Big Bertha located on Saturn! Not a headline from the Sunday Sport but a revelation from Brewer's book about the planet. We all know Saturn, the one with three rings and a moon or two. That's enough for most of us but for those for whom it isn't, this book is a real treasure.

Starting with the astro/mythological image of a slow and sluggish 'bringer of old age' the author tells us how knowledge of this intriguing planet was built up from Galileo to Voyager 2, providing en route a useful potted history of astronomy and telescopy. Wonderful facts tumble out of the text like ripe apples from a tree: the rings (seven of them) are made of bits of ice and rock whizzing round in orbit; Saturn is nearly all hydrogen and helium (no wonder it's stayed up so long); and 1000 mph winds consistently blow round its equator.

To a non-astronomer like me this is a highly entertaining charivari; to the serious inquirer I suspect it will yield a great deal of knowledge and satisfaction. The reason why it can reach us both is because it is a whole book, written as continuous narrative by one author and more readable than many novels. Comets, Asteroids and Meteorites and Planet Earth and the Universe are equally entertaining which gives great hopes for the rest of the series - all written by Brewer.