The DK Space Encyclopedia

This splendid volume, clear and up-to-date, starts with means of astronomical observation and goes on to spacecraft and satellites. Detailed description of the Solar System and of stars and galaxies each take up about a quarter of the book. There are twenty pages of cosmology and thirty on practical stargazing, plus some well-organised apparatus. The DK standard of cross-referencing is admirably maintained. Although astronomy is presented as a developing subject, there are some assertions, not universally accepted by astronomers, which may need to be qualified or revised in later editions. However, the careful reader will be so well-prepared to follow new developments in the popular literature as to be able to make such revisions for herself. A 1996 CD-ROM, the Eyewitness Encyclopedia of Space and the Universe, covering much the same material in rather brief chunks, is included. For Windows only, not for Macs.