Refreshingly scientific - Rated 
Written by the master of popular science writing Nigel Calder, this book offers a very accessible introduction to cosmoclimatology and will not leave one stone unturned in the search for scientifically consistent theories and explanations.
Based on the research done by Danish scientist Henrik Svensmark, this book is worth a read - don't be misled by reviewers who attack the messenger without having read the message.
Questionable! - Rated 
Henrik Svensmark and Nigel Calder (ex. New Scientist editor) attempt to dispel years of work of climatologists by 'proving' a correlation between cosmic rays and global warming, effectively claiming the effects of Carbon Dioxide and Methane are negligible.
Although an interesting read which made me think a lot about climate change from a proposed 'new light', Chilling Stars, on further research from organisations such as the IPCC and RealClimate, turned out to be a disappointing hoax playing on the media frenzy of denying anthropogenically driven climate change and global warming. This book is wholly irresponsible, viewed by the world's leading climatologists as misleading the public by false information from a non-peer-reviewed publication.
So what did (does?) cause ice ages? - Rated
Henrik Svensmark's theory is that high-energy cosmic rays originating in the destruction of stars in other parts of our galaxy substantially explain the changes in the world's temperature throughout its history. Ice ages and hot periods, as well as shorter lived warming and cooling events (like the Mediaeval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age) are explained by the combination of our solar system's proximity to areas in the galaxy where cosmic activity is highest and the cycle of our Sun's magnetic activity (and thus its ability to protect us from those rays). How? Such cosmic rays - charged sub-atomic particles - stimulate the creation of low-level clouds, and those clouds cool the Earth by reflecting heat back into space. Svensmark does not duck the issue - he states that this effect explains most warming and cooling, leaving only a secondary role for changes in CO2, however caused. Such warming that has occurred over the last century was caused by unusually high magnetic activity of the Sun keeping cosmic radiation away, meaning fewer clouds and a warming world.
This book is written by Svensmark and Nigel Calder, a scientific journalist. It is highly readable and the science well explained. The book is made easier by the fact that the argument is explained in the overview at the start, and each chapter is preceded by a short summary. One quibble is that although there are chapter references at the back, it is not possible to identify the origin of all the bold assertions Svensmark and Calder make.
Svensmark has had his scientific critics; many are catalogued by name. Many, such as Bert Bolin, a Swedish professor of meteorology and member of the IPCC, abused his developing theory because it was "naive and dangerous" - it did not comply with the developing consensus that global warming is man made through the agency of CO2, and that to deny this was to encourage further complacency by self indulgent politicians and ordinary folk. Such attempts to stifle research do not reflect well on the scientists involved. The book gives the impression that he has won over many outright critics and many other scientists who similarly sought explanations for global temperature changes in extra-terrestrial sources but who posited different mechanisms.
Certainly, if you are inclined to wonder, there is ample evidence that Svensmark is working with many scientific colleagues - he is no lone crank - and even where he is not actively working with others his theories have found supporting evidence from other work in other fields - including work that was being undertaken without any obvious connection to climate change research. Although primarily a theoretical physicist, he conducted experiments in the basement of his Danish National Research Centre, apparently demonstrating the cloud forming effectiveness of muons, or high-energy electrons. It seems to me that he and his colleagues have made their case well, quite the contrary to the impression given by Inge Brede Johannessen below. Nor, Mr Listen, is there anything remotely polemic about it! In 2010 an experiment at CERN may provide further evidence of the physics of the basic process. But for the global warming consensus this experiment, originally devised by another scientist and blocked, the book suggest, by physicists unwilling to expose themselves to the criticism of the global warming consensus, might have taken place five years ago.
If your mind is open to the questions (a) is the planet warming? And, if so, (b) why? and (c) how much? then this is a book for you. The science is not that difficult to understand, though if you are a layman like me then you have I think to be modest enough to admit that you probably couldn't identify any scientific howlers in the book, let alone in the Svensmark and colleagues' scientific papers listed in the back. As I write the world's great and good have jetted off to Bali to discuss climate change "mitigation", and most of that mitigation will involve restricting CO2 emission. As others such as Bjorn Lomborg have pointed out, the cost of such a restriction may be the loss of much of the economic growth, and the alleviation of poverty, that would otherwise happen. It is always worth considering whether we have identified the right enemy - or even whether there is an enemy at all. Besides, we all know about ice ages: have you ever wondered what actually caused them?
Interesting - Rated 
A fascinating theory that could explain a great deal about the Earth's climate history. On-going reasearch should prove or disprove the authors' ideas within the next few years, but in the meantime let's hedge our bets and try to keep a lid on CO2.
Possibly a good theory, ruined by a badly written book - Rated 
There is pretty good evidence that more than one factor (more than just Co2) contributes to climate change and in particular the role of clouds in the temperature regulation of the planet is something that relatively little seems to be known about...and something that intrigues me.
This theory of the role of clouds and in particular the amount of clouds in the atmosphere and the relation of their production to "cosmic rays" is one that should really be looked at in more detail...but whatever you do, don't use this book to find out.
It's written as if the authors were personally persecuted by the Inquisition and their self-righteousness (apparently on our behalf) is all that is saving us from cataclysmic climate change. There is very little depth to the theory, beyond some references to earlier works by different scientists that they draw upon, and I was left with the feeling that this was no more than an idea or gut feeling, when there could be much more to it.
If only the authors had replaced every instance of self-congratulation with some cold hard facts.
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