Exploding Superstars Authors: Alain Mazure and Stephane Basa Publisher: Springer-Praxis ISBN: 978-0-387-09547-9 Price: £19.99 (Pb), 168pp
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Never have I read a book with such a misleading title. Yes, while Exploding Superstars does contain a couple of chapters on supernovae and gamma-ray bursts, it is clear that the authors have gone ahead and written a book about cosmology, with supernovae playing just a tangential part in what they can tell us about dark energy, the first stars and galaxies, and the ultimate fate of the Universe. So that was a disappointment, and made me wonder whether I should review it as a book about supernovae, or as a book about cosmology.

Unfortunately, neither way makes the book seem much better. The trouble is that it all seems so brief, like the authors couldnÕt wait to progress on from the exposition of the chapters on supernovae and get on to the cosmology, and yet the cosmology sections lack detail and just retread old ground covered by many other books. Consequently the book comes across as unfocused rather than wide-ranging, with some topics such as quasars just shoehorned in for the sake of it.

There are quite a lot of diagrams and pictures throughout the book in black and white, but many of the photographs are reprinted in full colour towards the back of the book. Whilst this feels like filler, it does help with the labelled picture of NGC 6946, the labels on which are difficult to read in black and white but come out a little better in colour. For a beginner who knows little to nothing about supernovae, gamma-ray bursts and the expansion of the Universe, it is an easy and informative read, with all the maths and interesting concepts bundled into a number of appendices at the back. For anyone looking for greater insight, dare I say it would be a waste of twenty quid.

Keith Cooper