Customer Reviews

Comets: Creators and Destroyers

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a love story. From the first moment author Levy said "Twinkle twinkle little star..." he did more than just wonder what they were but made it his life study to find out. The words flow trippingly off the page. If you only read one book about comets in your entire life, this is the one to read. It is truly a page turner; it kept me up half the night. Don't walk -- RUN and get it!

This is a truly wonderful story not only giving a great deal of easy to understand information about comets, but doing it in such a way that it kept me at the 'edge of my seat' throughout. This book reveals the secrets of the beginning of life on earth, and possibly the end of civilization as we know it. I would give this book 5 stars, a great read from start to finish!

David Levy was one of the astronomers who discovered the infamous Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, which had collided with the planet Jupiter in 1994. He brought this book to public to tell the story of the comets as he mixed his experiences/discovery with the science behind the comets. Indeed, it is a book for the layperson to read as well to understand the grave dangers from space: comets.

This book is also informative in a way as Levy discussed the history of the comets impacts, especially in the chapter eight where he listed the time line of major comets seen in the skies in the past two thousand years. Also, in the fourteenth chapter where he brought to light the terrifying "Doomsday" story about "what would happen if a comet exactly like Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 to hit Earth," to which he brings the reader to experience the Earth colliding with a comet. It was a scary story because we would have no warning.

In all, there are fifteen chapters, with roughly 240 pages. Well-written and readable. And, I certainly like the title of the thirteenth chapter: "Yes, Virginia, Comets Do Hit Planets" as I think it is an important point from the book.

Much recommended.

The cover says "Comets", but the text is not entirely devoted to the science of comets. It skims a lot of related subjects, but sometimes digresses a little too much. And this book is definitly popularized too far! Popularization is no excuse for (small) errors. IMHO, you'd better read "Cosmic Pinball" instead.

This book reveals the history of comets and their place in the universe in layman's language. The author talks about comet Shoemaker-Levy 9's collision with Jupiter, what could happen if a large extra-terrestrial body hit the Earth. Levy also discusses possible preparations which could be taken to prevent or prepare for such a cataclysmic event. But it is not really a doom-and-gloom type book. It is a book filled with interesting ideas and facts. Lots of b&w illustrations throughout.

Comets, Creators & Destroyers, David Levy; Simon & Schuster (Touchstone; 1998)


This was on the Borders sidewalk distress wagon on Broadway in Saratoga. Price: $2.99.

I should have trusted the public's initial reaction to this book as a measure of its value & then walked away. Better writing can be found on the ingredients list on the containers of Comet® powdered soap.

Kudos to S&S editor Elizabeth Bogner for CCD's rampant redundancies; not knowing when to start new paragraphs; hara-kiri usage of double negatives (subject only to the gravitational pull of undisciplined whims), etc.

I made it to page 93 before hitting the retro rockets.

Its most prestigious endorsement is by the "Editor-In-Chief" of the prestigious Parade magazine, a worthless newspaper insert-giveaway chock full of Hollywood PR releases masquerading as "news" (negotiations for William Shatner's paid endorsement must have failed).

My copy of CCD is in a landfill now, on an asteroid somewhere in the Kuiper Belt between Mars & Jupiter.

After every copy of CCD ever printed is deposited within that asteroid's ever expanding mass, it will then be knocked out of its orbit by an even larger asteroid (created by the trashing of the optimistically printed & mass-pulped editions of "Autumn of The Moguls," "Newhouse," & "Vendetta").

And then if this smaller asteroid thus jolted becomes a comet on a collision course with planet Earth, we're gonna to get what we deserve - for encouraging inept authors to keep writing, by buying the above four books.

My wife and I traveled to Evansville, Indiana on 22 June 1994 to hear and see David Levy speak about Comets and Comet Shoemaker Levy 9 which impacted Planet Jupiter on July 16-22-1994. David's book Comets Creators and Destroyers is a must read for any one interested in Comets. His book The Quest For Comets An Explosive Trail of Beauty and Danger is an excellent book about comets. David having been fortunate to have gotten to work with Carolyn and Eugene Shoemaker and knowing also Clyde Tombaugh who discovered the planet Pluto has a gift of writing very well about his subjects. David has written two books one about Gene Shoemaker and Clyde Tombaugh. I heartly recommend his books for young and old who has any interest in astromomy, sky watching or observing the crators on the moon! JGM K9JWJ