A book review site. Enjoy! Comments are welcome (but they are moderated).
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2023-09-04
"A Brief History of Black Holes and why Nearly Everything You Know About Them is Wrong" by Becky Smethurst
2022-05-09
"End Times: A Brief Guide t the End of the World" by Bryan Walsh
2022-04-25
"Welcome to the Universe: An Astrophysical Tour" by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michael A. Strauss, and J. Richard Gott
2022-04-11
"The God Equation: The Quest for a Theory of Everything" by Michio Kaku
2021-11-08
"Space at the Speed of Light: The History of 14 Billion Years for People Short on Time" by Becky Smethurst
Copyright: 2020
ISBN: 9781984858696
Dr. Smethurst examines and number of fundamental questions, that I'm fairly sure many astrophysicists get asked many times during their career. Some of these questions are why does gravity matter, what was around in the beginning, a history of black holes (her speciality), the overall size of the universe, alien existence, and why is the sky dark to name but a few. The chapters are well written, and give good explanations, and would be suitable to inclusion in any grade school library.
In addition of this book Dr. Smethurst is a popular YouTube personality who examines unsolved cosmological mysteries, space news in general. She also contributes videos to other YouTube channels such as Sixty Symbols, and astronomy videos to Deep Sky Videos.
2021-08-30
"How We'll Live on Mars" by Stephen L. Petranek
Copyright: 2015
ISBN: 9781476784762
2021-08-16
"Time Travel" by James Gleick
Copyright: 2016
ISBN: 9780307908797
This was an extremely interesting book to read, as it began with an examination of the phenomena created by H. G. Wells when in wrote "The Time Machine" in 1895, and then went on to look at how it has been treated in other stories. Mr. Gleick also reviews the science behind time travel, as well as the philosophy of it as well.
To say that the concept of time travel is a staple of science fiction as some authors have said is, I believe, an exaggeration as Wells was the originator of the concept, and science fiction itself existed for a considerable time before he came on the scene, even though it went by other names. Mr. Gleick looks at a number of different topics related to time travel such as: the concept of time itself, paradoxes, how time flows, etc.
Mr. Gleick's research on this topic was extensive, and I am looking forward to reading some of his other books, as if they are even half as good as this one they should be well worth it.
2020-11-23
"T-Rex and the Crater of Doom" by Walter Alvarez
2019-09-16
"First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong" by James R. Hansen
2019-01-07
"Star Talk" with Neil deGrasse Tyson
Publisher:Washington, D.C. : National Geographic, [2016]
Copyright Date:©2016
ISBN: 9781426217272
Characteristics: 302 pages :,colour illustrations
"StarTalk" is the companion book to the radio show and television program. It is hosted by Dr. Neil Degrasse Tyson of the Hayden Planetarium in New York.
The book itself is not a transcript of what took place on the radio or television program. It is more of a coffee table style of book that touches on numerous subjects and gives very concise explanations with regard to why they are true or untrue, work or don't work, and it debunks a number of myths as a bonus.
It is separated into four major sections space, planet earth, being human, futures imagined. It each of these there are 5 to 6 different sub-topics. For example in the space section there are discussions entitled: What do I pack for Mars? What do I eat in space? Can we use wormholes to travel? Who goes there? And are we there yet?
Each of these subtopics is then broken down into smaller discussions with contributions from authors, experts in the field, celebrities and so on.
This is an extremely good book, that is designed to answer questions that a teenager or younger child will have about various topics related to science. It would also be a great resource for students up to high school to stimulate their curiosity, or give them ideas for research paper topics.
I personally have not listened to the radio program but the television program which is produced by National Geographic is extremely interesting and quite humourous at times as well.
2017-12-18
"Artemis" by Andy Weir
Publisher:New York : Crown, [2017]
Edition:First edition.
Copyright Date:©2017
ISBN: 9780553448122
Characteristics: 305 pages :,illustrations ;,25 cm
Artemis is Mr. Weir's second novel, and he has followed up "The Martian" with another great story. I believe this one would also make a great movie in the event someone from Hollywood happens to be reading this blog (yeah, right!). As it has the elements of a great adventure story, with political intrigue, a strong protagonist, and much more.
The story revolves around a lunar resident by the name of Jazmine Bashara who seeks out a living (not always legally) in the only inhabited city on the moon. Her life suddenly gets very interesting however, when she is offered an opportunity she can't really refuse. But which turns out to be a little more complicated than she planned on.
Mr. Weir is one of few authors today who writes in first person, and this gives the story a very immediate feel that many novels now-a-days never get close to. Many writers seem to shy away from first person, and more writing teachers, and resource material seems to advise against using it. Now while this may be good advice for an absolute beginning writer, it is quite refreshing (in my opinion at least) to read stories told this way.
In addition, Mr. Weir definitely did a fair bit of research when planning the city of Artemis and this has really paid off, as the technology behind the story is very consistently designed, and believable.
I eagerly await his next book, as I'm sure after two hits he'll be able to keep going.
2017-12-11
"Astrophysics for People in a Hurry" by Neil de Grasse Tyson
Going on Hiatus
Greetings, I have decided to put a hold on doing further book reviews for a while. In fact I'm not sure if I will resume doing reviews ...
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Publisher: Berkley Copyright: 1981 ISBN: 9780441900671 Wizard is the second book in the Gaea series, and take...
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Publisher: New York : Collins, 2008. Edition: First Collins edition. ISBN: 9780061673887 Characteristics: 336 pages, 32 unnum...