Stuart Clark

It is the late seventeenth century and still the movement of the planets remains a mystery despite the revolutionary work of Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei and Tycho Brahe almost a hundred years previously. Edmond Halley - dynamic adventurer and astronomer - seeks the help of Isaac Newton in unravelling the problem, but though obsessed with understanding the orbits of the planets, Newton has problems of his own which could undermine the essential...

A groundbreaking guide to the universe and how our latest deep-space discoveries are forcing us to revisit what we know-and what we don't. On March 21, 2013, the European Space Agency released a map of the afterglow of the Big Bang. Taking in 440 sextillion kilometres of space and 13.8 billion years of time, it is physically impossible to make a better map: we will never see the early universe in more detail. On the one hand, such a view is the apotheosis...

Readers get a stellar look at space science in this helpful guide to how the universe-and our exploration of it-works. From the Big Bang to today's space stations, telescopes, and rovers, readers uncover the history of humanity's fascination with space and all the things we've learned about the planets, the sun, and what lies beyond our solar system. The insightful main text that supplements essential science curriculum topics is paired with detailed...