Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries
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- Author：Neil deGrasse Tyson
- ISBN：039335038X
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Summary
A vibrant collection of essays on the cosmos from the nation's best-known astrophysicist。 "One of today's best popularizers of science。" —Kirkus Reviews。
Loyal readers of the monthly "Universe" essays in Natural History magazine have long recognized Neil deGrasse Tyson's talent for guiding them through the mysteries of the cosmos with stunning clarity and almost childlike enthusiasm。 Here， Tyson compiles his favorite essays across a myriad of cosmic topics。
The title essay introduces readers to the physics of black holes by explaining the gory details of what would happen to your body if you fell into one。 "Holy Wars" examines the needless friction between science and religion in the context of historical conflicts。 "The Search for Life in the Universe" explores astral life from the frontiers of astrobiology。 And "Hollywood Nights" assails the movie industry's feeble efforts to get its night skies right。
Known for his ability to blend content， accessibility， and humor， Tyson is a natural teacher who simplifies some of the most complex concepts in astrophysics while simultaneously sharing his infectious excitement about our universe。
Loyal readers of the monthly "Universe" essays in Natural History magazine have long recognized Neil deGrasse Tyson's talent for guiding them through the mysteries of the cosmos with stunning clarity and almost childlike enthusiasm。 Here， Tyson compiles his favorite essays across a myriad of cosmic topics。
The title essay introduces readers to the physics of black holes by explaining the gory details of what would happen to your body if you fell into one。 "Holy Wars" examines the needless friction between science and religion in the context of historical conflicts。 "The Search for Life in the Universe" explores astral life from the frontiers of astrobiology。 And "Hollywood Nights" assails the movie industry's feeble efforts to get its night skies right。
Known for his ability to blend content， accessibility， and humor， Tyson is a natural teacher who simplifies some of the most complex concepts in astrophysics while simultaneously sharing his infectious excitement about our universe。
Reviews
Joseph Murphy
，
Title does not lie， some of the most dangerous events， in the universes， brought to easily understand， albeit excruciating detail。
David
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In his book， Neil deGrasse Tyson writes， "The way space， time， matter and energy behaved as the universe expanded and cooled from the beginning is one of the greatest stories ever told。" And he tries to do it in just 370 pages - rather successfully！ Within the back page spiel is written: "Tyson is a natural teacher who simplifies the complexities of astrophysics。" I have always had an interest in physics and astrophysics， but some of his chapters I found heavy going。 I don't think he is as easy In his book， Neil deGrasse Tyson writes， "The way space， time， matter and energy behaved as the universe expanded and cooled from the beginning is one of the greatest stories ever told。" And he tries to do it in just 370 pages - rather successfully！ Within the back page spiel is written: "Tyson is a natural teacher who simplifies the complexities of astrophysics。" I have always had an interest in physics and astrophysics， but some of his chapters I found heavy going。 I don't think he is as easy to read as Carlo Rovelli and a little homework on general relativity and quantum mechanics certainly helps。 He also has a passion for numbers; try this， for example: Planks constant is 0。00000000000000000000066260693。But this is a tremendous book， 'universal'， indeed， in its subject matter。 What I really liked was that he did not just dwell on cosmic matters and the constituents of the universe， but ends his book with chapters on such controversial issues as national status and the space race， Hollywood and the universe， and， of course， science and religion。 About the latter， he has this to say， "。。。The claims of science rely on experimental verification， while the claims of religion rely on faith。 These are irreconcilable approaches to knowing， which ensures an eternity of debate wherever and whenever the two camps meet。" 。。。more
Steve Schinke
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An interesting set of essays poses answers to big questions。 I found it easy to read and enlightening for me （with a limited background in science）。
Jack
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An entertaining listen， from a time when NdGT was focused more on bringing science to the masses， rather than pedantic sarcasm。
Joseph
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Tyson knows how to write a book。 It’s complex at times but even my small brain could just about understand what was being said and overall this was a fascinating book that covered the entire spectrum of science and the cosmos。
Vitaly
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Tyson is two times a scientist！ Not only he really knows the stuff he is writing about， but he also writes it in such an entertaining， humorous manner that can broaden the audience to the galactic scale！ You actually understand and enjoy rocket science when Neil explains it to you。
Arjun Kohli
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The most insightful collection of essays。 NDT really enhances the cosmic perspective and provides an array of intellectually fascinating quandries。 Although carl sagan is better。
Bornik C
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It's a collection of essays published in Natural History magazine。 It's a great read for people interested in science specifically astronomy/ astrophysics。It has 42 essays on various topics of astrophysics。 There are some repetition but it's not boring anywhere。 It also talks about light pollution and place of God in modern science 。 Which are great read。Though book is decade old and written on a topic which is fast evolving it aged well。 It's a collection of essays published in Natural History magazine。 It's a great read for people interested in science specifically astronomy/ astrophysics。It has 42 essays on various topics of astrophysics。 There are some repetition but it's not boring anywhere。 It also talks about light pollution and place of God in modern science 。 Which are great read。Though book is decade old and written on a topic which is fast evolving it aged well。 。。。more
Jasson Schrock
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I wanted something more and never got it。 It's written exactly how Neil deGrasse Tyson speaks; a condescending educator who tells bad dad jokes and thinks he is the next Feynman。 Don't get me wrong—I love that he is educating people about science， and this might make a good entry-level book for some people。 However， it's not my style， and I would take Matt O'Dowd over him any day。 I wanted something more and never got it。 It's written exactly how Neil deGrasse Tyson speaks; a condescending educator who tells bad dad jokes and thinks he is the next Feynman。 Don't get me wrong—I love that he is educating people about science， and this might make a good entry-level book for some people。 However， it's not my style， and I would take Matt O'Dowd over him any day。 。。。more
John Corallo
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This book is worth reading if you are curious about every piece the universe and it's origins。 I read this book and I felt like I was traveling through the space-time continuum。 Praise Neil DeGrasse Tyson。 This book is worth reading if you are curious about every piece the universe and it's origins。 I read this book and I felt like I was traveling through the space-time continuum。 Praise Neil DeGrasse Tyson。 。。。more
Marie Burton
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Interesting science stuff which was really good to listen to at the office
J。 Carlos
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Si te gustan los fenómenos relacionados con el cosmos o si te has preguntado qué es lo que está pasando allá afuera y estás dispuesto a sorprenderte con descubrimientos científicos， este libro es bastante recomendable。 Es algo similar a la serie Cosmos que vemos en Nat Geo （con el escritor como presentador）， se narra con la misma sencillez， por lo que considero que es apto para todo público que tenga una breve noción de física （unidades de longitud， velocidad， etc。）， creo que las personas a part Si te gustan los fenómenos relacionados con el cosmos o si te has preguntado qué es lo que está pasando allá afuera y estás dispuesto a sorprenderte con descubrimientos científicos， este libro es bastante recomendable。 Es algo similar a la serie Cosmos que vemos en Nat Geo （con el escritor como presentador）， se narra con la misma sencillez， por lo que considero que es apto para todo público que tenga una breve noción de física （unidades de longitud， velocidad， etc。）， creo que las personas a partir de la prepa le sacarán un mayor provecho。 Un excelente libro！ 。。。more
Dan Rice
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Intriguing and entertaining。
Kelly Tharp
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Always enjoy deGrasse Tyson's books。 Very informative for us non-astrophysicists。 Always enjoy deGrasse Tyson's books。 Very informative for us non-astrophysicists。 。。。more
Rajesh
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good set of essays from the poster boy of astrophysics！
Isaiah Brown
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“I do not know what I appear to the world; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on a seashore， and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary， whilst the great ocean of truth lay undiscovered before me。”
Linn Lönn
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Förklarar hur forskare kom fram till det som förklaras vilket gav mig en sån mycket större förståelse än i ”vanliga fall”。 Extremt mycket intressant om rymden， och även hur saker inom fysiken fungerar。 Tyckte det bästa var när han skrev om liv utanför jorden och spacetravel。 Den delen som satte ord på det jag försökt formulera själv var den om hur religion håller sig till det vetenskapliga tankesättet （spoiler， it doesn’t workout）。 Neil beskriver grejer på ett sånt lättförståeligt och roligt sät Förklarar hur forskare kom fram till det som förklaras vilket gav mig en sån mycket större förståelse än i ”vanliga fall”。 Extremt mycket intressant om rymden， och även hur saker inom fysiken fungerar。 Tyckte det bästa var när han skrev om liv utanför jorden och spacetravel。 Den delen som satte ord på det jag försökt formulera själv var den om hur religion håller sig till det vetenskapliga tankesättet （spoiler， it doesn’t workout）。 Neil beskriver grejer på ett sånt lättförståeligt och roligt sätt genom att jämföra med andra saker som man redan känner till。 Riktigt bra bok！！ Sen till det som drog bort en stjärna för mig; hans tankar om filmer och hur folk som skapar konst först måste lära sig om verkligheten för att sedan få tolka den fritt。 Det är en skadlig tanke ur min syn， folk som inte har möjligheten till sådant måste ju också få skapa och visa sin syn。 T。ex när Van Gogh målade starry night satte han inte stjärnorna på sin rätta position på himlen。 Men jag förstår var Neil kommer från， en astronoms perspektiv。 。。。more
Extinction
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Very fascinating， but I lost interest sadly， having not finished this book months ago when I started it。I may try again someday but for now it is that。
Rachel
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Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Death by Black Hole and other Cosmic Quandaries is a well cited and thorough， albeit condensed， version of the history of the universe， the amazing advances in cosmology， astrophysics， and the theories of how we arrived at our point in the universe （a la 2007）。 Dr。 deGrasse Tyson offers his humorous， and often punny， spin on the foibles of the non-scientific and scientific alike。 It is a good foundational book for those wanting to gain a better understanding of the physics Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Death by Black Hole and other Cosmic Quandaries is a well cited and thorough， albeit condensed， version of the history of the universe， the amazing advances in cosmology， astrophysics， and the theories of how we arrived at our point in the universe （a la 2007）。 Dr。 deGrasse Tyson offers his humorous， and often punny， spin on the foibles of the non-scientific and scientific alike。 It is a good foundational book for those wanting to gain a better understanding of the physics realm without requiring a significant background in the hard sciences。 。。。more
Brian Wright
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While informative， this collection of essays was too repetitive to keep me really interested。 Mr。 Tyson needed an editor who was more willing to slash and burn duplicative discussions across essays in order to make a more cohesive single book。
Sally
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What to say about the man who makes science fun and funny！？ This is an absolute joy to read。 It's a collection of essays by deGrasse Tyson that have been woven together to form a wonderful story overall。 This is absolutely a book you can read if you （like me） don't have much of a scientific background and are looking to expand your knowledge a bit。 The way it's set out makes it easy to knock over a couple of chapters at a time without feeling overwhelmed or without needing so much to remember va What to say about the man who makes science fun and funny！？ This is an absolute joy to read。 It's a collection of essays by deGrasse Tyson that have been woven together to form a wonderful story overall。 This is absolutely a book you can read if you （like me） don't have much of a scientific background and are looking to expand your knowledge a bit。 The way it's set out makes it easy to knock over a couple of chapters at a time without feeling overwhelmed or without needing so much to remember vast tracts of what had come before。 It's clearly directed at lay people to try and explain some of the most complicated principles and findings in modern day physics and the astro sciences。 And it's fascinating！ deGrasse Tyson writes so well about these things that many times throughout reading this， I laughed out loud， which is definitely not what I was expecting from a science book！ He's rightly figured out that making these concepts fun， funny and relatable is the best way to entice more people to read them。 What also shines through in the writing is his passion for his work and love of science overall。 Reading a text written by someone as intelligent as he clearly is and who has such a passion for what he's writing about is a rare joy indeed。 Read it， you won't be sorry and you will， absolutely， learn something。 。。。more
Gary K Bibliophile
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4。5 Stars - I’m rounding up because of my inner science geek 🤓。 You always remember your first。。。 Physics book of course 😀 For me this was。。。 umm - not this one - it was actually Stephen Hawking’s “A Brief History of Time”。 Technically I read “The Illustrated Brief History of Time” （I like pictures 📷 - I thought the illustrations were helpful in visualizing the concepts）。 Being an Electrical Engineer I have some formal collegiate training in this discipline。 A lot of engineers have two semesters 4。5 Stars - I’m rounding up because of my inner science geek 🤓。 You always remember your first。。。 Physics book of course 😀 For me this was。。。 umm - not this one - it was actually Stephen Hawking’s “A Brief History of Time”。 Technically I read “The Illustrated Brief History of Time” （I like pictures 📷 - I thought the illustrations were helpful in visualizing the concepts）。 Being an Electrical Engineer I have some formal collegiate training in this discipline。 A lot of engineers have two semesters each of chemistry / physics。 At my school anyway we were required to have 1 chemistry and 3 physics。 What’s that third semester all about you might ask？ It’s the really weird quantum physics as well as an overview of general and special relativity theory。 I’d like to say all this was very easy to me - it was not！ I wound up getting an A， but many of the ideas really were way over my head。 So by the time I read ‘Death By Black Hole’ at least I had heard these ideas several different times。 While I don’t think it makes me more likely to understand this stuff I think I have a bit of a head start compared to someone totally unfamiliar with this subject area。 Nevertheless， I bought this about ten years ago and for whatever reason it sat on my bookshelf - collecting dust。 Why did I put it off so long？ Several reasons。。。 The first is that there are so many fictional books that call to me and - well。。。 just seem like a lot more fun。 Another is that despite the fact that I often watch science documentaries （my family makes fun of me） - this stuff can be kind of dry - and just like in college - I know that certain parts will either challenge me or leave me baffled （see below）。 Maybe it was because it wasn’t illustrated （dang it - I have to visualize this stuff on my own - haha）Despite any reservations I may have harbored I rather enjoy Neil deGrasse Tyson。 He is a frequent guest with Stephen Colbert and I find him very entertaining。 True。。。 I still hold a bit of a grudge for his part in expelling Pluto from our solar system’s planets club， but I understand his reasoning。So what did I think of the book？ Like so many non-fiction books I drag my feet on reading - my reaction was - as it usually is - “That was much better than I expected”。 I thought Tyson did a pretty good job of explaining the concepts without feeling like the ideas were being dumbed down。 As noted in the introduction each of the chapters were originally published in Natural History magazine from 1995-2005。 Because they were spread out many of the ideas were repeated in several places。 That was fine by me 😀 Did I mention some of these ideas are pretty complicated？ Haha - I needed the repetition in spots。Tyson didn’t just bury you with heavy concepts。 Far from it。 He did an excellent job of slowly unveiling many of these ideas alongside the historical figures that pioneered such knowledge over the centuries。 I am a history geek too （yes。。。 I usually watch those documentaries alone as well - haha） so I loved this。 The quotes from so many brilliant people claiming that physics was essentially ‘all figured out’ by the end of the 19th century and that ‘future discoveries would be in refining data to the 6th decimal point’ were hilarious。 No history of our understanding of our solar system would be complete without the transition from the Aristotelian ‘Earth at the center’ view to the Copernican model that the ‘Sun is at the center and we are just a planet’ Despite what flat-Earthers might believe- the latter viewpoint is correct。 Copernicus wasn’t quite right either - believing that the planets orbits are circular- when in fact they are elliptical- and in constant conflict with each other。 Tyson continues on with a very humbling view of how as new technologies are discovered we have to either refine or totally tear down long held ideas as to how the universe works。 The more we know - less unique we seem。 The early chapter of how what you observe with your senses vs what you can measure with technology was extremely well done。The chapter on Hollywood was quite funny。 He begins the chapter by going on and on about how he gets annoyed by his prudish friends that when they go to movies based on books they ruin the movie for him by criticizing the movie because the book was better。 I don’t know what he’s talking about。。。 I’ve never heard that on GR 😜。 After that he goes on to poke fun at movie inaccuracies that bug him with respect to science and math。 This includes some big ones that I rather enjoyed including Titanic， The Right Stuff， and Contact。 The thing he brought up about Contact was really funny - I admit I had not done the math myself。 BTW - the chapter on math - and the fear of math - was quite funny as well。 Within the last week I watched an episode of “The Weakest Link” where a question was asked “If 50 Cent had to take a nickel and dime away from his name what would he have to call himself？” After a long pause the answer was “I don’t like math”。 Ok - well that’s an answer。。。 The chapter about physicists being baffled was quite entertaining as well。 The admission that you don’t know everything。。。 and that’s ok - is quite humbling for a lot of people。 That was one of the first life lessons I got from college。。。 the more I learned the more I realized how much I didn’t know。 That’s a good thing。 Puts you in your place - makes you want to learn more。One concept Tyson brought up many times and that I really related to was that as a species we need to try to continue to expand our understanding of the universe。 If we turn away from things that are ‘hard’ and/or ignore math and science this is a recipe for bad times to come。 I remember he was the first guest on Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show after Donald Trump won the presidential election in 2016。 He said on this episode that we don’t need MAGA （to Make America Great Again）， but rather should strive to Make America Smart Again。 I was like “YES！！”Along these lines one of the quotes I quite liked in the book was “When people believe a tale that conflicts with self-checkable evidence it tells me that people undervalue the role of evidence on formulating an internal belief system。 Why this is so is not clear， but it enables many people to hold fast to ideas and notions based purely on supposition。” The context here is a bias against scientific principles despite convincing evidence。 This quote applies to so many other things nowadays。。。 scientific or otherwise。 My rule has always been to get my news from multiple sources。 This of course doesn’t guarantee accuracy， but if you only hear from it from one place。。。 it’s probably not real。Despite my “head start” there were several things I didn’t understand - no matter how many times I reread it。 This includes the five points of Lagrange （maybe because I kept thinking about ZZ Top’s song La Grange 🌵）， the three body problem sounds like a programming nightmare， and I will never understand the concepts where subatomic particles do weird things - like protons becoming neutrons etc etc。 These things left me baffled， but as noted - that’s not necessarily a bad thing。 Another great story Neil threw in there was about the high school student doing his survey regarding Dihydrogen Monoxide。。。 that stuff sounds very dangerous and probably should be banned （🤔 haha）So my recommendation is to give this book a try。 I learned a lot from it and found it clever and entertaining at the same time。 The chapters are pretty short so if you aren’t quite following a section don’t despair - you will transition to a new topic soon enough。 🪐☄️✨🚀🛰📡🔭 。。。more
Melodie
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Kudos to the narrator for doing an amazing job。 He also sounds eerily like Tyson that at times I swear it's him talking。 In my opinion， the title misrepresents the book。 The topics covers a wide array of topics including the fascinating history of astronomy and astrophysics。 The part about black holes is quite minor in comparison。 Other than that， no complaints from me as this is my favorite science topic and Tyson did a phenomenon job。 Kudos to the narrator for doing an amazing job。 He also sounds eerily like Tyson that at times I swear it's him talking。 In my opinion， the title misrepresents the book。 The topics covers a wide array of topics including the fascinating history of astronomy and astrophysics。 The part about black holes is quite minor in comparison。 Other than that， no complaints from me as this is my favorite science topic and Tyson did a phenomenon job。 。。。more
Huw
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Brilliant book。 Funny， informative， I'm definitely a fan of Neil's books。 Brilliant book。 Funny， informative， I'm definitely a fan of Neil's books。 。。。more
Jessie
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Neil deGrasse Tyson makes reading about science so easy and fun！
Mrthink
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While somewhat dated， I enjoy Neil DeGrass Tyson's style of writing mixed with his occasional humor。 He can explain astrophysics in layman's terms and I "get it"。 I always manage to learn many new facts about our universe by reading books such as this。 While somewhat dated， I enjoy Neil DeGrass Tyson's style of writing mixed with his occasional humor。 He can explain astrophysics in layman's terms and I "get it"。 I always manage to learn many new facts about our universe by reading books such as this。 。。。more
Nikolai Nikolov
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Една от най-интересните и същевременно изключително достъпна за неангажирания читател книга， която съм чел！Авторът има един много хумористичен и приятен стил на писане， който веднага приятно грабва читателя и го вкарва в необятното。 Голяма част от будещите в обществото интерес въпроси са засегнати， като почнем от "Големия взрив"， до възможността за падането в "черни дупки"。 Това определено е една от книгите， будещи дълбоки въпроси за ролята и мястото на човечеството в необятната Вселена。 Определ Една от най-интересните и същевременно изключително достъпна за неангажирания читател книга， която съм чел！Авторът има един много хумористичен и приятен стил на писане， който веднага приятно грабва читателя и го вкарва в необятното。 Голяма част от будещите в обществото интерес въпроси са засегнати， като почнем от "Големия взрив"， до възможността за падането в "черни дупки"。 Това определено е една от книгите， будещи дълбоки въпроси за ролята и мястото на човечеството в необятната Вселена。 Определено една от най-добрите книги！ Заслужава си да се прочете от всеки， който се интересува от наука， без значение в кой клон！ 。。。more
Gregory
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I appreciate how Dr。 deGrasse Tyson can describe our place in the cosmos in such a way that makes his audience feel big for the position we have in it。
Nora
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So many fascinating things in this book， and reading about the universe does help put some things in perspective here on Earth。Some explanations were inexplicably largely repeated 1-2 times in elsewhere in the book and the last several chapters didn’t catch my interest as much as the rest， but overall this was a great read。
Srikar
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