Who knew that some insects can create explosions to get food? Or that fireworks were once used to fight wars?

Explosions are all around us, from the Big Bang that created the universe to the “pop” of a seedpod, from solar flares to the explosive gases lurking in a coal mine.

Full of fun facts, dramatic images and highlights of momentous blasts in history—including the infamous Halifax explosion of 1917— KABOOM! examines an astonishing variety of explosions and the science behind them. Many remarkable blasts are a result of human ingenuity, from carving the faces of four American presidents into a wall of granite on Mount Rushmore, to the development of asthma inhalers based on a beetle’s explosive pulses to scare predators.

The many exciting guises of explosions are revealed ways both engrossing and surprising.