Welcome to the Universe
An Astrophysical Tour
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- £29.99
Publisher Description
The New York Times bestselling tour of the cosmos from three of today's leading astrophysicists
Welcome to the Universe is a personal guided tour of the cosmos by three of today's leading astrophysicists. Inspired by the enormously popular introductory astronomy course that Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michael A. Strauss, and J. Richard Gott taught together at Princeton, this book covers it all—from planets, stars, and galaxies to black holes, wormholes, and time travel.
Describing the latest discoveries in astrophysics, the informative and entertaining narrative propels you from our home solar system to the outermost frontiers of space. How do stars live and die? Why did Pluto lose its planetary status? What are the prospects of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe? How did the universe begin? Why is it expanding and why is its expansion accelerating? Is our universe alone or part of an infinite multiverse? Answering these and many other questions, the authors open your eyes to the wonders of the cosmos, sharing their knowledge of how the universe works.
Breathtaking in scope and stunningly illustrated throughout, Welcome to the Universe is for those who hunger for insights into our evolving universe that only world-class astrophysicists can provide.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Tyson (The Pluto Files), Strauss, and Gott (Time Travel in Einstein's Universe) reprise the introductory astronomy course they co-taught at Princeton, offering a crash course on the universe no science background required. They start by laying out basic physical principles, filling each single-author chapter with simple analogies, great illustrations, and bits of personal flair. Reading through is akin to receiving a private museum tour from an expert scientist; the exhibits include Newton's laws of motion, what will happen after our sun dies, how the space between stars is measured, quasars and black holes, time travel, why the "Big Bang model is far more than just a theory,' " and the possibility of other life in the galaxy. The authors present challenging content in accessible prose as they lead readers from our solar system to the edge of the visible universe, getting into the how and the what of just about everything there is to know about the cosmos. Along the way they discuss such pioneering scientists as Nicolaus Copernicus, Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, Edwin Hubble, Henrietta Leavitt, and Isaac Newton. As Tyson, Strauss, and Gott explain the cutting-edge physics of multiverses, superstring theory, M-theory, and the benefits of colonizing space, even seasoned science readers will learn something new.
