Book Review: Astrophysics for People in a Hurry

 

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry is a book from 2017 written by Neil deGrasse Tyson. The book explains some of the "big" concepts in astrophysics and astronomy without the mathematical detail and equations that you would find in a textbook. If you have some background in any of the sciences, but specifically astronomy and physics, the book will be easier to understand. It is basically a book on theoretical astrophysics, explaining the theory behind things like the big bang, dark matter, and dark energy without the math. Tyson also explains how we have been detecting planets around other stars, and why any technologically advanced alien civilization would have a hard time finding Earth and determining that a technologically advanced civilization exists on it if they are using the same methods of planet detection we are. 

The book is relatively short, around 200 pages, at least if you compare it to any college-level textbook. I found it to be a pretty quick and easy read, but to be fair, I have dozens of books on astronomy that I have been reading since I was a pre-teen, and I have a degree in electrical engineering, so the subject matter did not bog me down or go over my head. The book is rigorous enough that it may be hard to follow if you do not have at least a familiarity with astronomy. I do not think you need that level of education and experience with the subject in order to understand and enjoy the book, but it will definitely be an easier read for some people and harder for others.

Book Review: To Infinity and Beyond

 

To Infinity and Beyond is (as of its 2023 publication and this writing) the newest book written by the popular astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. The book was co-authored by Lindsey Nyx Walker. The book discusses the history of human exploration, both of the Earth and the Cosmos. In it, Tyson distills the various scientific concepts, which range from Newton's Law of Gravitation and Keppler's Laws of planetary motion to what would be required to actually travel to another solar system and the physics behind the concept of time travel (which Tyson does throw a bit of cold water onto since it is far more complicated than just picking a day and year to travel to), into their basic components. 

The hardcover version of the book has 300 pages of substantive text, and then a few pages of other reading material and an index. It is divided into different topics in which Tyson discusses discoveries made on Earth, the exploration of our solar system, and what exploration of other solar systems would entail (especially what it would take to send a ship with people to even the closest solar system).  The only thing that I did not like about the book is that throughout the text there are pages with side topics inserted that break up the main text. So, you either have to read the side-topic material and stop reading the main text, or you have to jump a couple of pages ahead, finish the main text, and then go back to read the side-topic pages. If that happened only once or twice in the book it would not be a big deal, but it happens a lot and gets a bit irritating after a while. That is what knocks the book down a star for me. Otherwise, the substance of the book is great.

The book has a similar tone and feel to the other books that Tyson has authored, especially in the past few years. Tyson, like Carl Sagan before him, has a gift for explaining the science behind various topics in such a way that you can understand the concepts without ever taking a math or physics class, yet not come off as talking down to anyone. The book has a lot of great information in it and wonderful pictures (both real astrophotography and illustrations). It is absolutely worth the time to read.

Book Review: Letters from an Astrophysicist

 

Letters from an Astrophysicist is a book by Neil deGrasse Tyson (who hosts Star Talk and the recent Cosmos reboots, as well as appearing on docuseries like The Universe) in which he prints responses to letters (or emails) he has received, social media interactions, and letters (or social media posts) that he has written directly. In some instances, he also prints the text of the letters he received and then his response, and other times he just summarizes what the person wrote to him and then prints his response.

The topics of the letters in the book vary to anything from the origin of the universe to the possibility of alien life, to the great science versus religion debate. Tyson shows responses to letters that thank and congratulate him and "hate mail" that he has received. His responses definitely give you an interesting look into his view of science, technology, the universe, politics, and a whole host of other topics. The book is relatively short, just under 300 pages, and fast readers can easily get through it in a day or two. 

Book Review: Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization

 

Starry Messenger is a book from 2022 written by Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. While the book does touch on science, that is not really the focus of the book. It is more of a book in which Tyson discusses topics like race, law, religion, philosophy, fame, beauty standards, technology, and death, all with a scientific bent. Basically, how the human experience has evolved over time, and how it may continue to evolve in the future. The title of the book is an English translation of the title of the treatise that Galileo Galilei wrote in 1610 in which Galileo published his astronomical observations. 

The book is essentially a short collection of Tyson's thoughts on a number of topics. Tyson admits that his politics and views on life in general lean left, but he also stressed the importance of talking with and learning about other points of view, providing his own perspective about dealing with people more conservative than he is when George W. Bush appointed him to two different commissions, one to study the future of the aerospace industry, and one about the implementation of US space exploration policy. 

The substantive portion of the book is just under 200 pages, and it reads very quickly. Most people can probably finish the book in a day or two, and if you are a fast reader, you can probably finish it in less than a day. While  I do not think the book is as good as some of Tyson's other books like Cosmic Queries and Death by Black Hole, it is worth reading, especially if you have listened to some of Tyson's interviews or listened to his podcast.

Book Review: Cosmic Queries: StarTalk's Guide to Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We're Going

 

This book is a combination of the two seasons of Cosmos that Neil deGrasse Tyson hosted, his Star Talk TV show, and the Star Talk podcast/webisodes mixed together. The book was written by Tyson and co-author James Trefil. In it, Tyson explains what the various sciences (basically physics, chemistry, biology, and astrophysics) have figured out about the origin of the universe, the formation of our solar system, life on Earth, the possibility of alien life elsewhere in the universe, and how the universe may ultimately end. As importantly he goes through things that there is evidence for, but is not well understood (e.g., dark matter and dark energy). He is able to explain the concepts clearly without throwing a bunch of equations in the book that would require multiple years of calculus to even begin to understand. In fact, the only equation in the book is the famous Drake Equation that is used to try to predict the number of planets or moons that may have intelligent life, and even in that case, he is really just explaining what the variables in the equation represents. 

The book is what I consider an intermediate length, at just over 300 pages. There are a lot of pictures in the book, both actual photographs taken through telescopes or the various probes we have sent out into the solar system, and artist renderings of how we think things look. And, some of the tweets that Tyson has tweeted over the years on various topics are included. So, the book reads fairly quickly. My only complaint is that throughout the book the authors include what amount to margin notes that delve a bit more deeply into something that was mentioned in the main text. However, the font used for these asides is smaller and the ink used is much lighter than the main text. So, unless you have really good eyesight, they can be hard to read, especially if you are at the point in your life where you need to use reading glasses or progressive lenses. That aside, it is still a good read for anyone who is interested in Astronomy and Astrophysics.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

 

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey is a 2014 revival/follow-up to the 1980s Cosmos series created and hosted by Carl Sagan. This series was hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist and curator of the Hayden Planetarium in NY, written by Sagan's widow, Ann Druyan, who had collaborated with Sagan on the original series, and produced by the creator of Family Guy, Seth McFarlane. The 13-episode season aired during the spring of 2014 on FOX. 

There are many similarities and many differences between that series and this one. Like the original series, this one covers many different topics in science, focusing on Astronomy but covering chemistry, physics, biology, and more. Each episode deals with a different topic and usually tells the story of one or more scientists that contributed to the field being discussed. The series did not focus on just the "big" names like Newton and Einstein but discussed other scientists and mathematicians like Halley, Hooke, Keppler, etc. In the original series, the stories of the historical figures were told using human actors, but in this series, many of the stories were told using animation and voice actors. I was not a fan of the animations when I first watched the show, but upon a subsequent viewing, they did not really bother me. And, of course, the CGI graphics are orders of magnitude better than what could be accomplished in the original series.

For those who get the Blu-Ray, the A/V quality is fantastic. The visuals are fantastic (both the real and the CGI), and the sound is very good. The extras include an audio commentary on the first episode with Druyan, producer Mitchell Cannold, producer/director Brannon Braga, producer Jason Clark, and animation producer Kara Vallow, a 40-minute comic-con panel discussion, a 41-minute making-of documentary, a 35-minute portion of a dedication to Sagan at the Library of Congress, and interactive cosmic calendar.

Like Sagan before, Tyson can explain complicated topics in simple terms without sounding like he is talking down to the audience. Of course, the audience for this series was much larger than that of the original series airing on Fox versus PBS. Even though the series aired at a time when science was being caught in the middle of the idiotic political divide, the country has been marred in, for the most the show ignored all that and just presented the scientific fact and ignored science deniers. The one exception is the episode on climate change, which distilled the problem and the cause to very simplistic terms without hyperbole and included a clip of an interview from back in the 1960s in which an old guy who is certainly not a part of a "woke" mob and proving that scientists knew that the amount of greenhouse gasses being pumped into the atmosphere back then was a problem. Although, the dipshit politicians and their sheep, if they bothered to watch something educational, would probably accuse the guy of being part of some liberal cabal.  And there were clips from the original Cosmos series in which Sagan described the concerns and what the possible consequences could be (and then showed how many of those consequences have started coming to pass).

One thing I wish the show would have done a bit better is explain the scale of the cosmic calendar (e.g., that 1 month corresponded to approximately 1.2 billion years, 1 day corresponded to approximately 40 million years, and 1 second corresponded to approximately 440 years) so that when Tyson said that something took place at midnight on December 31st, people did not actually think he meant something happened midnight on some random December 31st, but instead meant about 3600 - 4000 years ago. Probably the best moment of the series is when they did a CGI zoom out starting on Earth through the solar system to the galaxy level to the famous "pale blue dot" narrative by Carl Sagan. Overall, the series is wonderful and definitely in my must-watch category.

DVD Review: Cosmos: Possible Worlds

 

"Possible Worlds" is a great end to the Cosmos trilogy of documentaries which started with the original series, hosted by Carl Sagan in 1980, then brought back by Seth McFarlane (the creator of Family Guy) and Sagan's widow, Ann Druyan, and hosted by Niel DeGrasse Tyson. This is a follow-up (really a season two) to the rebooted series "Cosmos: A Spacetime Oddesy" which aired on Fox in 2014. This series aired in 2020, first on The National Geographic Channel, and then on Fox. The release got delayed when Tyson was hit with a bunch of sexual harassment allegations on the heels of the "me too" movement. 

The series kept the same style and tone as the first season, using animations to tell most of the story in the particular episode. Each episode had its own theme/topic, and then various scientists from throughout history would be highlighted or spotlighted in the episodes. The topics were very wide-ranging, from evolution to the Cassini spacecraft that was crashed into Saturn, to climate change. This time, there was not a climate change "specific" episode, it was discussed within the larger topic of human-caused extinction events (or things we have done that have threatened life on Earth). It also touched on the possibility of life on other planets, how humans may one day travel to other solar systems, and the like. 

One thing I like is that in this season, the cosmic calendar was explained a lot better than it was in the first season. I still think in episode 1 they could have done a bit better giving the entire scale. Meaning the entire year is about 14.5 billion years, one month is about 1.2 billion years, 1 week is about 300 million years, 1 day is about 40 million years, 1 hour is about 2 million years, and 1 second is about 440 years. Then repeat that at least once an episode. If you watch every episode and pay attention, the entire scale is given, but not all at one time. I know when season 1 aired people were confused when Tyson would say that something happened on September 15th at 10 PM, or something like that, that he literally meant that an event occurred on September 15th instead of it meaning that it happened about 120 million years ago.

If you want to get the series on DVD, it has only been released internationally. I can only find it as a region 4 (Australia) release. It definitely has not been released in the US, and it does not look like it was released in the UK either. So, if you want the DVD, you will have to hunt for it a bit (I got a copy on eBay for a decent price, and it does look like it is available on Amazon from time to time), and probably pay a bit more because of the fact that it has to be sent from Australia or New Zealand. And, you need a region-free DVD or Blu-Ray player to watch it. There are no extras on the DVD, just the episodes spread across three discs, and there are no captions. 

Overall, the series is very good. While in the very politically charged environment we live in, people will probably see the show as having a political agenda, but it certainly does not. It merely presents scientific facts as we know them today, and makes clear that those facts may change as we learn more. Also, while the science discussed is heavily slanted toward astronomy and physics, it also touches on the other sciences like chemistry, biology, geology, and the like, and explains how they are all interconnected. Plus, there are a couple of very nice tributes/nods to Carl Sagan and his life. It is definitely worth watching even for people with a casual interest in science, and for someone who is a fan of astronomy and/or physics, I would call it a must-watch.