Cosmic Queries: StarTalk's Guide to Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We're Going
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- Create Date：2021-05-08 03:20:17
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Neil deGrasse Tyson
- ISBN：B08PVZNYQT
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Summary
For science geeks， space and physics nerds， and all who want to understand their place in the universe， this enlightening new book from Neil deGrasse Tyson offers a unique take on the mysteries and curiosities of the cosmos， building on rich material from his beloved StarTalk podcast。 In this illuminating audiobook， Tyson and co-author James Trefil， a renowned physicist and science popularizer， take on the big questions that humanity has been posing for millennia - How did life begin？ What is our place in the universe？ Are we alone？ - and provide answers based on the most current data， observations， and theories。 Populated with paradigm-shifting discoveries that help explain the building blocks of astrophysics， this relatable and entertaining book will engage and inspire readers of all ages， bring sophisticated concepts within reach， and offer a window into the complexities of the cosmos。
RUNNING TIME => 10hrs。
©2021 Neil deGrasse Tyson and James Trefil （P）2021 Blackstone Publishing
RUNNING TIME => 10hrs。
©2021 Neil deGrasse Tyson and James Trefil （P）2021 Blackstone Publishing
Reviews
Sadat Issah
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Informative
Tina
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Neil deGrasse Tyson never fails to impress， and this is a fantastic and fun companion to the StarTalk podcast， which I love and listen to regularly。
Molly McDonough
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Neil Degrasse Tyson does it again with this pop-science book。 He wrote this book with a conversational style， almost as if you are listening to his podcast， StarTalk， or you are sitting down with him in his office hours。 Cosmic Queries offers a great introduction to the vastness of astrophysics， cosmology， particle physics， and astronomy。 I would recommend this book to anyone with even a slight interest in Physics， as it is extremely accessible to people of any backgrounds。 I also cannot leave a Neil Degrasse Tyson does it again with this pop-science book。 He wrote this book with a conversational style， almost as if you are listening to his podcast， StarTalk， or you are sitting down with him in his office hours。 Cosmic Queries offers a great introduction to the vastness of astrophysics， cosmology， particle physics， and astronomy。 I would recommend this book to anyone with even a slight interest in Physics， as it is extremely accessible to people of any backgrounds。 I also cannot leave a review with good faith without mentioning the printing and photography contained in this book。 It was published by National Geographic， so I would expect nothing less， but this book is truly stunning， from the images from the Hubble Space Telescope to the scientific diagrams， I could spend hours just looking through the imagery alone。 。。。more
my bookworm life
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📖 New Review。 Thank you @tlctours for having me on the review tour and for sending me this copy。 This book is out now and published by @nationalgeographic。 This was a really interesting read， having read books by Stephen Hawking that I’ve enjoyed， more recently in the last few years ‘Brief answers to the big questions’ which this felt of similar tone at times， I knew this would be something that would bend my mind and blow it at the same time。 Accompanied by some stunning picture and just always 📖 New Review。 Thank you @tlctours for having me on the review tour and for sending me this copy。 This book is out now and published by @nationalgeographic。 This was a really interesting read， having read books by Stephen Hawking that I’ve enjoyed， more recently in the last few years ‘Brief answers to the big questions’ which this felt of similar tone at times， I knew this would be something that would bend my mind and blow it at the same time。 Accompanied by some stunning picture and just always delivered in a really readable and engaging way， this made for some interesting and thought provoking reading。 I think books like this may seem intimidating sometimes but the information and the aspects they cover are so varied， and so detailed but formatted in such a way that it takes that feeling away of being overwhelmed by information。 4 ⭐️ for me， really enjoyed。 。。。more
Lino
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"Aristotle orders a retsina。 Newton orders a stiff mead。 Over their drinks， they debate which view is right。 Newton proposes a simple test: In his theory， neglecting air resistance， all objects dropped to Earth's surface will fall at the same rate。 For Aristotle， a bigger object has more "earth element" than a smaller one， and therefore will fall faster， in proportion to how much earth element it contains。" To find out which theory is correct I highly recommend that you read this interesting fas "Aristotle orders a retsina。 Newton orders a stiff mead。 Over their drinks， they debate which view is right。 Newton proposes a simple test: In his theory， neglecting air resistance， all objects dropped to Earth's surface will fall at the same rate。 For Aristotle， a bigger object has more "earth element" than a smaller one， and therefore will fall faster， in proportion to how much earth element it contains。" To find out which theory is correct I highly recommend that you read this interesting fast read by Neil DeGrasse Tyson， entitled "Cosmic Queries StarTalk's Guide to Who We Are， How We Got Here， and Where We're Going。"I have never been so at ease reading a science text in my life。 The illustrations were so helpful and the format kept me interested throughout the pages。 Neil deGrasse Tyson’s engaging style is what really brought me into the book and kept me glued to its pages。 Not only was I able to understand what he was saying， but I genuinely believe I could feel his desire for me to comprehend and analyze his work。 Like he had a vested interest in making sure that he is making sense to me。The book is a fun read and with the entire book broken up into groups of related questions， it’s the kind of book that you can leisurely enjoy， reading a little bit each day。 For me， it was two chapters at a time。 。。。more
Steve Schinke
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Understandable and interesting。
Jack Deighton
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Modern Physics can be a daunting and impenetrable subject to those unfamiliar with it （even to those who study it or for whom it is their life’s work。） Quantum mechanics is especially difficult。 Richard Feynman once said that nobody understands it。 This book is an attempt by the authors to explain modern Physics concepts to （I assume） the general reader in ten chapters exploring our place in the Universe， how we know what we know， how did the Universe become what it is， its age， what it’s ma Modern Physics can be a daunting and impenetrable subject to those unfamiliar with it （even to those who study it or for whom it is their life’s work。） Quantum mechanics is especially difficult。 Richard Feynman once said that nobody understands it。 This book is an attempt by the authors to explain modern Physics concepts to （I assume） the general reader in ten chapters exploring our place in the Universe， how we know what we know， how did the Universe become what it is， its age， what it’s made of， the nature of life， whether we are alone in the Universe， how it all began， how it will end， and what does nothing have to do with everything。 I would say it succeeds admirably。 Footnotes or headnotes are cleverly disguised by setting them off with yellow lines so that they do not appear to be footnotes or headnotes， as are occasional examples of Tyson’s dated and timed historical tweets on various subjects。 （My favourite， “Don’t Give up on us yet。 Americans are inching towards the metric system。”） Tyson and Trefil adopt an informal style， the feeling is as if they are having a conversation with the reader。 As far as I recall there are only two equations rendered as such， that for Hubble’s law and of course Einstein’s most famous。 （Another Tyson tweet， “You Matter。 Unless you multiply yourself by the speed of light squared。 Then you Energy。”） The book is gorgeously illustrated with both historical and modern diagrams/pictures and photographs。 One of these is a quite stunning “plan” view of the Milky Way showing its prominent spiral arms and the sun’s place in it。Striking to the British reader is that temperatures are always quoted in Fahrenheit （before the Celsius figure is given in brackets。） This just seems very backward to someone from a country where the former temperature scale - and the imperial weights and measures system - was superseded around sixty years ago。 The text is a lucid summing up of present knowledge via a trawl through the past - though possibly overtaken by the confirmation of an unexpectedly large wobble of muons which may mean there are at present four forces working on the universe rather than three。 This is how science works though， knowledge continually being tested against experiment， and explanations for the detected phenomena updated as a result。 I cannot say whether someone lacking a background in Science would find Cosmic Queries as readable as I did but it would certainly act as a good primer for anyone eager to explore the subjects。 My copy was very tightly bound， however， making it necessary to hold the pages firmly to keep them open。 。。。more
Kristin
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Short Review: This is astrophysics for the average joe。 You matter。 Unless you multiply yourself by the speed of light squared。Then you Energy - Neil deGrasse TysonLong Review: This book took me back to my undergraduate Astronomy class with my professor who looked like Santa's twin brother and who let it be known under no uncertain terms how much he disagreed with Pluto's demotion。 It tackles all the important questions - What is life？， How did it all begin？， How will it end？， Is there alien lif Short Review: This is astrophysics for the average joe。 You matter。 Unless you multiply yourself by the speed of light squared。Then you Energy - Neil deGrasse TysonLong Review: This book took me back to my undergraduate Astronomy class with my professor who looked like Santa's twin brother and who let it be known under no uncertain terms how much he disagreed with Pluto's demotion。 It tackles all the important questions - What is life？， How did it all begin？， How will it end？， Is there alien life out there？， and How do we know what we know？ What an amazing and vast universe we live in。 I've found myself gazing up at the moon and stars at night and feeling just a wee bit smaller。 It's very humbling。 Not to mention， the beautiful book design。 The page layout is gorgeous and makes digesting such heavy topics and information a lot easier！ Get this one on your must read list！ 。。。more
soreadwithcarol
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"People writing about this successive removal of humanity from the center of creation often throw in Darwin， who taught us that we are not all that different from other living creatures on our planet， and Freud， who taught us that our mental processes aren't as rational and logical as we like to believe。But there is one bright spot in this scientific dismantling of our ego。 If there's nothing special about Earth - if we're really just a part of a continuum of nature - then the same laws from our "People writing about this successive removal of humanity from the center of creation often throw in Darwin， who taught us that we are not all that different from other living creatures on our planet， and Freud， who taught us that our mental processes aren't as rational and logical as we like to believe。But there is one bright spot in this scientific dismantling of our ego。 If there's nothing special about Earth - if we're really just a part of a continuum of nature - then the same laws from our planet are likely to operate everywhere else， empowering us to explore and decode the entirety of the known universe， across space， & possibly across time itself。。。 What's bad for our ego is good for science。"A very enlightening read ❤️Incredibly complex subjects explained in less than 300 pages。 All subjects were filled with thorough explanations accompanied by comparisons of more easily grasped concepts by people like me （who barely passed Chemistry & Physics back in College 😅）， with amazing photos and illustrations plus related interesting， thought-provoking， and funny tweets from Neil deGrasse Tyson。 。。。more
Gabriel
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3。5
Michael Dewey
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Neil DeGrasse Tyson does a fantastic job giving us a simple “Science for Dummies” approach to mankind’s attempts to understand the cosmos and his place therein。 While I think I would have enjoyed a bit more depth， the point of the book was to whet our appetite for more。。。a point he made clear in his closing words。 To question， that is to be human， and Neil implores us to question all the more going forward。 This was a refreshing， concise， and inspiring summary of the science and history of cosmo Neil DeGrasse Tyson does a fantastic job giving us a simple “Science for Dummies” approach to mankind’s attempts to understand the cosmos and his place therein。 While I think I would have enjoyed a bit more depth， the point of the book was to whet our appetite for more。。。a point he made clear in his closing words。 To question， that is to be human， and Neil implores us to question all the more going forward。 This was a refreshing， concise， and inspiring summary of the science and history of cosmology。 Highly recommend。 。。。more
La Crosse County Library
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Cosmic Queries: StarTalk's Guide to Who We Are， How We Got Here， and Where We're Going （2021） is based on Neil deGrasse Tyson's Q & A science podcast StarTalk。 I found this book to be engaging， fun， and conversational， almost as if the reader was sitting across from physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and talking about the big questions of our place in the universe。The biggest strength of this book for me is that it made big ideas， such as how the universe started， how life emerged on Earth， and the p Cosmic Queries: StarTalk's Guide to Who We Are， How We Got Here， and Where We're Going （2021） is based on Neil deGrasse Tyson's Q & A science podcast StarTalk。 I found this book to be engaging， fun， and conversational， almost as if the reader was sitting across from physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and talking about the big questions of our place in the universe。The biggest strength of this book for me is that it made big ideas， such as how the universe started， how life emerged on Earth， and the potential for life on other planets， accessible to a general audience outside of the science professions。 Not to mention， the photography featured in each chapter was breathtaking and the graphics extremely helpful in trying to visualize say， the multiverse theory or basically any of the mind-bending concepts of theoretical physics or quantum mechanics！A must-read for all who are curious about our place in the universe！-CoraFind this book and other titles within our catalog。 。。。more
Elyse
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NetGalley ARC。I was interested and riveted （most of the time） while listening。 What did I retain？ Nothing。 lol。 Science is not my thing but I like hearing NDT talk。 And he talked maybe 30% of the book。 There was also a female narrator。And I am thrilled to say that the latest NetGalley app update is great！ Listening speed sticks！！ WOOOOOO！ App doesn't freeze when you go on another app but it does seem to reset back to the main page after so long， maybe after it's paused for too long？ I'll have to NetGalley ARC。I was interested and riveted （most of the time） while listening。 What did I retain？ Nothing。 lol。 Science is not my thing but I like hearing NDT talk。 And he talked maybe 30% of the book。 There was also a female narrator。And I am thrilled to say that the latest NetGalley app update is great！ Listening speed sticks！！ WOOOOOO！ App doesn't freeze when you go on another app but it does seem to reset back to the main page after so long， maybe after it's paused for too long？ I'll have to do some more research on that part。 But I'm just so happy the listening speed sticks。 。。。more
Justin Weber
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Overall， a good book。 I'd give the content a 4。5， but the layout of horrific。 I'd give it a 2， at best。 The old tweets and "factoids" are oddly placed， and really hurts the flow of the book。 It is similar to StarTalk where， things are broken down into segments， but it could have been better constructed。 The actual content of the book is very good， giving a deep dive （yet understandable） look into all things universe related。 Overall， a good book。 I'd give the content a 4。5， but the layout of horrific。 I'd give it a 2， at best。 The old tweets and "factoids" are oddly placed， and really hurts the flow of the book。 It is similar to StarTalk where， things are broken down into segments， but it could have been better constructed。 The actual content of the book is very good， giving a deep dive （yet understandable） look into all things universe related。 。。。more
Ben Thowe
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This book gave answers to questions I wouldn’t even know to ask。 I appreciate Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s helpful metaphors when it comes to explaining complex ideas in ways we can understand it。 Even so， much of this book was thick with complex ideas and not everything was able to be understood。 I think Tyson says it best when he says， “We don’t know what we don’t know，” basically saying that there’s no end to our search for answers in the world of astrophysics。 While I liked this book， I thought the This book gave answers to questions I wouldn’t even know to ask。 I appreciate Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s helpful metaphors when it comes to explaining complex ideas in ways we can understand it。 Even so， much of this book was thick with complex ideas and not everything was able to be understood。 I think Tyson says it best when he says， “We don’t know what we don’t know，” basically saying that there’s no end to our search for answers in the world of astrophysics。 While I liked this book， I thought the ideas and concepts were often too theoretical and therefore tough to grasp and understand。 It’s definitely a book written for those kinds of people who have never-ending curiosity for why things are the way they are。 。。。more
Beth
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Whew！ That was intense！ Kudos for the quality and illustrations in the book！ They tried to make this subject easy to understand， but half of this stuff is literally over my head！ Pun intended！ Lol
Sharon
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First， I will read or watch or listen to anything by Neil deGrasse Tyson。 Second， in my opinion， Cosmic Queries， was well-written with conversational discussions of subjects that are difficult if you do not have a science background。 Also， the book has beautiful pictures and witty asides by NdGT on some of the pages。 So for me， definitely a 4-star read。 There were some sections and even some chapters that I had a hard time getting through。 Several sections I read over and over。 I don't have a sc First， I will read or watch or listen to anything by Neil deGrasse Tyson。 Second， in my opinion， Cosmic Queries， was well-written with conversational discussions of subjects that are difficult if you do not have a science background。 Also， the book has beautiful pictures and witty asides by NdGT on some of the pages。 So for me， definitely a 4-star read。 There were some sections and even some chapters that I had a hard time getting through。 Several sections I read over and over。 I don't have a science background and found myself looking up more information on the difficult bits。 That was a good thing。 I feel smarter already and I recommend this book to everyone。 。。。more
Robert D
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Absolutely fascinating！ I have read a great deal，on the subject including all of Lisa Randall’s book， but this was certainly entertains and informative！
Christovar
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Easy， enjoyable and informative read。As usual， Neil deGrasse Tyson delivers another awesome book。 I just love how easy and enjoyable this book is。 The information here is so relevant and inspiring。 I recommend this book to anyone who is curious about the universe and the way it came to be （and eventually the way it will end）。 Thanks Neil for sharing your wisdom。
Sam
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Subject matter is， of course， fascinating; but the blog-like nature of disjointed queries and chapters made it a struggle to really connect and engage with this book as something more meaningful than tidbits of astrophysical info。
Jessica
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Very informative and aimed at even those with only the most basic of astronomical know-how。 Neil DeGrasse Tyson has done it again。
Judy Weaver
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Very interesting！！ I don't buy all the theories， but this is certainly an interesting book with a lot of amazing concepts to think about！ Very interesting！！ I don't buy all the theories， but this is certainly an interesting book with a lot of amazing concepts to think about！ 。。。more
Julie
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This could easily be subtitled Quantum Physics for Dummies。 It tackles the fundamental nature of the universe， from its history since the Big Bang， to its composition on a molecular level。 It’s baffling and mind-blowing all at the same time。 Some of the concepts went a little over my head， but the plentiful illustrations helped to demonstrate some of the more abstract ideas。 The vastness of the universe itself is hard to fathom， as is how scientists study it。 From radio telescopes and space prob This could easily be subtitled Quantum Physics for Dummies。 It tackles the fundamental nature of the universe， from its history since the Big Bang， to its composition on a molecular level。 It’s baffling and mind-blowing all at the same time。 Some of the concepts went a little over my head， but the plentiful illustrations helped to demonstrate some of the more abstract ideas。 The vastness of the universe itself is hard to fathom， as is how scientists study it。 From radio telescopes and space probes to particle accelerators， these tools help us understand where we came from and where we’re headed。 As much as we’ve learned over the last century， there is so much more that we don’t know， like the properties of dark matter and dark energy。 All of these perplexing ideas are presented with deGrasse Tyson’s straightforwardness， and I was pretty much reading the book with his voiceover in my head。 There are even a bunch of his best-of tweets peppered throughout。 It’s a cool book that introduced me to some fascinating， if mind-boggling concepts。I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher。 。。。more
Horng Jiunn
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The sheer expanse of this theme subjugated a curious me since young and often left me at awe while we continue to unveil the drama of the universe。 This book carries updated content with recent discoveries， programs and was condensed with helpful serving of analogies to aid my understanding。
Normandy
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If the topics covered are new to you it is a good book。 If you have heard of these topics before you will learn very little more。 There was no meat on the bones of these topics。
Dea Spears
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This is the best novel I can recommend to read。 I suggest you join NovelStar’s writing competition this April。
Cebine Ragn
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Neil really didn't let me down with this book。 First if all， it's a real pleasure reading。 I can personally be a little demotivated if science books are only text， but this was none of that。 The book is filled to the brim with pictrues， tweets and fact boxes， all together with the beautiful writting of Neil。 Some of the concepts are a little too abstract， but Neil is excellent at giving examples from the real world， which also helps remember the concepts much more。All in all， a BEAUTIFUL and INS Neil really didn't let me down with this book。 First if all， it's a real pleasure reading。 I can personally be a little demotivated if science books are only text， but this was none of that。 The book is filled to the brim with pictrues， tweets and fact boxes， all together with the beautiful writting of Neil。 Some of the concepts are a little too abstract， but Neil is excellent at giving examples from the real world， which also helps remember the concepts much more。All in all， a BEAUTIFUL and INSPIRING book！ 。。。more
CarrieAnn Bowden
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“For the goal of our short life is not to find the answers， but to search for new places to stand so that we can formulate questions not previously imagine。 Along that journey。。。 we bid you， always to keep looking up。”As always， NGT makes what seems a complex easy to grasp and enjoyable。 You can certainly see his sense of humour and personality come through in this book。 If you are a listener of StarTalk radio like myself， this book is a great summary and reference of different topics discussed “For the goal of our short life is not to find the answers， but to search for new places to stand so that we can formulate questions not previously imagine。 Along that journey。。。 we bid you， always to keep looking up。”As always， NGT makes what seems a complex easy to grasp and enjoyable。 You can certainly see his sense of humour and personality come through in this book。 If you are a listener of StarTalk radio like myself， this book is a great summary and reference of different topics discussed in the podcast that you can return to。 There is some overlap with Astrophysics for People in a Hurry， how I prefer it to the former。 The only cons that I would warn is that it is not for the “advanced” star talk listener as it may seem redundant to his other works。 。。。more
Chad Manske
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deGrasse-Tyson kills it again with this highly readable book with co author and physicist James Trefil。 Piggy-backing off his StarTalk podcast， Cosmic Queries tackles tough questions such as how did life begin， how old is the universe， and the like。 With his characteristic wit， Tweets， stunning graphics and photos， I once again found myself laughing all the way through。 I learned many things， but among those that stuck include what the four most popular world collaborations are: answer—internati deGrasse-Tyson kills it again with this highly readable book with co author and physicist James Trefil。 Piggy-backing off his StarTalk podcast， Cosmic Queries tackles tough questions such as how did life begin， how old is the universe， and the like。 With his characteristic wit， Tweets， stunning graphics and photos， I once again found myself laughing all the way through。 I learned many things， but among those that stuck include what the four most popular world collaborations are: answer—international space station， hadron collider， waging war and the Olympics。 I also learned the durability of the microscopic tardigrade—look it up， you’ll be amazed！ 。。。more
Jeanne
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