Origins: Fourteen Billion Years Of Cosmic Evolution

by Neil deGrasse Tyson

Other authorsDonald Goldsmith (Author)

Hardcover, 2004

Status

Available

Call number

QB981 .T96

Genres

Publication

W W Norton & Co Inc (2004), 345 pages

Description

A thrilling and accessible tour of the cosmosOur true origins are not just human, or even terrestrial, but in fact cosmic. Drawing on scientific breakthroughs and the current cross-pollination among geology, biology, astrophysics, and cosmology, Origins explains the soul-stirring leaps in our understanding of the cosmos. From the first image of a galaxy birth to Spirit rover's exploration of Mars, to the discovery of water on one of Jupiter's moons, coauthors Neil deGrasse Tyson and Donald Goldsmith conduct a galvanizing tour of the cosmos with clarity and exuberance.

User reviews

LibraryThing member sadi.thomas

Very handle tool for those interested in the content but only have a general knowledge of astrophysics / astronomy / cosmology. Useful codex at the end of the book for easy reference. Studies the cosmic origins of our universe, galaxies, stars, planets, and life on earth in an easy-to-follow

popular science style.

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LibraryThing member fpagan

Good, up-to-date, popular-level account of the universe's story. Contaminated with pre-metric units, though.

LibraryThing member Princesca

It could have been more fascinating, it seems that astrophysics is not much more than guessing at its the current state :(

LibraryThing member LaPhenix

Interesting, and undoubtedly informative, though it feels like Neil tried to cram in everything he thought people should know.

LibraryThing member LisCarey

Neil deGrasse Tyson and Donald Goldsmith giving us the lowdown on what we know about the origins of--everything. The universe, the solar system, our own planet, life, and a good deal else. This book was written in 2004, so some things have already changed. For instance, Pluto and Ceres are now

officially dwarf planets, and we know more about the moons of Jupiter and Saturn than we did eleven years ago. This is still a good, solid, interesting book, that will expand your knowledge of the universe we live in. It's a great read, or a great listen. I don't think I'm off base in saying that while Kevin Kenerly's voice doesn't really sound like Tyson's, he does have Tyson's speech patterns down, and for me that enhanced the listening experience.

Recommended.

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LibraryThing member pgiunta

Arguably the most popular science communicator since Carl Sagan, Neil deGrasse Tyson, in collaboration with fellow astrophysicist Donald Goldsmith, delivers an engaging and sometimes humorous account of the origins of the universe, our solar system, our planet, and life on Earth. I read Origins

shortly after watching Tyson’s Inexplicable Universe series and reading A Universe from Nothing by Lawrence M. Krauss. As such, some of the material covered in the book (as well as a few of Tyson’s jokes) was review, such as the types and nature of quarks, the expansion of the universe as demonstrated by the Doppler effect (something I learned while watching the original Cosmos as the age of nine), the formation (and naming) of the planets, moons, and asteroids in our solar system (learned in middle school and high school), and a tour of periodic table (it’s been a while!).

I enjoyed the refresher on topics such as the anthropic principle, ekpyrotic theory of the universe, homogeneous versus isotropic models of the universe, classifications of galaxies and of nebulae, methods for discovering exoplanets (some of which were also demonstrated in episode seven of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos series. At least some things haven’t changed!), measuring a star’s age by its depletion of lithium, the three branches of the tree of life (bacteria, archaea, and eukaryota), and much more.

Highly recommended!

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LibraryThing member A.Godhelm

Good as an introduction to the topics of cosmology, general astronomy, Drake's Equation and Fermi Paradox, the trouble is if you're already familiar enough to have read another introduction there's little left here to fill out an intermediary understanding. It's also presented in a fairly

scattershot way and meanders into little essayist points that are familiar stomping grounds if you've listened to Tyson before.

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