Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries

The title of my review is an anagram for a Latin phrase that translates to "I have observed the most distant planet to have a triple form." Written by Galileo in 1610, its intended purpose was to establish priority for his discovery of Saturn's rings, while continuing his exploration of the planet until he was ready to make a formal announcement. This is just one of the hundreds of interesting facts scattered throughout "Death by Black Hole," a collection of 42 essays by Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, originally published over a twelve year period in Natural History Magazine. "Death by Black Hole" is part of the emerging trend of hard science books written by accredited scientists, which seek to convey complex subject matter to the average reader. You don't see too many of these books because the people who would be needed to write them are usually too busy writing papers with subjects like "Non-LTE Plasma Diffusion in Inhomogeneous Atmospheres." Those gifted with such knowledge mostly write for their peers. Even books written with a mass audience in mind, such as those by Stephen Hawking and Carl Sagan, can be difficult for the lay person to understand. Fortunately, the cosmos has gifted our tiny ocean planet with Tyson, who is quickly becoming the "Mr. Wizard" for a new generation. Although this book is a selection of previously-printed essays, it is edited together to form cohesive ideas about the nature of our universe. The seven sections of the book are divided as follows: 1. The Nature of Knowledge - How are scientists able to presume that the Big Bang occurred 13.7 billion years ago? How can we study the elemental components of a star that has long since died? Tyson looks at the physicality of laws and how science is exploring beyond our five senses. This section gives a good primer on many of the most basic questions those new to cosmology might have, and how our knowledge has expanded throughout history. 2. The Knowledge of Nature - This section is probably the most "scientific" of the book and goes a lot more into the nature of elements. It definitely helps to have a very basic understanding of atoms, matter, electrons, and photons. If you don't, Tyson still explains things fairly well, but you may have to read it a couple times. The next chapters discuss the exploration history of the planets and smaller non-planetary objects (I'm looking at you Pluto), quantum theory, and special relativity. 3. Ways and Means of Nature - Do you like pie? Of course you do, who doesn't? Do you also like pi? If so, chapter eleven is for you as Tyson looks at what makes this constant and others so interesting. And if there's one thing that's important to astrophysics, it's constants. An entire chapter is devoted to the most famous constant of all - the speed of light in a vacuum. Several other chapters are devoted to the important that density and mass have on objects in the universe, star light, radio waves, color, plasma, and heat. 4. The Meaning of Life - A look at how humans developed from all of this cosmic material, and explanation of how all of us are made of star dust. If any of this section is lost on you I encourage you to give it another read, as it's one of the most fascinating in the book when you take it all in. The possibility of life (intelligent or not) in the universe is also expounded on 5. When the Universe Turns Bad - Another fascinating chapter that discusses all the ways the universe "plans to kill us." Whether our sun runs out of hydrogen and envelopes us in a fiery death, or we are hit by an asteroid before we have time to send Bruce Willis into space to blow it up, it is clear that eventually our planet will cease to exist. 6. Science and Culture - How society reacts to cosmic discovery and how that reaction has changed over time. Tyson makes the following statement that I think sums up this section nicely and leads into section 7: "when people believe a tale that conflicts with self-checkable evidence it tells me that people undervalue the role of evidence in formulating an internal belief system." Tyson discusses several examples of this including why our society insists on removing the number 13 from buildings, exclaiming that Polaris (the North Star) is the brightest star in the sky, and why we keep portraying the sun as yellow when it is actually white. 7. Science and God - The presumed disconnect between science and religion, and how some scientists are able to allow their religious faith to coexist with the empirical evidence they know about the universe. As a subject I have often struggled with, I found this to be a very interesting section for Tyson to include, and a great way to end his book. He provides some interesting insight into religion without outright dismissing it as other scientific books have done, and even describes his own views on it (although you have to look for them). Given that it is a collection of self-contained essays, it can seem like some of the chapters don't flow as nicely into each other and seem a little disjointed. However I think the editing does a great job of covering that up and I didn't notice it too much while reading. Some readers may find a few of the chapters a bit too "sciency" for them and hard to grasp, but overall I think the book works very well for the reader who has an interest in the world around them and wants to know more. Neil deGrasse Tyson is probably the foremost expert for bringing difficult material to a general audience and "Death by Black Hole" is no exception. If you're still undecided about purchasing the book, you can read the first 134 pages of it at Publisher WR Norton's web site. Do a search for it by name, the click the "Inside the Book" link from the product page.

Neil deGrasse Tyson is the current director of the hayden Planetarium and an astrophysicist with the American Museum of Natural History. His picture shows a portly African-American with a wry smile, wearing a vest with astonomical figures perhaps cut from a wizard's robe discarded by Hogwarts. Most likely half of America knows better what he looks and sounds like than I do, since he appears frequently on TV, on the Daily Show and various Fox blathergrounds. I heard him talking about comets for a few minutes on my car radio, and found him very quick, very amusing. A comparison with Stephen Jay Gould is almost inevitable. This book, like most of Gould's, is a selection of Tyson's columns for the magazine Natural History. Tyson has a lighter touch and will be easier going for people without much background in science. He is nowhere near as encyclopedic or allusive as Gould, which will come as a relief to many. Gould wrote, increasingly so over the years, as a Harvard Don, which all the rhetorical flourishes of a man who expects his readers to be very erudite. The danger of such writing is pomposity and condescension. Since I almost became a Harvard Don myself, I have a high tolerance for pomposity, but I find Tyson's writing style delightfully relaxed. Tyson's subject in Death by Black Hole is the astronomical zoo of gravitationally caged objects - stars, planets, comets, asteroids, and Anomalous Flying Objects - in what we still call the Universe, although the name seems less and less appropriate. Tyson back-fills as needed with tidbits of history but his central purpose is to make us acquainted with current observational astronomy. People who "already know all that" will enjoy his witty delivery, while the rest of us will learn quite a lot, quite painlessly. One of the Identified Flying Objects Tyson describes is the asteroid Apophis, which ought to be of maximum interest for anyone under 40 years old. Tyson writes: "On Friday the 13th of April, 2029, an asteroid large enough to fill the Rose Bowl as though it were an egg cup, will fly so close to Earth that it will dip below the altitude of our communication satellites ...If the trajectory of Apophis at close approach passes within a narrow range of altitudes called the Keyhole, the precise influence of Earth's gravity on its orbit will guarantee that seven years later in 2036...the asteroid will hit earth directly, slamming in the Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii." You knew that, didn't you, and you've already made reservations for the observation grandstand on Mt. Whitney? What a show! But Tyson continues: "The tsunami it creates will wipe out the entire west coast of North America, bury Hawaii, and devastate all the land masses of the Pacific Rim." Oops. I'd better warn my grandchildren to sell my house in SF before it's too late. Tyson doesn't mention it, but there's an upside to Apophis -- no need to worry about global warming after all. In fact, Tyson is not all levity about Apophis, or about the inevitable fate of civilization. Later in the book, he discusses what "we" should be doing about our self-preservation in a universe that is far from anthropically perfect for human life, or any kind of life at all. Read it and quake - from laughter as well as fear.

Death by Blackhole, was better than expected. The way Mr. Tyson explains everything made me wish for a science teacher like him 30 years ago. There are more questions than answers after reading this book but this is a good thing. I want to learn more. I would love to go see Mr. Tyson give one of his seminars because he makes space fun for me. The book is detailed & factual but a little long in spots, a great read while in the bathroom, because by the time you get bored you are done. A great read, I recommend it to anyone interested in deep space.

Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist with the American Museum of Natural History, where he serves at its world-famous Hayden Planetarium. Readers of Natural History magazine will be familiar with the topics covered in this book. Each of the book's 42 chapters first appeared, in one form or another, on the pages of Natural History magazine under the heading "Universe" and span the 11-year period of 1995 through 2005. This is a great book to learn about our universe. I love the author's sense of humor. It was hilarious when he told James Cameron that he had the night sky all wrong in his movie Titanic. To this, Cameron replied, "The film, worldwide, has grossed over a billion dollars. Imagine how much more money it would have made had I gotten the night sky correct!" The author mentions other Hollywood goofs concerning our universe, like Disney's Black Hole. Tyson takes readers on an exciting journey through space. Tyson shows how what we once believed isn't necessarily true. For example, scientists once believed that it would be impossible to go faster than the speed of sound; we would never be able to reach space; we would never walk on the moon etc... Now we say that we could never go faster than the speed of light. Will we one day? Interesting thought. What we think off as impossible is actually not impossible. Today we know that life can survive in impossible environments. For example, in volcanoes, in Antarctica etc. So too life could survive in space. The color of the universe is gray. What color is the sun? White? Yellow? Orange? Read the book. "If the sun were yellow, like a yellow light bulb, then white stuff such as snow would reflect this light and appear yellow." Are there Canals on Mars built by intelligent beings? Some theories speculate that in order to survive global warming, Martians built canals from the North Pole where the icecaps are, to the much needed interior where water was scarce. Tyson explains how one could come up with such an erroneous assumption. It is believed that Europa might have water under its surface where life could abound. After all, water was brought to our planet by asteroids and comets. Drake's equation shows that there must be life elsewhere. We once believed that earth was the center of the universe. Now we know it is not. Why should we think we are the only intelligent beings in the universe? There are many galaxies with planets revolving around their suns. We are not unique. The moon has a unique place in our galaxy. There are those who want to project strong laser-like light on its surface to carry advertisement on its surface. Imagine looking up at the night sky on the moon only to see a Pepsi ad projected on its surface. Others want to get rid of it by blowing it up. "It's the only way to rid the world of scorching deserts and arctic winters," says Professor Alexander Abian, a mathematician at the University of Iowa. He claims that by getting rid of the moon, the Earth will then be able to shift into a "more desirable orbit." Abian suggests strategically placed hydrogen bombs on the moon can either blow it apart, or send it careening into outer space. The change would make our weather less extreme, turn our deserts into fertile farm land, and make the north and south Polar Regions livable. On a more scientific and acceptable proposition, NASA wants to build its telescope on the moon because, you guessed it, the moon has no light pollution. Did you know that it would only take a few hours for a broadcast from Earth to reach Saturn? One day we may very well communicate with other civilizations scattered around our universe. Tyson explains all the ways the cosmos wants to kill us, and had been doing so for millions of years. For example, scientists know that in a few billion years, an expanding sun will vaporize the earth, provided it's not been previously destroyed by a rogue black hole or a comet. If there was a Big Bang, where did the elements come from? And if the universe is expanding but finite, into what is it expanding? Another universe? What goes up does not necessarily have to come back down. Take the golf balls on the surface of the moon. They went up with Armstrong and never came back down. The sun does not rise from the east and set in the west. Sometimes in goes in a straight line and sometimes it never sets or rises. Don't believe me? Spend your summer in the North or South Pole. How come total solar eclipses seem rare, but actually happen every couple of years? Did you know there is an asteroid that in 2029 will come so close to Earth that it will pass underneath some of our satellites and if its path travels through certain spot or "keyhole" by Earth, its orbit will fluctuate enough to send it on a collision course with Earth in 2037? This is really a fun book. I found myself laughing out loud and smiling at many passages, as well as being astonished at the many revelations the author makes. This book will make you think just how small and insignificant we are in the universe. It will also make you wonder what is beyond the universe. I always wanted to be Captain Kirk and go explore the universe. Many concepts in this book aren't simple, and prior knowledge of the universe is required to fully understand this book. And one more thing: This book is not about black holes. Tyson reflects: "What are the lessons to be learned from this journey of the mind? That humans are emotionally fragile, perennially gullible, hopelessly ignorant masters of an insignificantly small speck in the cosmos. Have a nice day."

Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Death by Black Hole is a fascinating mix of science, humor, and curiosity that makes the mysteries of the universe feel both thrilling and approachable. As someone new to these ideas, I appreciated how he explains complex topics without drowning you in confusing terms. Each chapter feels like a short adventure into space, full of surprising insights that make you stop and think. Tyson’s passion and wit shine through, making this book a perfect entry point into learning about astrophysics.

When you approach Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries, the first question you ask is: who is Neil deGrasse Tyson? He's sort of a celebrity among astrophysicists, if there even is such a thing. Tyson is the director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City, if that gives you an idea of his clout in the science world. Whenever there is any kind of scientific discovery in space, he's the guy to turn to. I've seen him on PBS numerous times, as well as on various news shows. He is smart, savvy, and thoroughly entertaining. Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries is a collection of Tyson's essays from a monthly column in Natural History magazine, and it could not be a more interesting book. They are very easy to read and understand; Tyson makes astrophysics comprehensible for the average reader. The essays also stand alone. There is no need to even try to read this book in one sitting - it can be devoured in pieces that are easier to sort out. It's nice when a book presents something to think about, something for your mind to stew over. It's even better when those ideas are presented in an entertaining way. Tyson is funny and his sense of humor shines through the pages. His writing is clear, precise, and very easy to digest. The stories are also very different in tone; some are lighthearted and funny. One in particular that I enjoyed is about mistakes in the movie industry. Others are more serious and somber. The thing that they have in common is that they are all well-written and thoroughly interesting. I can't pick out my favorite essays simply because there were too many that I enjoyed. Let me be clear, though: Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries is not for everyone. If you have absolutely no interest in outer space, then this book will probably bore you. If you don't like science, this book won't force the issue and make you enjoy something that you really don't. If, however, you are like me and you find it interesting, but have little real understanding of it, this book was pretty much written for you. Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries was an amazing read that I can't recommend highly enough (if you think it sounds interesting!) I absolutely loved it and cannot wait to seek out more of Tyson's work to read. (His latest book, The Pluto Files, is a humorous look at Pluto's fall from planet grace - sounds like fun!)

This is a highly entertaining book that covers a wide variety of subjects about the universe and explains in rather easy to understand terms many mysteries of the cosmos. Dr. Tyson has a gift in making complex subjects very accessible and captivating. He has recently become the new president of The Planetary Society (which was co-founded by Carl Sagan in 1980 and which I quickly joined after meeting Carl while working at JPL during that time). In this book, Dr. Tyson includes a selection of his essays from his work at the American Museum of Natural History, some of which were also used in his video presentation, "My Favorite Universe", available from The Teaching Company. As an astrophysicist, he presents many thought provoking realms of science in this book with an insight that few others could do. As he points out, sometimes science and especially cosmology and astrophysics don't seem to make sense to us but this is somewhat due to our own rather limited senses. We base `making sense' on what we get as inputs from our five senses. But we see only a tiny portion of the electromagnetic spectrum (the visible light) and hear only a limit audio range, smell only a fraction of what a dog can smell, etc. He describes what the world would be like to us if we could `see' in radio waves or X-rays or gamma rays or have ultrasonic hearing, or sense magnet fields, etc. What would `make sense' to us then? Only in recent times has the entire electromagnetic spectrum been opened to mankind via new types of telescopes and the discoveries from these are pouring in at an astounding rate. We even have neutrino telescopes (detectors) that can record the rare interactions of these tiny particles (billions of which pass through our bodies every second without effect). One of the great mysteries of the Sun (and other stars) has been answered by these underground `telescopes'. There is something for everyone in this book, from the amazing amount of astronomy you can do with nothing but a stick to the origin of the elements inside our very bodies to the ultimate fate of the universe. Of course in a book of this type, it would be impossible to overlook the contributions of so many great scientists and thinkers of the past who have paved the way to our present understanding. Dr. Tyson has introduced us once again to many of these people who should never be forgotten. Hopefully some young readers of this book will one day join these ranks as people who ask questions and seek out answers with open minds and provide the future generations with an even better foundation on which to build our understanding of the universe!

This book was written by Neil DeGrasse Tyson, an astrophysicist, and the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space in New York City. He was also the host of the PBS program NOVA ScienceNow as well as appearing as a guest on The History Channel's, The Universe, numerous times. In addition to this, he written several other books such as Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution, and The Sky Is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist. As For the book, it is separated in to seven sections, which all have their own separate chapters within them. Each section explores it's own ideas with the chapters explain them. The Chapters themselves are fairly short only a few pages long, but in those few pages they convey the information of what the chapter is on in a way that is easy to comprehend. The subjects that the book tries to explain are actually quite broad, and the book does not actually focus on black holes even though it is the main subject in the title. Even though the book does not focus on black holes, it is still a very interesting read and is quite enjoyable as well. The book is fairly easy to read, it does not require a scientific background to understand the concepts and subjects that it explains. I would recommend anyone who is interested in the world around them to give this book a try, it really is informing of what actually happens in the Universe we live in.

I came across this guy on YouTube and he was SO good at explaining tricky stuff. I watched a few more of his mini clips, then decided I needed a book. This one was the one most recommended by buyers and I have to say I find it totally fascinating.So much great info in it (easy to understand, and without jargon) that I find myself writing down numerous 'facts' just I can remember them. eg: * Over 200 planets not in our solar system have so far been discovered. * If the human eye could 'see' microwave energy, we would be able to spot police radar gun beams. * The moon doesn't exactly orbit the Earth - They both rotate around a point 1000 miles below the Earth's surface. Incidentally, black holes are just a tiny aspect of the book. Most of it is about new and updated information on astronomy and universe origins, etc. I really like this book. It's as interesting and easy to read as Bill Bryson's superb 'Short History of Nearly Everything.'

Science can be fun and humorous with Dr. Tyson. Any non science person can also fall in love with science if it is delivered to him in the manner Dr. Tyson has written this book. The articles (chapters) are short, up to the point (but at the same time can impart a lot of knowledge to the reader as they contain tonnes of information), and of course, humorous. You won't be able to control your laughter in some of the chapters. Also, the criticism carried out by him on the inaccurate scientific depictions in sci-fi Hollywood movies is worth a read (humorous criticism). (I bet it would have been more funny if he had any knowledge about Bollywood!!) And trust me, you won't be able to put this book down. Also, the readers will later realise that the book's title isn't apt. 'Astrophysics for people in a hurry- Part 1' or any title that is more or less like this one would sound more suitable. So therefore, I recommend this book to everyone, not only science lovers or readers but to the non science ones also. And last but not least, thanks to Amazon for the super fast delivery. I badly wanted this book and they fulfilled this wish by delivering it the very next day!!

super livre, très intéressant et Neil Degrasse Tyson arrive à captiver le lecteur (c'est un très bon vulgarisateur, et j'adore les pointes d'humour), excellent état (je craignais de l'acheter d'occasion), je suis très contente.

buen libro

Amazing book, truly astronomy for regular people.