The universe at large Book

There is nothing better to get you through I boring teleconference than having a handy book to read. Okay I am not advocating you ignore work and read (although it would be so tempting) but there are times I do wonder why I have to be dragged in to these things and thankfully Asimov was at hand to help me - although to be honest I was pretty close to finishing already

Now before I go to far after being quizzed by a friend who saw me reading this book I have to admit that I suspect some of the findings and statements in this book are now a little dated - hence the 3 stars- simply because there is so much out there still to be discovered and yes a tiny fraction of that has been since this book was published.

However for a total novice and amateur like me you have to start somewhere and this book is as good as any as apart from nothing else you have Asimov gentle charm and wisdom to guide you through what can be at times a very daunting and complicated subject - go on I dare you to read some of the higher papers my friend was trying to push on to me!!

Anyway what of the book - well as the title says it starts small and ends big - very big. After all early astronomy (if it can be called that) really related to what you could see around you and that is where this book start but it rapidly progresses from there.

Now it must be remembered that this book was written before the internet before cable and before to be honest many of the popular science tools that we take for granted now existed so you had to work with what you had. So if you want a bit of science history from for me one of the greatest popular science writers this is as good as any,