Booklist

With titles like Stem Cell Research and Climate Change Research (both 2010), the Inside Science series actively courts controversial subjects. As the books’ introduction states, the series “provides students with a sense of the painstaking work that goes into scientific research,” thereby giving nascent naysayers pause. And it’s a goal well accomplished: Parks piles on the research, digging deep into interstellar study, programs that reach into space, and what it all means to the common person, never shying away from detail and onerous proper nouns (see: “Lyman-Alpha space blobs”). A time line of important events kicks it all off, followed by modern-leaning chapters on research (space weather, asteroids), probes (from the Mars Rover to the comet-puncturing Deep Impact), the collaborative efforts of space stations, telescopes, and future directions in the field. As is always the case with the publisher, the color layout features plenty of photos, boxes, and charts, while Parks delivers a surprisingly spry text. Slim but packed, this is ideal for middle or high school reports.