... Brennecka is a scientist with a sense of humor and a flair for making complex topics both understandable and entertaining ... While the scope of Impact is impressive and far-reaching, Brennecka’s clear, succinct narrative style makes for fascinating reading throughout. His lighthearted approach extends to the illustrations, which include diagrams, cartoons and photos ... While Brennecka is writing for an adult audience, Impact will also appeal to teenagers who love space and science. As the author makes clear in his closing section, the study of meteorites takes a village, requiring researchers—and perhaps future researchers—from many fields. There is still much to be discovered about these rocks that fall out of the sky, and Impact will make even space novices feel eager for those discoveries to be made.
Meteoriticist Brennecka explains all things meteor to the layperson with enthusiasm and humor. He blends a thorough explanation of meteorites with pop culture references that make Impact enjoyable and easy to read ... Despite the book’s light tone, Brennecka delves deep into the science of meteors ... Covering the earliest known meteorite strikes on Earth to present-day studies, this book will appeal to readers of popular science and of authors like Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Brennecka begins with the birth of the universe and takes readers on a journey through time and space, in a narrative that is both approachable and entertaining ... This book is sure to engage popular science readers of all levels of expertise; for advanced readers, Brennecka has appended the text with more technical information on meteoritics ... Brennecka successfully tackles a niche corner of the popular science genre where anthropology meets astrophysics. His knowledge and wit come together in an excellent debut that will appeal to readers of Munroe, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Carl Sagan.
