Inflight Science gives a brief tour of some major science concepts set loosely around the fact that you’re supposed to read it on a plane. There are miniature “experiments” to carry out whilst airborne (e.g. throwing a ball of paper in the air and noting that it doesn’t fly to the back of the plane), and all of the topics discussed are loosely associated with flying.

There’s nothing especially wrong with this concept. Its nature means that the explanations are brief, and the science discussed doesn’t go much above high-school level. Some of the links to being in-flight are tenuous at best: syphons are explained because toilets on planes don’t use them, for example.

My main complaints about this book are that it’s a touch simple, and a touch bland. There isn’t all that much about the science of flight, which is disappointing.

All-in-all, it’s a so-so book that whizzes through a few probably familiar scientific concepts. It might entertain you through a short flight, but you won’t be so riveted you’ll want to pick it up again once you land, and there are much better things you could be reading.

Inflight Science is available now from amazon.co.uk in paperback and on Kindle.

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