COX has a list of scientific achievements as long as your arm, but this book of the recent BBC TV series shows just why he is the right man to bring alien worlds into your home.

His bright, breezy, yet authoritative style handles intensely complex matters with ease, making it easy for the reader to assimilate a huge amount of knowledge without losing that sense of awe and wonder.

So welcome to such wonders as the giant ice fountains of Enceladus and the tortured moon of lo with its super-volcanoes, and much more.