While I love life science - biology, ecology, entomology, etc. - I'm not that big on the physical sciences - chemistry, physics, geology, etc. But I like to learn new things so I decided to branch out a little. I love observing the natural world and this book promised to be "gorgeously illustrated" I thought it might bridge the gap for me to jump into the physical sciences.

I was expecting more of a coffee table-type book that would have a lot of pictures with short text. Perhaps the print version looks like that, but the digital book doesn't.

The essays are short and there are illustrations at the start of each new essay with an occasional figure or image in the essay. I don't recommend reading it on a black-and-white screen like a Kindle Paperwhite if you want to enjoy the photos. It wasn't much better on my phone with the Kindle App either. The images were in color but they were pretty small.

While Lightman and I have different beliefs in the origin of the miraculous, it didn't matter. For me, there are no accidents in the created world, whereas he often saw things as occurring by accident. Whatever you believe won't interfere with the explanation of natural phenomena he provides.

I was hoping that learning the science behind the beautiful and curious things I see in the world would increase my appreciation of the natural world. I found some of the explanations interesting, a couple I struggled to follow, and a few I found kind of boring. I did learn some new things but I'm not sure it really increased my awe.

The essays are short so they don't get too technical. There is a lot of referencing other essays so that Lightman doesn't have to repeat himself too often, which I appreciated. I would have preferred that essays that dealt with similar things had been grouped closer together. I think it would have reinforced the information more and I might have made more connections.

If you are a science fan or just interested in understanding the world around you, then this is a good book to pick up.

My review will be published at Girl Who Reads on Thursday, Nov. 21 - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2024/11/3-nonfiction-books-for-science.html