Asimov's most recent book, "Exploring the Earth and the Cosmos," might well have been titled, "Everyman's Condensed Encyclopedia of Scientific Knowledge." It is the essence of science technica in novel-like form. It reads like the script of a feature-length NOVA.

Although Asimov lacks Carl Sagan's eloquent gift for appealing to our imaginations and for inviting personal speculation about time and space, he has compiled an awesome collection of science facts woven together with the thread of understanding the human animal, his origins and his destiny. This book will not make one dream, but it may change one's perspective, and will certainly give one more than enough ammo for the next cocktail party. This is essentially a book geared to adults, but the inquisitive, top-level high school science student may have the tenacity to stick with it in order to perceive the larger meaning.

L. J. Murphy, in his...