The Sun (Gateway Solar System)

Presents information on the composition, atmosphere, and origin of the sun

Grade 3-5?Supported by plenty of spectacular, full-color photographs, many from a joint Japanese-U.S. orbiting telescope, this account of the sun's turbulent structure and behavior should spark a fascination with matters astronomical in even the most earthbound readers. Despite an occasional inanity?"If the Sun didn't exist, we wouldn't either"?Vogt picks out intriguing details and demonstrates physical principles with practiced ease. He touches on unexplained phenomena, such as why the outer layer of the solar atmosphere is hotter than the inner, and speculates on the past and future of the sun and solar system. The information seems up to date and reliable, though the author does not get into types of stars and scants the history of solar research. Books of wider scope, such as the author's own Solar System (Holt, 1995), are more economical choices for smaller collections. However, largely thanks to the illustrations, The Sun outshines many of the older surveys, such as Isaac Asimov's The Sun (Gareth Stevens, 1994) or Michael George's The Sun (Child's World, 1992).?John Peters, New York Public Library
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.