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"The essential universe, from our most celebrated and beloved astrophysicist. What is the nature of space and time? How do we fit within the universe? How does the universe fit within us? There's no better guide through these mind-expanding questions than acclaimed astrophysicist and best-selling author Neil deGrasse Tyson. But today, few of us have time to contemplate the cosmos. So Tyson brings the universe down to Earth succinctly and clearly, with sparkling wit, in tasty chapters consumable anytime and anywhere in your busy day. While you wait for your morning coffee to brew, for the bus, the train, or a plane to arrive, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry will reveal just what you need to be fluent and ready for the next cosmic headlines: from the Big Bang to black holes, from quarks to quantum mechanics, and from the search for planets to the search for life in the universe"--… (more)
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But today, few of us have time to contemplate the cosmos. So Tyson brings the universe down to Earth succinctly and clearly, with sparkling wit, in tasty chapters consumable anytime and anywhere in your busy day.
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Yes, there are some things repeated from his earlier book Death by a Black Hole, but I saw it as a revival of those concepts. I classify his book as easy-to-read, entertaining and enlightening.
Tyson is a most worthy successor to Carl Sagan. He explains difficult aspects of physics accessible to all readers who share my fascination. He begins by breaking down the steps of the Big Bang, beginning with one trillionth of a second after the event up to 1,000,000,000 years ago. My favorite chapter is “Between the Galaxies.” He writes, “In the grand tally of cosmic constituents, galaxies are what typically counted. The latest estimates show that the observable universe may contain a hundred billion of them. Bright and beautiful and packed with stars, galaxies decorate the dark voids of space like cities across a country at night. But just how voidy is the void of space? (How empty is the countryside between cities?) Just because galaxies are in your face, and just because they would have us believe that nothing else matters, the universe may nonetheless contain hard-to-detect things between the galaxies. Maybe those things are more interesting, or more important to the evolution of the universe, than the galaxies themselves” (62). This takes me back to the first time I peered through a department store telescope a looked at a blurry smudge that is the Andromeda Galaxy.
I flirted for a while with considering a degree in astronomy or physics, but the reality of my math skills slammed on the breaks. I have a weird inability to add, divide, multiply, or subtract more than two figures at a time. A hand calculator is now my necessary companion.
A hot topic in physics today is the mysterious “dark matter.” It appears as though the largest amount of matter in our universe is not made up of planets, asteroids, and stars, but rather it is composed of this invisible powerful force. Tyson says it took geniuses like Newton and Einstein to get us to where we are today. He wonders who will be the next Sheldon Cooper. Tyson writes, “We don’t know who’s next in the genius sequence, but we’ve now been waiting nearly a century for somebody to tell us why the bulk of all the gravitational force that we’ve measured is in the universe—about eight-five percent of it—arises from substances that do not otherwise interact with ‘our’ matter or energy. Or maybe the excess gravity doesn’t come from matter and energy at all, but emanates from some other conceptual thing. In any case, we are essential clueless. We find ourselves no closer to an answer today than we were when this ‘missing mass’ problem was first fully analyzed in 1937 by the Swiss-American astrophysicist Fritz Zwicky. He taught at the California Institute of Technology for more than forty years, combining his far ranging insights into the cosmos with a colorful means of expression and an impressive ability to antagonize his colleagues” (77). I enjoy the popular comedy, ‘The Big Bang Theory,’ immensely, and I wonder if a real Sheldon Cooper might be in school somewhere, and that I will hear of his discoveries in my lifetime.
If you have an interest in all things scientific—as I do—Neil deGrasse Tyson’s book, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry will have you gazing up into the night sky and wondering. 5 stars.
--Chiron, 6/21/17
If you're heavily into astronomy/astrophysics, you'll likely get a lot out of this one. If, though, you're like me and enjoyed high school physics and maybe had an astronomy course in college, you'll find a several topics that are interesting enough to explore and Tyson's writing will help you learn a little.
I don’t know a lot about the universe other than that I’m in it, it’s very big, and I’m not. So I thought this popular book of science
The writing here is breezy and efficient. Each chapter tackles some astrophysical phenomenon and provides some sense of it and, usually, its discovery’s historical significance in the development of astrophysics. You’ll get the distinct feeling that you actually understand what is going on…until you close the book and attempt to enthuse to your significant other about the wonder of invisible light. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the journey. And I do feel almost one smattering bit more knowledgeable.
Gently recommended.
It was a really quick listen and I may read (listen) to it again some day.
Rating 4
The whole book is
The best thing about the book is Dr. Tyson’s enthusiasm. He loves astrophysics and wants everyone else to love it too. He brings the topics down to a comprehensible level just so others love it as much as he does, and it works. He venerates the universe and its myriad mysteries, and his enthusiasm is infectious. Moreover, he explains why he loves it so much, and you totally understand his reasoning. After three short hours listening to Dr. Tyson speak about dark matter, the planets, elements, neutrinos, and the like, suddenly the universe holds vast appeal for you too.
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry makes me lament my career choice and wish I had given the field of astrophysics another look in college. It provides an excellent broad overview of the field, enough to make you dangerous at parties, and piques your interest to learn more about various specifics. Dr. Tyson is a delightful narrator, as anyone who has ever heard him speak can imagine. I enjoyed listening so much that I wish it had been longer and will be looking at some of his other published works.
There is no astrophysicist more excited than he, and even though the text of Astrophysics for People in a Hurry can be pretty dense and confusing, you tend to hold on, research a little more on your own, fascinated by how minuscule we are in the
Recommended for anyone who is tired of looking into screens and, instead, become curious by the star stuff they are made of.
(JAB)
Tyson is also a really good writer (the science aside), I mean, c'mon now, he managed to get a fart joke in the book. Heh, I love it. Not to mention all of his other sometimes hilarious asides.
It was not just a learning experience of a book, but it was quite the fun read too.
I got this ARC through Netgalley on behalf of W. W. Norton & Company.
Scientists don't know just what dark matter or dark energy is all about. It could be some new particle or new phenomenon, as yet undiscovered. Whatever it is,
Several thousand exoplanets have been discovered orbiting other stars. At interstellar distances, it is usually not possible to see the actual planet. Therefore, scientists have to focus their attention on a specific star, and look for a slight dimming of its brightness as a planet passes in front of it. It would be wrong to think that the space between galaxies, like the Milky Way, is just empty space. All sorts of things have been found, like runaway stars, gas clouds, x-ray emitting gas clouds, high-energy charged particles, dark matter and dwarf galaxies. Visible light occupies only a small part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Mankind has started to look at the stars using detectors that focus on everything from ultraviolet rays to infrared to radio waves.
This is a gem of a book. It is very easy to read and understand, even for non-scientists. This book was made to be read on the commuter bus, or while waiting at the doctor's office. It is very much worth the reader's time.
I got lost in a lot of the science, for example the parts regarding the chemistry and the types of wavelengths and light because I was constantly thinking "but how do they know that? How did someone figure that out?" It makes sense that my favorite
Once we put ourselves into perspective of what he tells us here we do