A Quick History of the Universe

Clive Gifford, Rob Flowers Wide Eyed £9.99  PB

There are many books claiming to give a brief history of the Universe, but there can be few as concise as

A Quick History of the Universe, at least in terms of words.

Aimed at somewhat younger readers than most cosmology books, perhaps aged 10 or so, there is relatively little jargon that isn’t explained – though some familiarity with concepts such as matter being made of particles would help. More

technical terms are defined (and there’s a

brief glossary), often emphasised with

interesting typefaces (again, appealing to

younger readers).

But that doesn’t mean it shies away from content. Beginning at, well, the beginning, the book whizzes through the usual fare: from the Big Bang and creation of the elements to the formation and evolution of galaxies, stars and planets, the

evolution of life, and finally the end.

On the way it pauses to consider brown dwarfs, hairy stars, superclusters and photosynthesis. There’s a nice compressed history of the Universe

(scaling down to one year) and a couple

of pages on how we know what we know.

Rob Flowers’s plentiful illustrations are very colourful and eye-catching, and complement the text throughout. The book’s gentle humour – in both text and images – isn’t too distracting and will

appeal to kids (I chuckled at points, but

maybe that says more about me).

For readers who then want to find out

more, there are suggestions of places to visit, books and magazines to read, and websites to check out. There’s even a quick quiz. ★★★★★

Dr Chris North is Odgen science lecturer and STFC public engagement fellow at Cardiff University