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The final chapter Reflections on the cosmic perspective, I found to be utterly profound. After all was said and done in the previous chapters it’s important we think what this is all about. Tyson describes a study were subjects felt ‘insignificant’ when being taught about the universe. A feeling I am sure we have all felt when trying to grapple with such weighty matters. Some of us (me included) have felt the same when pondering the very small world of quantum physics – tiny, tiny particles zipping around sub-atomic space. However, Tyson makes the point to feel inadequate and feel miserable about it, is a measure of our ego. Humankind is such a minuscule part of this wonderful universe; we are no more significant or less significant then all the creatures who live and who have ever lived (Oh my – I love that!!). I really liked how Tyson could break down complex topics. Matter tells space how to curve; space tells matter how to move.And how he was able to inject humor in such dry matter. The power and beauty of physical laws is that they apply everywhere, whether or not you choose to believe in them.I would like a sequel called Astrophysics for People with Time on their Hands - just to see what else is out there! The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you. Audiobook Comments
In the first chapter, he states, “nearly fourteen billion years ago… Conditions were so hot, the basic forces of nature that collectively describe the universe were unified. Though still unknown how it came into existence, this sub-pinpoint-size cosmos could only expand. Rapidly. In what today we call the big bang.” (Pg. 17-18) PDF / EPUB File Name: Astrophysics_for_Young_People_in_a_Hurry_-_Neil_deGrasse_Tyson.pdf, Astrophysics_for_Young_People_in_a_Hurry_-_Neil_deGrasse_Tyson.epub You need to really get these things better if you are going to be a true Star Trek Fan. So I am thankful for that. What should the Creator do now? – asked the theologians. And if there’s nothing he should do, doesn’t that mean that he might as well not exist?
More deGrasse Tyson! Only he can make the strange ominous on one hand, fantastically enthralling on the other. Only he can make comparisons that are laugh out loud funny on the one hand, complete and utter poetry on the other.
NDT is the bestestestest of everyone I've read in science b/c he knows it so well, he can just say it with joy and love. Too many people in these fields take themselves way to seriously, but all the people I've met that are totally brilliant are more like this tone. Fun, joy, just say it. So great. Written in a conversational style, this [ Astrophysics for People in a Hurry] provides an accessible and fascinating introduction to a mindbending subject." It’s difficult to grasp the overwhelming size of space when you struggle to figure out how to properly fold a pizza box (as some of us do—shut up), but it’s intellectually rewarding to wrestle with concepts that challenge your brain and force you to think in a different way.The cosmic perspective opens our minds to extraordinary ideas but does not leave them so open that our brains spill out, making us susceptible to believing anything we're told. Even after it was conclusively proven that the Earth is not the center of the Universe, philosophers still believed in some divine presence, because some of the planets’ motions were inexplicable. While flipping through the YouTube app on my TV last night to find something, I came across the audiobook version of this that had been posted. (Hint hint the audiobook is free on YouTube hint hint). I read the book in 2017 so I didn’t necessarily need to read it again, but I know that Neil’s voice was exactly what I needed. In Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, he [Neil deGrasse Tyson] shares his awe, encapsulating everything known about the universe in 12 brief chapters, and giving a memorable spin to standard facts."
A century later, people developed technology powerful enough to see these waves, and humanity “would finally catch up with the prediction, just days before that gravity wave, which had been traveling for 1.3 billion years, washed over Earth and was detected.” Before everything we know today came to life, the energy and matter that makes up the Universe, the galaxies, planets, stars, matter, and everything in between, was concentrated into a tiny dot. The dot exploded and started to cool off rapidly, giving way for celestial matter to form. The primates branched out of these mammals, and then – in the last 10,000 years – “a single branch of these primates would develop a genetic mutation that allowed speech, and that branch – Homo Sapiens – would invent agriculture and civilization and philosophy and art and science.”
Tyson, though, keeps a little bit of attitude in the book. In a chapter about interplanetary space, he refers to a volume “large enough to contain the orbit of Neptune, the outermost planet” followed by a footnote: “No, it’s not Pluto. Get over it.” That is, thankfully, the only reference to the debate over Pluto’s planetary status that helped make Tyson famous—and infamous—years ago. We know that there is a lot of dark matter that is yet to be discovered, as only one-sixth of the mass in the universe is made of galaxies and gas clouds. Scientists still don’t know how to detect the rest of the mass, as we don’t even have the devices to recognize new matter. I didn’t jumped any farther with the cape. I definitely didn’t fly.' বঙ্গানুবাদে: 'তার মানে, ওই জামা পরে আমি লাফ দিয়ে বেশি দূর যেতে পারিনি৷ সত্যি বলছি, উড়তে পারিনি আমি।' যদি লেখা হতো, 'তার মানে, ওই জামা পরে লাফ দিয়ে আমি বেশি দূর যেতে পারিনি৷ আর উড়তে তো পারি-ই নি/ উড়ার কথা বাদই দিলাম।' p. 127 - I did not know much about the Five Hundred Meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) and that it's China's way of getting the first call from space. Dig it. "If aliens ever give us a call, the Chinese will be the first to know."
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