Astrophysics for People in a Hurry: Essays on the Universe and Our Place Within It

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Adams, Allen (May 10, 2017). " 'Astrophysics for People in a Hurry' ". The Maine Edge . Retrieved 16 May 2017. The book's chapters were adapted from the "Universe" series of essays that appeared in Natural History magazine at various times from 1997 to 2007. Written in a conversational style, this [ Astrophysics for People in a Hurry] provides an accessible and fascinating introduction to a mindbending subject." Astronomical instruments such as telescopes have allowed us to view distant objects in space with greater clarity and detail than ever before.

And yes, every one of our body's atoms is traceable to the big bang and to the thermonuclear furnaces within high-mass stars that exploded more than five billion years ago. I am always happy to see "normal" people like me interested in sciences instead of not caring or just accepting what they are told instead of questioning and discovering for themselves. Naturally, we can't all be scientists of the first grade, having deep knowledge of every aspect of the natural world (or technology or whatever). However, curiosity only killed the proverbial cat - in reality, it's vital and good. 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 mindexpanding questions than acclaimed astrophysicist and best-selling author Neil deGrasse Tyson. Furthermore, this book is really funny and witty. That is of course because of the age group it's trying to appeal to. But that made it easy to follow and not hard to read. Often times, anything science related or just non-fiction books are a bit dry and hard to stay focused on. This wasn't the case here at all.Its discovery reveals interesting insights, such as that celestial matters operate under similar laws to ours. Newton found that too when he discovered the laws of gravity. Gravity is a universal law of nature, which means that it applies to outer space too. I remember reading other books written by astrophysicists, like Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time, Trinh Xuan Thuan’s The Secret Melody or Hubert Reeves’ Patience dans l'azur. Somehow, in each case, and probably unbeknownst to their authors, these books have a distinctive poetic flavour, a sort of lyrical flight somehow, which is best expressed in this sentence by the Scottish astronomer James Ferguson, quoted at the end of Tyson’s book: Even after it was conclusively proven that the Earth is not the center of the Universe, philosophers still believed in some divine presence, because some of the planets’ motions were inexplicable.

But who gets to think that way? Who gets to celebrate this cosmic view of life? Not the migrant farmworker. Not the sweatshop worker. Certainly not the homeless person rummaging through the trash for food. You need the luxury of time not spent on mere survival. You need to live in a nation whose government values the search to understand humanity’s place in the universe. You need a society in which intellectual pursuit can take you to the frontiers of discovery, and in which news of your discoveries can be routinely disseminated.” He concludes, “The day our knowledge of the cosmos ceases to expand, we risk regressing to the childish view that the universe figuratively and literally revolves around us. In that bleak world, arms-bearing, resource-hungry people and nations would be prone to act on their ‘low contracted prejudices.’ And that would be the last gasp of a visionary new culture that could once again embrace, rather than fear, the cosmic perspective.” (Pg. 208) This is somewhat similar to Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything but with less emphasis on human accomplishments.

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The cosmic perspective comes from the frontiers of science, yet it is not solely the provenance of the scientist. It belongs to everyone. Before everything we know today came to life, the energy and matter that makes up the Universe, the galaxies, planets, stars, matter, and everything in between, was concentrated into a tiny dot. The dot exploded and started to cool off rapidly, giving way for celestial matter to form.

What should the Creator do now? – asked the theologians. And if there’s nothing he should do, doesn’t that mean that he might as well not exist? Astrophysics for People in a Hurry contains fascinating information about space and its many mysteries, as well as clear explanations of theories and discoveries."

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An artist coworker of mine once asked whether alien life forms from Europa would be called Europeans. The absence of any other plausible answer forced me to say yes.)” Although difficult to choose from, here are the lessons that are the most fun and useful for you to know: We are stardust brought to life, then empowered by the universe to figure itself out - and we have only just begun.” And he shares Sagan’s exceptional capacity of making this clear via illustrative simplification of many seriously complex and even counter-intuitive scientific concepts. Recognize that the very molecules that make up your body, the atoms that construct the molecules, are traceable to the crucibles that were once the centers of high mass stars that exploded their chemically rich guts into the galaxy, enriching pristine gas clouds with the chemistry of life."

You can understand it quite well and I didn't have any problems, even though English isn't my first language. This book is made for middle graders and it shows, but that was actually a good thing, because I think this was probably the main reason it was easy to understand. p. 141 - You cannot see the great wall of china from space, b/c it is too narrow. did not really know that or that all the lights in NYC and Paris also not bright enough to see from space.

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Astrophysics for People in a Hurry is not at all about physics rather it consists of interesting chapters on astrochemistry too, on the creation of elements and the reason behind their existence in the solar system. I really liked how Tyson could break down complex topics. Matter tells space how to curve; space tells matter how to move.And how he was able to inject humor in such dry matter. The power and beauty of physical laws is that they apply everywhere, whether or not you choose to believe in them.I would like a sequel called Astrophysics for People with Time on their Hands - just to see what else is out there! The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you. Audiobook Comments They make up most of our universe, and, still, we know nothing about them except for the fact that they exist. This book topped the nonfiction charts in America: not only a measure of Tyson’s standing as the popular face of space science in the US but also testimony to an admirably digestible introduction to a Big Subject." — Books of the Year 2017: Science, The Times