Under The Microscope

STEPHEN BIESTY'S INCREDIBLE EXPLOSIONS by Richard Platt; Viking/Penguin, 1996; 32 pages; $34.95
INCREDIBLE COMPARISONS by Russell Ash; Viking/Penguin, 1996; 65 pages; $34.95

Viking continues to overwhelm and impress with the amount of information they can pack into this series of beautifully produced books. The Explosions book follows along the lines of the wildlife one reviewed earlier (Nature Cross-Sections) in that it deals with "exploded" views of interesting items. Instead of animals, this book deals with the minute details that make up things like an airport, a space station, a movie studio and an Antarctic base. It's a book for studying intently -- the technology focus would make it a useful adjunct for classroom lessons, and the amount of information would satisfy a bed-ridden adult.

But Incredible Comparisons is where this highly visual approach really comes into its own. The comparisons are striking and memorable -- one and a half Hindenburgs illustrate the volume of air breathed in a 70-year lifetime; 28 hummingbirds fly next to a golfball, demonstrating equivalent weight. Jumbo jets, bull elephants and bathtubs are used to make at-a-glance comparisons and people, from toddlers to adults, are used to provide scale. All this and an index too.

It's not often -- if ever! -- you come across a book jammed with so much maths and statistics that is both beautiful and engrossing. I just wish they hadn't printed the bird-eating spider lifesize -- that's too memorable...

Vicki Hyde, NZSM