This book review was originally posted to my ko-fi page.
Now, it's no secret I love space. As a three-time NASA Intern, I'm pretty sure I love space. In fact, beyond that, I enjoy teaching people about space and other sciences.
Bad Astronomy is a book I received for Christmas in 2019. I follow @BadAstronomer on Twitter, and he has amazing tweets about space science that keep me excited for what's next in our world.
This book is amazing. Chapter by chapter it debunks anything from why the sun isn't yellow to how the moon appears larger in the sky at the horizon. Phil Plait, the author, takes the reader through a journey to explain the nuances of why people believe this incorrectly, and why it works a particular way according to scientific analysis.
My only complaint is it's a dense, hard read. This surprised me, as Plait is a successful blogger. I can only read things a chapter at a time. Sometimes I have to reread chapters or physically draw a picture to understand how he's explaining something.
Physics can be hard. Astronomy can be hard. And to explain it to a layperson who has no background in sciences, let alone may believe the things he's debunking, can be hard. I have great respect for what Plait does on his Bad Astronomy blog. In fact, he is excellent at the format, in the same way I could read a chapter at a time.
The book is well done, just not the light summer read I anticipated. If astronomy and science readings are interesting to you, I would definitely recommend them.