Hello. My daughter is in eight grade (US public school) and seems to be very interested in astrophysics/relativity/particle physics, black holes in particular. She has read through a few books from the library but I’m not sure they’ve been the best for her age. For example, she doesn’t have the background to follow most of the math. She’s just a regular kid who’s become fascinated with this stuff. Can anyone provide book recommendations for someone at this level?
Thanks!
In school, I found Discovering the Universe absolutely fascinating. It’s pricey, but aimed at middle to high school, and heavy on the gorgeous full-colour pictures but light on the calculus. If you can find a copy from the library, or get a used copy (or splurge on a new one, for that matter) I would strongly recommend this book. You could also look at getting one of the older editions, which are likely to be a lot less.
ETA: Apparently the 7th Ed. is available in paperback for much, much less.
I don’t know any titles off the top of my head but Carl Segan is the King at breaking that stuff down for the lay person.
The other source of interesting, well-written and thought-provoking essays that I enjoyed is Asimov, although much of what he wrote will be somewhat dated now. I’d still say it’s worth picking up some of his collections, though.
Stephen Hawking’s “A Brief History of Time” is an excellent introduction aimed at the average person.
I hesitated to recommend ABHoT, because while it’s an excellent book, I’m not sure it would be entirely suitable for an 8th grader. It lacks a bit of the eye-candy that makes an introduction to the subject really appealing.
When I was in high school, I thought Cosmos by Carl Sagen was a great, comprehensive book for the laymen on your listed topics. It includes a good mix of the science, and the history of the people and discoveries behind them. I think it’s a great place to start.
Also, I think it’s important for her to grasp Special and General Relativity (on the concept level), and at least get aquatinted with Quantum Mechanics and the problems it poses for physicists trying to form a unified theory, before she dives into anything deeper or more specific. Perhaps she already does, if so… Brian Greene has some entertaining books on the topics of String Theory/multiple dimensions and SpaceTime itself.
I haven’t read it yet, but Greene also has a new illustrated board-book aimed at kids/teens… The Icarus at the Edge of Time. I’m thinking of getting it for my kids.
That’s Carl Sagan. :smack:
Thanks everyone for the leads, they’re just what I was looking for.