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Liblog
Staff members from the Greenfield Public Library will write about recent developments at the library, staff book recommendations, new materials, updates on the progress of the new library, upcoming events and programs, and highlights of specific collections. For more information about the Greenfield Public Library, check out our web site.
Check out this book
By Greenfield Public Library
Friday, Mar 14 2008, 03:23 PM
The recent lunar eclipse has persuaded me to write my first Greenfield Liblog book review on The Planets by Dava Sobel. Having read another of her books, Longitude, I was familiar with her ability to present scientific information in an entertaining manner. Those of us who are not astronomy buffs, but, nevertheless, stand in awe of the majesty of the universe while gazing at the glossed cluster of a clear northern sky, find a user friendly interpreter in Ms Sobel. Contained in this book is history, discovery, mythology, mystery, suspense, beauty, glory, failure, science, creation, competition, and certainly, facts and figures of our star, planets, moons, asteroids and more. All this is woven together with poetic and spiritual appreciation. I particularly enjoyed learning how and when our local heavenly bodies were named. For example, why is our planet named Earth, when, logically, it should be Ocean? Plus, I now can tell you the order of planets from nearest to farthest from the sun thanks to the excellent mnemonic "my very educated mother just served us nine pies". Of course, lately the planetary status of "pies" has been called into question. Hey! You'll learn why we are dePlutoed in this book, published by Viking in 2005.The Planets by Dava Sobel is a concise, informative and enthusiastic story of what's all around us. The call number in the Greenfield Library Nonfiction section is 523.3 SOB. -- shelver dennis
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