222 pages
English language
Published July 27, 2017 by W.W. Norton & Company.
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry is a 2017 popular science book by Neil deGrasse Tyson, centering around a number of basic questions about the universe. Published on May 2, 2017, by W. W. Norton & Company, the book is a collection of Tyson's essays that appeared in Natural History magazine at various times from 1997 to 2007.The book debuted at #1 on The New York Times Non-Fiction Best Seller list when it first appeared in May, 2017. It sold 48,416 copies in its first week, making it the second-most-purchased overall in the U.S. for that week (behind the children's fiction novel The Dark Prophecy). A year later, it remained in the top five and had sold in excess of one million copies.
Really good book about basics of astrophysics. Some may think that it pours information a bit too much. Thus some knowledge on the topic before hand, helps digest the book. Author describes the topics nicely and vividly making the book easy to read.
Excellent selection of essays. Together they spark wonder.
The title is correct, and I enjoyed it.
I’m switching to The Storygraph because I hate Amazon’s exploitative practices, like union-busting.
https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/lovmelovmycats
https://youtu.be/1XQJRKcJBfQ
at least 3.5
at least 3.5
Tyson describes the beginning of the universe, dark matter, the spaces between planetary orbits, solar systems and galaxies, the shapes of galaxies, and delivers by the barrowload fun facts. Because it's short and for people in a hurry, the reader who knows nothing of astrophysics raises questions: how do theoretical physicists develop models, without laboratories? (They use their imaginations.) How are elements found only within a gigantic hadron collider identified and named? how are temperatures of the sun, space and planets measured? What is the likelihood of an asteroid breaking free of its belt and falling to the earth? How large does that asteroid have to be to wipe out most living matter upon impact? These and more questions Astrophysics for People in a Hurry answers.
This collection of [a:Neil deGrasse Tyson|12855|Neil deGrasse Tyson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1423292563p2/12855.jpg] essays from Natural History magazine seeks to provide "a foundational fluency in all the major ideas and discoveries that drive our modern understanding of the universe," as Tyson writes in his introduction. "If I've succeeded, you'll be culturally conversant in my field of expertise, and you just may be hungry for more."
He pretty much succeeds in his other goal, giving us all a "cosmic perspective." Starting with the Big Bang, and concluding with how an alien society might locate this exoplanet and assess its inhabitants, you will get a basic understanding of how the universe works, regardless of how you did in science class. If you've seen Tyson live, or watched his Star Talk show, you'll know he can be quite funny, and flashes of that show up here too. The brevity and conciseness does make this a very easy read. …
This collection of [a:Neil deGrasse Tyson|12855|Neil deGrasse Tyson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1423292563p2/12855.jpg] essays from Natural History magazine seeks to provide "a foundational fluency in all the major ideas and discoveries that drive our modern understanding of the universe," as Tyson writes in his introduction. "If I've succeeded, you'll be culturally conversant in my field of expertise, and you just may be hungry for more."
He pretty much succeeds in his other goal, giving us all a "cosmic perspective." Starting with the Big Bang, and concluding with how an alien society might locate this exoplanet and assess its inhabitants, you will get a basic understanding of how the universe works, regardless of how you did in science class. If you've seen Tyson live, or watched his Star Talk show, you'll know he can be quite funny, and flashes of that show up here too. The brevity and conciseness does make this a very easy read.
While I wish he'd added some Further Reading to each chapter, for those who might want to dig deeper, I highly recommend this. Go pick it up.
