Death from the Skies!: The Science Behind the End of the World

by Philip Plait

Paperback, 2009

Status

Available

Call number

520

Genres

Collection

Your library

Publication

Penguin Books (2009), Edition: Reprint, Paperback, 336 pages

Description

It's only a matter of time before a cosmic disaster spells the end of the Earth. But how concerned should we about about any of these catastrophic scenarios? And if they do post a danger, can anything be done to stop them?

User reviews

LibraryThing member Arthwollipot

Excellent book, and not at all frightening or depressing. If you ever wondered how many ways you could be killed by the universe, this book will enlighten you. It will tell you exactly how likely you are to be killed by an asteroid strike, or by a gamma ray burst, or a supernova. The good news is

that the odds are quite good. The bad news is all the different ways that will inevitably kill you, assuming you last that long in the first place. Phil Plait's second book is great. A fantastic read. It's intellectually stimulating and informative, and given that it's Phil Plait, predictably fact-based. If you have any interest in science, astronomy or cosmology, you should read this book.

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LibraryThing member juanjux

Amazing book, the best for-public-consumption anstronomy book I've ever read, and I've read a lot. Philip Plait is the new Carl Sagan.

LibraryThing member SatansParakeet

Ever want to know all the ways that the universe is trying to kill you and which ways are most likely to succeed? Then this is the book for you! Phil Plait does an excellent job of putting together a list of the astronomical dangers around us and he does it in a way that is very accessible to the

lay reader. He even adds enough humor to the mix to keep it from becoming too depressing. I had to ding him a star for constantly assuming I'd be afraid of the end of life in the universe when that doesn't really bother me at all, but that's a common mistake to make. It may even be true for most people and he wasn't writing the book just for me. So I'll leave him with a respectable four star rating.

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LibraryThing member FrostKitty

I pre-ordered this book then sat down and read it in one sitting when it arrived!

LibraryThing member Spiceca

Wow- what a read and what a way to knock humanities hubris down by about 10³. This book underlays the fascinating ways that our universe is trying to kill us. It starts with asteroids on up to the end of the entire universe (yes- it is inevitable but not for a very very very long time). Dr. Plait

keeps a very conversational tone throughout the book which along with his "dumbing" down but not so dumb scientific explanations keep this book very easy to read but also doesn't make you feel dumb.

On top of this being about all the apocalyptic ways our world can end- there is a lot of good science explained quite simply (well about as simply as one can explain how a black hole works). I enjoyed learning about the wide (to significantly under-exaggerate things) area we call space and would recommend to anyone interested in science, astronomy or even the doom factor.

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LibraryThing member callmecayce

It's taken me months to read this, not for any good reason. Death from the Skies is a fantastic book about all the ways the universe is trying to kill us. It's not morbid, instead it's awesome.

LibraryThing member melydia

You know, considering this is all about the various cataclysmic ways the world can end, I really expected to be more engrossed. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood or something, but I could never read more than a handful of pages before my mind started wandering or I fell asleep. I suspect this is

largely my fault, as Plait is clearly in love with this topic and with astronomy in general. He describes each ghastly scenario with glee, from asteroid collisions to the death of the universe, and demonstrates in no uncertain terms that should any of these events take place within our lifetime, we are royally screwed. Granted, the odds of us actually witnessing most of the calamities described are infinitesimal, if not actually zero, a point which is also made clear enough to avoid any unnecessary fear-mongering. I learned a lot from reading this, and I recommend it to those with an interest in astronomy, or doomsday scenarios, or both.

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LibraryThing member bluesalamanders

A Very Brief History of the Universe

In the beginning, there was nothing.
Then there was everything.

Subtitled "The Science Behind the End of the World...", Death from the Skies! is a book describing (in sometimes terrifying detail) all the ways that the universe is trying to kill us. Gamma-ray

bursts, black holes, solar flares, asteroids, the myriad ways that things outside of Earth can destroy us.

Also, just how phenomenally unlikely it is for any of those to happen any time soon. They're all going to happen. Just not in a time scale that we need to worry about. Mostly. Anyway, there's even a chart in the back!

It's entertaining to read (for all it's also incredibly creepy) and written in a conversation style that I find accessible and enjoyable.

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LibraryThing member Laatsch

A collection of what if scenarios about the ways the universe is trying to kill us. Plait uses these to inform the reader of the vast and amazing universe we live in. Funny and thought-provoking, and you'll learn a lot of kick-ass science stuff.

LibraryThing member eenerd

After the first chapter I had to put the book down for a bit, because it made me think about my mortality and that's always a bummer. HOWEVER the science in here is pretty cool, and the author's enthusiasm and knowledge is the real deal. Sometimes the writing felt a little redundant, and over the

top (but I think that's intentional...I mean, look at the title). If you don't have time for all 300 pages of the book, just read the epilogue. Plait sums it up nicely, and even includes a handy-dandy apocalypse chart for your convenience. Fun, smart and entertaining.

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