Tuesday, August 03, 2010

Universe Verse Book 2: It's Alive!

This past December I wrote about an awesome book that was a narrative of the Big Bang, written in fun rhyme and beautifully illustrated as a comic book.

But that was just the beginning.

The author, Jamie Dunbar, has two more books written out. And he's wanting to make them better than the first one by making them in color. Unfortunately, his poor computer can't handle the processing power necessary to manage such large images with all the color, so he's asking for people to help support the project by pledging money to help him get a new computer. If you'd like to contribute, visit the link above.

He's got some deals to sweeten the pot for pledging, so get over there and make this book happen! Sure, it's not as much astronomy as the first book. This one will be covering the formation of the solar system and the origins of life. But given how much engaging material is needed on this topic, it's still an important goal.

And Jamie realizes this too. After finishing the series, he's planning on developing this collection into more than just something cool to find on the bookshelf at planetariums (which is already is at places like Chabot Space Center). He's intending on working to create accompanying lesson plans and make this a true educational resource. As I pointed out in my amazon.com review, Jamies manages to fit facts left out, even by many intro astronomy textbooks into a well constructed rhyming narrative. I can't wait to see what's going to happen when he applies the same passion to topics like abiogenesis.

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