One Universe: At Home in the Cosmos [Hardcover]

Neil de Grasse Tyson (Author), Charles Tsun-Chu Liu (Author), Robert Irion (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0309064880 | ISBN-13: 978-0309064880 | Publication Date: December 17, 1999

A new window opens onto the cosmos. Almost every day we are challenged by new information from the outermost reaches of space. Using straightforward language, "One Universe" explores the physical principles that govern the workings of our own world so that we can appreciate how they operate in the cosmos around us. Bands of color in a sunlit crystal and the spectrum of starlight in giant telescopes, the arc of a hard-hit baseball and the orbit of the moon, traffic patterns on a freeway and the spiral arms in a galaxy full of stars - they're all tied together in grand and simple ways. We can understand the vast cosmos in which we live by exploring three basic concepts: motion, matter, and energy. With these as a starting point, "One Universe" shows how the physical principles that operate in our kitchens and backyards are actually down-to-Earth versions of cosmic processes. The book then takes us to the limits of our knowledge, asking the ultimate questions about the origins and existence of life as we know it and where the universe came from - and where it is going. Glorious photographs - many seen for the first time in these pages - and original illustrations expand and enrich our understanding. Evocative and clearly written, "One Universe" explains complex ideas in ways that every reader can grasp and enjoy. This book captures the grandeur of the heavens while making us feel at home in the cosmos. Above all, it helps us realize that galaxies, stars, planets, and we ourselves all belong to one universe.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Don't let the large size and lush graphics fool you--One Universe is no coffee-table book. This grand tour explores the staggering vastness of space and the incomprehensibly tiny pieces that fit together to make our bodies, our planet, comets, and cosmic rays. Astrophysicists Neil de Grasse Tyson and Charles Liu of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and science journalist Robert Irion have teamed up to put a planetarium in a book, and while you'll have to provide your own choral background music, the images are sharp and beautiful and the accompanying text is clear and engaging. The authors clearly love their subject and their work and even the most casual reader will find the book as inescapable as a black hole.

See supernovae, eclipses, and the end of the universe in all its quiet glory--but just as your eyes are drawn to the pretty pictures, your mind will seek out the explanations and elaborations accompanying them. Tyson is well known as the director of the Hayden Planetarium and has a brilliant knack for exciting people about astronomy without condescending or diluting; in fact, his respect for the public's intelligence is one of the best features of One Universe. Whether you want to get the latest on time and space, inspire students, or (dare we say it) show off your coffee table, this is well worth checking out. --Rob Lightner

From Publishers Weekly

Startling, sparkling color photos and very accessible explanations of the laws and history of physics make this book a treat. Its pictures, clean diagrams, spiffy typography and bite-size takes on mass and energy--from quarks to Coriolis effects to quasars--mark its origins in a celebration: the volume coincides with the reopening of the Hayden Planetarium at Manhattan's American Museum of Natural History. Tyson (who runs the planetarium), Liu (a physicist at the museum) and Irion (a contributing editor at Science) make the science they explain sound both awesome and painless. The authors begin and end at the cosmological level, with the Big Bang and the expanding universe; in between, they cover black holes, meteor strikes, spectral lines, particle accelerators, "gravity waves" (which astronomers might find soon), extraterrestrial life (we're still looking) and the elusive particle called the Higgs boson (ditto). The expanding universe (in which galaxies constantly move apart from one another) gets illustrated with ladybugs on the surface of a balloon. Zippy orange computer-enhanced photos show how a solar system can coalesce from "a disk of leftover material swirling around a new star." A "hyperkinetic unicyclist" helps explain Einstein's special relativity. And sandy beachside toes, shown next to a potholder and an iron pan, illustrate how nonconducting materials prevent, while conducting materials facilitate, the transmission of heat. This is a book seemingly designed more to be browsed than to be read straight through, and it might not mind just being admired (especially if it sends readers to the planetarium). A glossary and timeline can help readers learn, look up and remember the info so many physicists worked hard to discover. 30,000 first printing. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Joseph Henry Press (December 17, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0309064880
• ISBN-13: 978-0309064880
• Product Dimensions: 12.3 x 9.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #91,740 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist with the American Museum of Natural History, director of the world-famous Hayden Planetarium, a monthly columnist for Natural History, and an award-winning author. He lives in New York City.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grand Tour of the Universe, May 8, 2000

By 

David McMahon - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: One Universe: At Home in the Cosmos (Hardcover)

Want to know what a supernova, neutron star or black hole is, explained in everyday language? If so then this is the book you are looking for. Simply put, it's the perfect source for easy to understand explanations about all facets of astronomy and astrophysics. Find out how astronomers know the universe is expanding, how they determine how far away other galaxies are, or how a supernova happens. Learn about energy and particle physics, all explained in an intelligent yet easy to understand fashion. Learn about the different states of matter, about energy and Einsteins theory of relativity. Nicely formatted with stunning graphics, I highly recommend this book, especially to those with no background in the sciences who are looking for a simple, easy to understand yet intelligent explanation of science.

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book that should be in every home, March 2, 2000

By 

Anita Leonard (Davidsonville, Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Universe: At Home in the Cosmos (Hardcover)

The beauty of this book is apparent as soon as you open it. It is filled with wonderful pictures that help to explain the valuable information that is contained in this book. Neil De Grasse Tyson has taken the information that most of us find to difficult to understand and brought it to a level that makes it not only understandable, but exciting to read. The pictures give us a visual understanding of the dynamics of all the things around us. This is a book for all, young and old. I especially found it to be a great way to stimulate the minds of our youth, who seem to have lost interest in many of the sciences. This book breathes new life into a subject that affects all of us.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A non-mathematical introduction to the Universe, November 19, 2002

By 

E. A. Lovitt "starmoth" (Gladwin, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: One Universe: At Home in the Cosmos (Hardcover)

Now that science fact has become stranger than science fiction, it's good to have a book that explains the physical universe in clear prose and pictures. The authors' stated intention is to make readers feel "at home in the Cosmos," although many of the astronomical photographs might leave us a bit in awe of the place where we live. In fact, I'm surprised that the authors didn't use more images from the Hubble space telescope. Perhaps it is because their stated intention is to explain, not simply astound. Conceptual drawings such as "How protons decay" are also found in abundance.

Tyson, Liu, and Irion introduce readers to 'the' golden age of astronomy (Right here. Right now) and explain the principles that govern our everyday lives, as well as the workings of the cosmos. That's quite a lot to accomplish in a book that is also a visual feast (400 full-color illustrations). However, the authors are well-suited to tackle the job. Neil de Grasse Tyson is the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History. Charles Liu is an astrophysicist at the Museum. Robert Irion is a free-lance journalist, and a contributing editor and correspondent to Astronomy and Science.

Using everyday analogies (as opposed to mathematical formulae), the authors take us on a journey through our universe, from the infinitesimal to the infinite. Here is an example illustrating Newton's second law of motion:

"Imagine standing behind two people wearing roller skates. One is a 90-pound ballerina, and the other is a sumo wrestler who weighs five times as much. If you push on each person with equal force (and tact), you will accelerate the ballerina five times more quickly. That ratio holds true in space as well."

"One Universe" includes an illustrated timeline of the major advances in astronomy and physics, from Democritus to Hale-Bopp.