Have you ever looked up at the daytime sky and been blinded by the light of the sun? Surely you have done so at least just one time, everybody has at some point. When you look at the yellow orb in the sky, do you ever wonder what would happen if it didn’t exist? If you are interested, The Sun by Martin Schwabacher is for you.

The book begins by giving an overview of the sun and describing historical fascination with the sun by ancient cultures, like the English. The book then goes into more technical information about the sun and using more scientific terms. It also describes the processes that occur on and inside the sun, such as solar flares and hydrogen fusing with helium near the core. It even goes back to the beginning of the universe with the big bang and the formation of the universe. The book ends by describing the end of the sun’s life as a red giant and red and brown dwarf, ultimately ending the world in five billion years.

I would strongly recommend this book to anybody who is interested in the sun or any type of astronomy, or anybody who has ever had a question about the sun. Martin Schwabacher adds historical importance by discussing the history of studying the sun. He explains “Because the life was so closely tied to the Sun’s cycles, many people worshiped the sun.” A decisive theme of educating people about the yellow orb that we call the sun came across when Schwabacher said “It’s easy to take the sun for granted. All day every day, it brings light to the world, never taking a day off.” He uses an informational tone with technological terms throughout the book. For instance, in the sentence “Since the photosphere lets energy pass through, rather than absorbing it and heating it up, its temperature drops to 5,780 K.” You also can tell that the author’s purpose was to educate people about the sun by going into great detail about it. He asks “What is the sun, really? Where did it come from, and what makes it glow so brightly?” Through these themes, Martin connects to the readers, and I highly recommend this book.