Booklist Review

*Starred Review* Focusing on cutting-edge research, this title in the Out of This World series highlights the work of engineer Mason Peck, who's building soft-bodied robots designed to explore liquid water on Jupiter's moon Europa. In a straightforward, informative tone, the author explains why Europa is worth researching, the challenges of transporting and powering equipment there, the benefits of soft robots, and some of the inspiration behind the project. Peck, too, gets a lot of attention, particularly his childhood interests, including sci-fi literature, and his path to becoming an engineer. The emphasis on the multidisciplinary nature of Peck's research, though, is the book's best feature: in solving the problem of how to send a robot to Europa, Peck draws inspiration from a wide variety of fields. Each two-page spread is festooned with full-color photos, illustrations, and diagrams, and definitions for advanced terms are defined both in the text and in a glossary. While it's sometimes dense, almost every bit of information is intriguing, and aspiring scientists will be inspired by both the up-to-date research and the peek into the mindset of an inventor.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2017 Booklist