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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
OK, I admit it, I'm a real sucker for Philip Plait's gee-wizz writing style. He has a winning way of combining beautifully clear explanations of complex cosmology with a blogger's immediacy and wit. Some of the one-liners made me giggle: "65 million years ago, the Dinosaurs had a really bad day." But you learn so much cool stuff about the universe at the same time. I didn't know that our Sun is in fact far from average, it's rather on the large size apparently, and I found the explanation of the way huge, pre-supernova, stars build a layer cake of elements fascinating. And of course it's all to explain the many ways the universe can kill you; spagettification by black hole anyone?
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If you buy this book expecting a fun read and to learn a little about the science, you'll get precisely that; only with a little more learning thrown in. The author has an ability to explain complex ideas with unmatched clarity, providing plenty of education along with the fun.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
After being wowed by Phil Plait's first book 'Bad Astronomy: Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from Astrology to the Moon Landing Hoax', this booked seemed like the next logical step in getting another shot of Phil's enthusiasm for science fact.
In this book, Phil's 'chat down the pub' writing style, good humour and charm takes you on a nine chapter journey through the arcane world of astrophysics using the most marvellous and fascinating concepts of the universe to keep you hooked until the very last page. Supernovae, black holes, colliding galaxies are covered, but to add a twist this book explains how these things can destroy our fragile existence. But, he is not scaremongering. He is attempting to separate misconceptions from fact, putting every one of these disasters into perspective. The epilogue even contains a table outlining the chances of these things actually happening.
The book is well structured. Each chapter begins with a short story like he is reading an excerpt from some disaster movie. He then goes on to explain in vivid detail what causes the disaster, how we can expect to die and what we can possibly do to prevent it. Although his explanations are detailed, they are not bogged down with complex maths, equations and blurb, but are extremely easy to take in. When you read this book, Phil does not lecture you. He is sitting in the armchair opposite.
You will come away having learned the details of a wonder of the universe. You will also come away with an appreciation of how dangerous it is. But ultimately you will come away with a warm feeling of not feeling threatened at all.
In this book, Phil's 'chat down the pub' writing style, good humour and charm takes you on a nine chapter journey through the arcane world of astrophysics using the most marvellous and fascinating concepts of the universe to keep you hooked until the very last page. Supernovae, black holes, colliding galaxies are covered, but to add a twist this book explains how these things can destroy our fragile existence. But, he is not scaremongering. He is attempting to separate misconceptions from fact, putting every one of these disasters into perspective. The epilogue even contains a table outlining the chances of these things actually happening.
The book is well structured. Each chapter begins with a short story like he is reading an excerpt from some disaster movie. He then goes on to explain in vivid detail what causes the disaster, how we can expect to die and what we can possibly do to prevent it. Although his explanations are detailed, they are not bogged down with complex maths, equations and blurb, but are extremely easy to take in. When you read this book, Phil does not lecture you. He is sitting in the armchair opposite.
You will come away having learned the details of a wonder of the universe. You will also come away with an appreciation of how dangerous it is. But ultimately you will come away with a warm feeling of not feeling threatened at all.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Brilliant!
A fun fantastic informative read. Phil presents normally impenetrable astrophysics in witty humourous and accessible ways that leaves you more knowledgable and mildly pleased with... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Marcus
The fun side of the end of the world
Philip Plat, author of the Bad Astronomy blog, where he spends a lot of time explaining a lot of misconceptions, and plain silliness away, has created a sweet little book to tackle... Read more
Published 19 months ago by shayera
Best non fiction I've read this year
This is an outstanding book which is rather let down by its exclamatory title and its cover, both of which I suspect have caused a lot of people to assume that it is some kind of... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Mr. R. Blackett
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