John Henry

This was a Christmas present from one of my children who is aware of my interest in anything to do with our planet. Having not seen all of the programmes the book is the next best thing. I think that the book is on the whole excellent both in the text and photographs. However my one criticism is an error on page 119 in the section on deserts. The statement "At the equator, the sun is ALWAYS vertically overhead" is incorrect. This only occurs twice a year. On 21 March, the vernal or spring equinox in the northern hemisphere, the Sun is directly overhead at the Equator. On the 23 September, the autumn equinox in the northern hemisphere, the Sun is again directly overhead at the Equator.