So how is Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandries?
Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandries read by the author, Neil deGrasse Tyson, is a collection of essays written for Nature Magazine on a variety of topics centering around astrophysics. They have one real recurring theme:
SCIENCE IS SOOOOOO COOL!!!!11!!1!
No, really. Tyson is having way too much fun with this stuff. The book is divided into sections with titles like "The Meaning of Life," in which we find out we're most likely of Martian extraction; and the one to which I am currently listening, "When the Universe Turns Bad." Yes, you may insert images of the universe skulking about in a goth leather coat with spiked hair and black lip gloss here. Not that Tyson said any such thing, but it's what came to mind when he went over colliding galaxies, because we're totally being stalked by Andromeda, the bitch, and the heat death of the universe. Oh, the angst and emptiness. Well, sulky goth adolescent or flat, disc-shaped, star devouring Cookie Monster. Starrie Monster? Just keep the suns coming and no galaxies get hurt.
I especially grooved on the explanation of how enormous gas clouds become solar systems. Before the nuclear fusion begins, the thing has to get cold enough for the atoms to stick together. I swear it made sense when he read it, as did the explanation of why it takes a million years for new light to get out of the sun.
Highly entertaining and informative, this one is definitely worth the ride.
SCIENCE IS SOOOOOO COOL!!!!11!!1!
No, really. Tyson is having way too much fun with this stuff. The book is divided into sections with titles like "The Meaning of Life," in which we find out we're most likely of Martian extraction; and the one to which I am currently listening, "When the Universe Turns Bad." Yes, you may insert images of the universe skulking about in a goth leather coat with spiked hair and black lip gloss here. Not that Tyson said any such thing, but it's what came to mind when he went over colliding galaxies, because we're totally being stalked by Andromeda, the bitch, and the heat death of the universe. Oh, the angst and emptiness. Well, sulky goth adolescent or flat, disc-shaped, star devouring Cookie Monster. Starrie Monster? Just keep the suns coming and no galaxies get hurt.
I especially grooved on the explanation of how enormous gas clouds become solar systems. Before the nuclear fusion begins, the thing has to get cold enough for the atoms to stick together. I swear it made sense when he read it, as did the explanation of why it takes a million years for new light to get out of the sun.
Highly entertaining and informative, this one is definitely worth the ride.