wider ecosystem, and our prosperity and even long-term survival are contingent on our understanding of it.īut most revelational of all is Cox’s gift from illustrating what our Earthly phenomena, right here on our seemingly ordinary planet, reveal about the wonders and workings of the Solar System. If we deny this innate and powerful urge, perhaps because earthly concerns seem more worthy or pressing, then the borders of our intellectual and physical domain will shrink with our ambitions. Curiosity is the rocket fuel that powers our civilization. It is a plea for the spirit of the navigators of the seas and the pioneers of aviation and spaceflight to be restored and cherished a case made to the viewer and reader that reaching for worlds beyond our grasp is an essential driver of progress and necessary sustenance for the human spirit. is desperately relevant, an idea so important that celebration is perhaps too weak a word. That’s precisely what modern-day science-enchanter Brian Cox explores in Wonders of the Solar System ( public library) - the fantastic and illuminating book based on his BBC series of the same title celebrating the spirit of exploration, and a follow-up to his Wonders of Life and every bit as brimming with his signature blend of enthralling storytelling, scientific brilliance, and contagious conviction.Ĭox begins by reminding us that preserving the spirit of exploration is both a joy and a moral obligation - especially at a time when it faces tragic threats of indifference and neglect from the very authorities whose job it is to fuel it, despite a citizenry profoundly in love with the ethos of exploration: I stand in the presence of Zeus himself and take my fill of ambrosia.” But while the cosmos has fascinated humanity since the dawn of time, its mesmerism isn’t that of an abstract other but, rather, the very self-reflexive awareness that Ptolemy attested to, that intimate and inextricable link between the wonders of life here on Earth and the magic we’ve always found in our closest cosmic neighbors. Printed using UV printing techniques, the illustrations appear luminous on the page, making for a truly awe-inspiring reading experience.“I know that I am mortal by nature and ephemeral,” ur-astronomer Ptolemy contemplated nearly two millennia ago, “but when I trace at my pleasure the windings to and fro of the heavenly bodies, I no longer touch earth with my feet. Combining natural history with STEM, Glow considers how bioluminescence works and what we can learn from it, including ways to prevent climate change and tackle pollution. It also celebrates the scientists and deep-sea explorers who, at great personal risk, have travelled to the ocean floor to study bioluminescence. The first in a series of non-fiction children’s books exploring natural phenomena, Glow introduces readers to creatures that glow in the dark including anglerfish, firefly squid, lanternfish, the glowing sucker octopus, Flor de Coco and Honey fungi, as well as hosts of fireflies and glow-worms. Smith, Glow takes readers on a magical journey to the deepest ocean trenches, through winding networks of caves and into the darkest corners of the forest to experience the wonder of bioluminescence. Written and illustrated in minute detail by medical illustrator Jennifer N. ![]() Glow explores the remarkable way animals and plants light up of their own accord, and what we can learn from their incredible glow-in-the-dark abilities. ![]() The natural world is an infinite source of wonder and the phenomenon of bioluminescence is no exception. ![]()
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