The Opposition…

Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Discussion: 2007-Jan-Feb-Mar

Why we're reading this: The Daily Show January 30, 2007; The Colbert Report segment guest April 30, 2007
[close] The Daily Show January 30, 2007; The Colbert Report segment guest April 30, 2007

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2007-Jan-Feb-Mar

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* March 2007
By Tiffany , WristStrong · 1 post · 5 views

last updated Nov 24, 2010 12:52AM

* February 2007
By Tiffany , WristStrong · 1 post · 5 views

last updated Nov 23, 2010 11:42PM

What Members Thought

Sep 01, 2012 Nicholas rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science

Don't be fooled by the title! If your'e really interested in cosmic catastrophes I'd highly recommend Phil Plait's Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End.... If you've never watched PBS's Nova or had the chance to hear Tyson speak, you don't know what you're missing. Tyson is easily this generation's Carl Sagan and is far and away the best science enthusiast and communicator out there. His interviews exude a childlike wonder and excitement with basic physical principles tha Don't be fooled by the title! If your'e really interested in cosmic catastrophes I'd highly recommend Phil Plait's Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End.... If you've never watched PBS's Nova or had the chance to hear Tyson speak, you don't know what you're missing. Tyson is easily this generation's Carl Sagan and is far and away the best science enthusiast and communicator out there. His interviews exude a childlike wonder and excitement with basic physical principles that can make even the most burnt-out science major rediscover why they chose to become a scientist.

Evidence?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=...

Quirky, straightforward and witty, Death by Black Hole is probably the book I'd most recommend to any one of my friends who needed a basic introduction to the world of science. The book is a collection of essays written for the monthly magazine Natural History, collected and organized into several broader thematic sections and edited for continuity. Everything from the philosophy of science to the relationship between science and culture and religion is covered. If that doesn't sound appetizing or particularly fun reading, be heartened! There's plenty of science and the book is filled with essays on cosmic expansion, dark matter, the color and sound of the universe, the way it will all end, and yes, black holes too. Each chapter felt like a mini-lesson on important physical principles cast in an interesting narrative that requires no more investment of time than a few minutes here and there. You can also float around without any ill effects whatsoever. I think reading cover to cover made me realize the episodic and essay-like structure of the original pieces though, as there tends to be a lot of overlap. This isn't necessarily a bad thing though. I know my own memory is inherently faulty and rather than have to hunt backwards for a page number for some previously referenced principle or constant, Tyson neatly and quickly reminds you before moving on.

Far and away the best chapters are in the first section which has a thorough discussion of what we know, how do we know it, how we perceive the universe, and the possible limits of what we can know. Philosophical topics to be sure, but presented in Tyson's witty, down-to-earth style, they're eminently accessible and entertaining as well as seriously thought-provoking. He has a great beginning discussion on how contemporary society has lost its ability to grasp (and thus interest in) current scientific findings due to the highly technical nature and specialization required to run the experiments. To restore the wonder of experimentation and discovery he then proceeds to brilliantly catalogue the various ways one could use a stick to discover amazing facts about our planet and solar system.

If you've never given a popsci book a chance because they all looked either too technical or too dull, this is the place to start. You couldn't ask for a better guide to the universe than Tyson. ...more

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Mar 15, 2009 Ezra rated it really liked it

Shelves: author-male, physics-n-cosmology, geology, astronomy, z-photo-reading-shelf

Spaghettification (the death by black hole) is such a tiny part of this book. Its descriptions of all kinds of entropy tools of the universe (though entropy specifically isn't mentioned).

As a series of essays its disjointed and flows poorly between chapters. Each essay is pretty lite... They could do with more detail and philosophy. As a starting point to go investigate more fully phenomenon, this is a good book. ...more

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May 04, 2009 Jennifer rated it really liked it

Excellent, as are all of NDT books. There was a bit of redundancy in places but not enough to be truly annoying. I especially liked the decisive put down of intelligent design. Must read!

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