TICK BAIT'S UNIVERSE

A “powers of 10” app that takes young explorers from quarks to the furthest reaches of the observable universe.

An aptly named dog flopped down in a sunny backyard provides the starting point. Each flick of thumb and finger magnifies the view of canine hide by a factor of 10, down to 10-18, and each pinch will pull the image up and out one step. Finally, at 1027, only a gauzy film of galactic superclusters is visible. Though a “handwritten” text font and Woodruff’s simply drawn cartoon illustrations (several featuring a drifting virus or other small animation) give the presentation an informal look, there is plenty of hard information here. This information includes the number and kinds of quarks in a proton as well as descriptions of the mysterious galactic “Great Wall” and even more immense “Sloan Great Wall.” The brief commentary appearing beside each view offers quick, specific facts strewn with playful interjections—“Kuiper Belt (rhymes with diaper)”—and true-or-false questions that are sometimes tricky, like “True or False: Viruses are alive.” There are enough typos to make an update desirable, but overall it's an inventive and provocative exercise.

This well-designed odyssey truly does put the universe at viewers’ fingertips.