Unlocking the Universe

I just finished this magnificent book with tons of information about the James Webb Telescope. This book tells the story of the construction of the telescope. With great pictures and information, I was blown away by this book.

I grew up in the "rocket city" of Huntsville, AL, so I have always been fascinated by space. This book was a treat that nourished my inner child/teen.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance read.
Unlocking the Universe by Suzanne Slade
Publish date 10/7/24

#books #space #netgalley #jameswebbspacetelescope

This is the story of the James Webb Space Telescope and how it was designed, built, deployed, and what it has helped discover. It's written in an engaging style that is informative and keeps you interested. Kiddo (10) listened intently the whole way through.

The text is accompanied by stunning full-color, often full-page images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope with some comparisons to those taken by previous telescopes. These images alone are worth reading for.

If your kiddo (or you) is interested in telescopes and space, this is a great read.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Charlesbridge for providing an early copy for review.

Unlocking The Universe is a book aimed at younger space enthusiasts that hope to show what it is that the James Webb Space Telescope is actually doing in space. While a short book (this is aimed at younger readers after all), it does its best to include all of the necessary information that explains what this telescope if capable of doing.

One of the things that I liked was how it showed the electromagnetic spectrum, what parts of this spectrum Webb, Hubble and the Spitzer telescopes all look at, and that us humans are not able to see all of the light that is around us. We also see a size comparison between these three telescopes, along with some workers beside the James Webb Space Telescope, which gives a great idea as to how big these actually are.

The process of how James Webb was constructed, transported to and lunched from Kourou, how it unfolded in space and some of the photos that it has taken were all included. At the end the 4 different imaging instruments and what they do were included for those are wanted to know on a more scientific level what science this telescope is capable of.

For its target audience, this book on the James Webb Space Telescope and what it is capable of is a great way to satisfy their curiosity. It shows the basics of what it does at an age appropriate level.

I realize that this book is intended for a "younger" audience, but I have to admit that even an old geezer like me found it to be thoroughly enjoyable!
It's about the Webb Space Telescope, and the amazing discoveries that have occurred because of it. Starting with the journey to build the telescope, with all of it's fantastic innovations; through the launching of the vehicle into space. And then the unparalleled views that it is providing! Just absolutely amazing views! The photography is worth the price of the book alone. I just found myself staring at the photos, wondering how this universe all came to be. I felt like a young boy of nine years old again, watching Neil Armstrong land on the moon. Buy this for your children, set down with them and help them through any (maybe) tough parts (there really aren't any). Then, when they wander off or go to sleep, snatch it back from them and re-read it yourself. I bet you will be amazed!

A spectacular book filled with awesome photographs from the JWST. Written by an engineer, this concise book gets into the basic science, timeline of its creation, tantalizing moments of its deployment, and resulting findings of this monumental task. A superb addition for any personal or school library best suited for ages 11 and up.

Obviously reading this book as an arc on a small computer screen doesn't allow one to really see the gorgeous space images in their full glory, but I still really enjoyed this arc. I wish it was a longer book, with more pages of space images, and maybe inset close-ups of interesting objects in the images. I've followed space science for years so I had enough background to understand a lot of what was in the photos, but more explanation would make the images more accessible to more readers.
As for the layout, there were a couple pages where the text overlays were white text with gray shadows, over lighter colored backgrounds (full-page image of the mirrors in the clean room, & an image near the end of the Orion Nebula) where the text needed more contrast, maybe opaque text boxes like were used on other pages. Overall though this was a lovely little book about space and space technology.

Fantastic book about the outer space, the Webb telescope and its discoveries.

I cannot wait for the print book to come out.

What a fascinating space and science book! I learned so much about the Webb telescope, but also about all the other important observatories and telescopes we've put into commission.

Being walked through the entire process, from just an idea through design, development and assembly, and into the long journey both on Earth and then outside its atmosphere, I felt like I was reading an adventure novel. I was almost as nervous about putting the folded up telescope into the rocket as I was when The Martian's Mark Whatney was trying to blast off Mars and come back to Earth. It was a nail biter.

If you have any interest at all in space exploration, then this book chock full of information about the who, what, where, why and how of the James Webb Space Telescope, plus all the great pictures to bring the venture to life, is definitely for you.