Astrophysics for People in a Hurry (Tyson)

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry
Neil deGrasse Tyson, 2017
W.W. Norton & Co.
224 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780393609394


Summary
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. (From the publisher.)

Author Bio
• Birth—October 5, 1958
• Where—New York City, New York, USA
• Education—B.S., Harvard University; M.S., University of Texas; M.S., Ph.D., Columbia University
• Awards—(see below)
• Currently—lives in New York City, New York


Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist, author, and science communicator. Since 1996, he has been the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space in New York City. The center is part of the American Museum of Natural History, where Tyson founded the Department of Astrophysics in 1997 and has been a research associate in the department since 2003.

Born and raised in New York City, Tyson became interested in astronomy at the age of nine after a visit to the Hayden Planetarium. After graduating from the Bronx High School of Science, where he was editor-in-chief of the Physical Science Journal, he completed a bachelor's degree in physics at Harvard University in 1980.

After receiving a master's degree in astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin in 1983, he earned his master's (1989) and doctorate (1991) in astrophysics at Columbia University. For the next three years, he was a postdoctoral research associate at Princeton University. In 1994, he joined the Hayden Planetarium as a staff scientist and the Princeton faculty as a visiting research scientist and lecturer. In 1996, he became director of the planetarium and oversaw its $210-million reconstruction project, which was completed in 2000.

From 1995 to 2005, Tyson wrote monthly essays in the "Universe" column for Natural History magazine, some of which were published in his books Death by Black Hole (2007) and Astrophysics for People in a Hurry (2017). During the same period, he wrote a monthly column in Star Date magazine, answering questions about the universe under the pen name "Merlin." Material from the column appeared in his books Merlin's Tour of the Universe (1998) and Just Visiting This Planet (1998).

Tyson served on a 2001 government commission on the future of the U.S. aerospace industry, and on the 2004 Moon, Mars and Beyond commission. He was awarded the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal in the same year. From 2006 to 2011, he hosted the television show NOVA ScienceNow on PBS. Since 2009, Tyson hosted the weekly podcast StarTalk. A spin-off, also called StarTalk, began airing on National Geographic in 2015.

In 2014, he hosted the television series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, a successor to Carl Sagan's 1980 series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences awarded Tyson the Public Welfare Medal in 2015 for his "extraordinary role in exciting the public about the wonders of science." (Excerpted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 6/72/2017.)

Book Reviews
Neil deGrasse Tyson is a rock star, and his newest book shows why: as small as it is — it practically fits in your pocket — its subject is nothing less than the universe itself. More remarkable, it’s a bestseller. Think about that: a book on astrophysics at the top of the charts. What’s the world coming to?… Astrophysics for People in a Hurry is written for…the layperson, for folks who don’t spend time in labs or at the chalkboard solving equations with Greek letters. Make no mistake, though: Tyson's lucid, accessible prose takes on complicated subjects without dumbing them  down. His tone is light, even funny….  READ MORE…
P.J. Adler - LitLovers


Tyson is a master of streamlining and simplification …taking mind-bogglingly complex ideas, stripping them down to their nuts and bolts, padding them with colorful allegories and dorky jokes, and making them accessible to the layperson.
Salon


This book will keep you fascinated with succinct and dynamic explanations of a wide variety of astronomical topics. A winner that every astronomy enthusiast should have on the bookshelf!
David J. Eicher - Astronomy


With wry humor, keen vision, and abundant humanity, Neil deGrasse Tyson distills the big questions of space, time, and reality into short, insightful chapters you can enjoy with your morning coffee.
Discover


This may have been written for people in a hurry, but I urge you to take your time. It will all be over far too soon.
BBC's Sky at Night (UK)


Tyson manifests science brilliantly …[his] insights are valuable for any leader, teacher, scientist or educator.
Forbes


Tyson…has revisited, modified, consolidated, and… updated a number of essays from his Universe column from Natural History magazine.… Tyson fans and newcomers alike — will enjoy this caper through the cosmos. —Nancy R. Curtis, Univ. of Maine Lib., Orono
Library Journal


Even readers normally adverse to anything to do with physics or chemistry will find Tyson’s wittily delivered explanations compelling and disarmingly entertaining.
Booklist


[Q]uick and thoroughly enjoyable.… [The book] may fundamentally shift your perspective of our place in the universe — and convince you to pursue some of the many fine longer-form books on the subject. A sublime introduction to some of the most exciting ideas in astrophysics that will leave readers wanting more.
Kirkus Reviews

Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, please use these LitLovers talking points to help start a discussion for Astrophysics for People in a Hurry...then take off on your own:

1. What is your level of scientific education: have you ever had a physics class, for instance? How much do you know, as a non-scientist, of the cosmos — it's history, its present state, and it's possible future, as well as how it works? What have you learned from reading Neil deGrasse Tyson's book?

2. How accessible is Tyson's book to a non-scientist? How much of the information are you able to grasp? Consider the slenderness of the book — and the fact that there are only about 200 words on each page. Does the physical slightness of book detract from or enhance your reading experience? Is the book dumbed down?

3. Do you find Astrophysics for People in a Hurry interesting? Has it inspired you to want to learn more about the subject? Or does this book satisfy your level of curiosity?

4. Is there a particular chapter or topic that you find more interesting than others? Or perhaps find easier — or maybe more difficult — to grasp than others? Consider dark matter or Einstein's General Theory of Relativity? What about the chapter on exoplanets?

5. What does Tyson mean by "cosmic perspective"? Does his view resonate with you or not? Do you have a different sense of the universe than Tyson?

6. Tyson has a gift for picturesque facts and analogies like the fact that two cubic feet of iridium has the same weight as a Buick … or the fact that a pulsar has about as much density as 100 elephants crammed into a Chap Stick case. Are there others that struck you as particularly helpful or clever?

7. Talk about some of the areas of astrophysics for which we've amassed a fair amount of knowledge …as well as the many mysteries that we still don't have answers for.

8. How familiar were you with Neil deGrasse Tyson before reading this latest book of his. Have you read any of his other books or articles? Have you watched any of his television shows, his 2014 sequel to Carl Sagan's Cosmos, for instance. Or perhaps you've seen his Great Courses lectures or listened to StarTalk, his podcast?

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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