The Hidden World of Forces

by Jack R. White

This is a book about physics aimed at eleven-year-olds. It's great. First chapter, first page:

"All around us, unseen and often unnoticed, is a
world of controlled violence. At every instant,
powerful forces are at work pulling or pushing on
every object in the universe. From the smallest of
particles within the nuclei of atoms, to the most
enormous of galaxies, to ourselves, all matter is
controlled, shaped, and held together by invisible
forces.
"If even one of these forces were somehow taken away,
the universe as we know it would come apart. Take
away the force of gravitation and our solar system
would self-destruct. Everything on the surface of
the earth, including the oceans and the air, would
be launched into space. Earth would break free of
the sun. The sun and the stars would cease to shine
and their matter would pour out into space. The earth
itself would fly apart and become a cloud of dust."

It's this cross between crackly film-strip voice-over and apocalyptic vision that I love, love, love. Science is way cooler than art.