From the ancients who charted the stars, to Jules Verne and Flash Gordon, to The X-Files, Apollo 13, and Armageddon, people through the ages have been intrigued with the heavens and outer space. And yet so many of us look up at the night sky and have to admit that we are totally in the dark when it comes to the most basic facts about the heavens.Into the void steps Kenneth C. Davis with the latest addition to his best selling and critically acclaimed Don't Know Much About series. Don't Know Much About the Universe is a lively and clear guide to the discoveries, theories, and real people that have shaped space exploration from the beginning of civilization to the present.
From a historical overview of man's fascination with space to a guided tour of our solar system and beyond, Kenneth Davis seeks, as always, to entertain as he teaches. He looks at issues that go beyond the bounds of simple "Science 101" and asks the kinds of questions we may have wanted to ask back in school but didn't have the nerve: Who dug those canals on Mars? Is a "blue moon" really blue? What does astronomy have to do with astrology? Will we end with a bang or a whimper?
Kenneth Davis has taught us about history, geography, the Civil War, and the Bible. Now he reaches for the heavens and proves once again that learning can be fun.