Book excerpt: The universe is a mind-boggling place, full of things seemingly too big and too small to understand. How can we visualise the minuscule world of the atom and the vastness of our galaxy? How can we grasp a billionth of a second and a billion years? Or the freezing point of Helium and the heat generated by the blast of an atomic bomb? David Blatner's solution is to put these and many other 'inconceivable' items on six spectrums – numbers, size, light, sound, heat and time – that put them into a human perspective. Full of facts, illustrations and anecdotes, Spectrums proves that we really can make sense of our extraordinary universe. Visit spectrums.com for amazing interactive charts, videos and more