Mysteries of: The Universe - Softcover

Grade 4-6-Though these titles suggest that they grapple with the unanswered questions of outer space and ancient Egypt, what they actually include is known information, with a few "what ifs" thrown in for spice. Universe covers the history of how humans have viewed space, as well as facts on the moon, planets, galaxies, stars, and current and future space exploration. Pyramids traces ancient Egyptian culture (mummies, religion, hieroglyphs), its discoveries, and scanty information on other pyramids around the world. The books' layout favors browsing over research; paragraph-long captions annotate full-color illustrations and photographs, but rarely give in-depth information on one topic. Simplification and attempts to cover too much too briefly mar both books. Many other titles cover similar material equally well, or better. Try The Visual Dictionary of the Universe (DK, 1993) or James Putnam's Pyramid (Knopf, 1994) for better fact and photo coverage of the same topics.
Cathryn A. Camper, Minneapolis Public Library
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.