Welcome To The Universe: An Astrophysical Tour

Description

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.

Awards

Commended for PROSE Awards: Cosmology & Astronomy 2017.

Reviews

"Reading through is akin to receiving a private museum tour from an expert scientist... 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... 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."--Publishers Weekly "As citizens of the cosmos, we are duty bound to explore it. So opine astrophysicists Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michael Struass, and Richard Gott, guides on this bracing expedition through dusty galactic hinterlands and the vast theoretical vistas of Albert Einstein's work."--Nature "All three [authors] write in informal, conversational tones, and the text is sprinkled with genuinely funny non sequiturs, such as a brief rumination on dwarfs versus dwarves and commentary on English-speaking aliens in Star Trek... What the book does very well is to present not just what we know about the universe but how we know it."--Science "An accessible and comprehensive overview of our universe by three eminent astrophysicists... An entertaining introduction to astronomy."--Kirkus "Three of the leading voices in astrophysics take us on a well-illustrated tour that includes Pluto, questions of intelligent life, and whether the universe is infinite."--Philadelphia Inquirer "The text is written in an informal and approachable style, referencing many popular-culture icons... This book will open up some of the newest and most sophisticated concepts in astrophysics to a general audience, helping all of us better understand the universe we live in."--Booklist "This book is anything but another ho-hum book on astrophysics... Unlike many popular scientific books that are very esoteric, this one is more like a conversation between expert and interested lay person... [Welcome to the Universe] will be a great read for any non-scientist but also science curious persons. It is certainly a good book for the teacher of science at any level as well as the high school and college student. Any reader will be able to see how some complex scientific thoughts fit together."--NSTA Recommends "Their laudable goal is communicating vast, cosmic ideas in ways that are accessible without being simplistic."--Washington Post "If you have a passing interest in astrophysics and would like to deepen it, this book is for you... An authoritative book written with humour and charm."--Marcus Chown, Times Higher Education

Author description

Neil deGrasse Tyson is director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History. He is the author of many books, including Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier, and the host of the Emmy Award-winning documentary Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. Michael A. Strauss is professor of astrophysics at Princeton University. J. Richard Gott is professor of astrophysics at Princeton University. His books include The Cosmic Web: Mysterious Architecture of the Universe (Princeton).