Cosmic Adventure: A Renegade Astronomer's Guide To Our World And Beyond [Hardcover]

Bob Berman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 21, 1998

Cosmic Adventure explains aspects of the phy sical world that attract the most curiosity. Who gets to nam e the stars? What would an alien invasion really be like? It also explores the strange new mysteries raised by recent di scoveries. '

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This book is not a guide but a collection of 25 essays on a wide variety of scientific and astronomic topics. In his personal and playful style, Berman explores and explains why time does not exist, who names the stars, the Certainty Principle, and how to kill time when flying?something this reviewer put to use recently. Readers already familiar with Berman's long-running column "Night Watchman" in Discover magazine or his popular book Secrets of the Night Sky (Morrow, 1995) know what to expect, and others are in for a treat. The essays are thought-provoking, filled with fascinating facts, and always delivered with a sense of fun. Highly recommended for public libraries.?James Olson, Northeastern Illinois Univ. Lib., Chicago
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1st edition (October 21, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688144950
• ISBN-13: 978-0688144951
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,115,065 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to understand yet full of information, August 24, 2000

By 

L. Smith (Alabama USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cosmic Adventure: A Renegade Astronomer's Guide To Our World And Beyond (Hardcover)

I love this book! Bob Berman manages to explain theories of the universe in easy-to-understand language without all the jargon that you find in a lot of books like this. When he does introduce new terms that most non-astronomers won't understand, he uses simple everday examples to explain them (like comparing the process of "entropy" to a glass of club soda with ice.) The information is interesting and thought-provoking. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand this book... but you may know as much as a rocket scientist when you're done!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A five cent book in a twenty-five dollar wrapping., August 7, 1999

By 

Edward H. Barrows "Coogamooga Kid" (North Carolina) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cosmic Adventure: A Renegade Astronomer's Guide To Our World And Beyond (Hardcover)

If Bob Berman is your idea of a celebrity and you really care about his youthful escapades, his early girlfriends, his personal thoughts, etc, you might get something from this book. If you liked his earlier book, Secrets of the Night Sky, as I did, then you are bound to be disappointed by this sorry attempt at a follow up. There is no substance to the book aside from the widely advertised "how far away is the horizon?" question. (The answer is: square root of altitude in feet times 1.23 equals distance to horizon in miles). That's it, the rest is padding and pure pap. There are also several blatant errors in the text. There is no theme and after reading it I had all the substance I could have gotten from an old copy of "People" magazine. Save your money.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun, but not as good as "Secrets of the Night Sky.", November 9, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Cosmic Adventure: A Renegade Astronomer's Guide To Our World And Beyond (Hardcover)

This is another book of astronomically-themed essays where Berman tried to bring the complicated down to earth. I am a big fan of Berman's writing and thought "Secrets of the Night Sky" was an excellent book - "Cosmic Adventure" is also a fun and enlightening read, but is less about astronomy and more philosphical in nature than "Secrets." But it's still very worthwhile - Berman manages to make you see the extraordinary in the commonplace, like the chapter on water's unique physical properties. And his flashes of humor, like the essay on some of the silly dull names that pervade astronomical literature will make you chuckle. Another great cloudy-night read!