Long ago, the only light came from the sun and the stars. There were no candles, no lamps, no street lights, no neon signs.

Today it is easy to have light anywhere. We even have electric lights in our refrigerators and ovens. We can watch outdoor baseball at night because of the huge lights on the playing field. Chicken houses have lights so the hens will wake up early and lay more eggs. Airplanes carry lights to prevent collisions at night.

Some objects make their own light—the sun and the stars, for example. A flashlight and a traffic light, too. Others, like the moon, reflect light from some other source.

The Junior Science Book of Light gives basic scientific information about light—how it travels, how it is reflected, how shadows are made, how light rays are bent. Best of all, it tells how to perform simple experiments which explain how light behaves. These will help you understand your camera, a submarine periscope, the changing shadows on a summer day, and the sunlight we often call moonlight.

From the dust jacket