Shop - 《ORIGINAL NATIONAL GEOGRAHIC BOOK》COSMIC QUERIES : StarTalk’s Guide To Who We Are, How We Got Here, And Where We’re Going

For science geeks, space and physics nerds, and all who want to understand their place in the universe, this enlightening new book from Neil deGrasse Tyson offers a unique take on the mysteries and curiosities of the cosmos, building on rich material from his beloved StarTalk podcast.
 
In these illuminating pages, illustrated with dazzling photos and revealing graphics, Tyson and co-author James Trefil, a renowned physicist and science popularizer, take on the big questions that humanity has been posing for millennia–How did life begin? What is our place in the universe? Are we alone?–and provide answers based on the most current data, observations, and theories.
 
Building on the wisdom of the ancients, from Eraeosthenes to Galileo, and explaining the most significant science of today, such as the discovery of exoplanets and identification of sub-nuclear particles, Tyson guides us with his trademark wit and humor on a journey from past to future, from the tiniest to the most colossal, from the frontiers of our knowledge into the vast unknown – always encouraging us, as he puts it, to keep looking up.
 
Populated with paradigm-shifting discoveries that help explain the building blocks of astrophysics, this relatable and entertaining book will engage and inspire readers of all ages, bring sophisticated concepts within reach, and offer a window into the complexities of the cosmos.
 
● Naked Eye Astronomy
Astronomy developed without telescopes. Ancient astronomers knew that Earth is a sphere. Even without telescopes, they compiled an impressive list of achievements—they measured the position of prominent stars and the distance from Earth to the Moon; they discovered the precession of the equinoxes, a very slight wobble in Earth’s axis of rotation, and developed models of the solar system.
 
● How Did the Universe Get To Be This Way?
A supercomputer in Germany took a month to generate three-dimensional simulations of dark matter in the universe. Resulting images included this one.
 
● How Did Life Begin?
Meteorites lurk among native rocks on a blue ice moraine in Antarctica. The least contaminated examples of comet and asteroid fragments, these frigid rocks may hold clues about the origins of life on Earth—and beyond.
 
● Are We Alone in the Universe?
An image of the surface of Mars taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows caverns and rivulets suggesting water, and perhaps life long ago, on the red planet.
 
● How Did It All Begin?
A massive computer simulation centered on a supercluster of galaxies reveals the filamentary large-scale structure of the universe.
 
● How Will It All End?
Nighttime northern lights gently loom over ice cracks in Alberta’s Abraham Lake, evoking the way the universe will end: in ice and darkness.
 
Cosmic Queries will feed your curiosity with the deepest questions anybody has ever asked about our place in the universe. But these pages will also dip you into the eddies of our uncertainties and dangle you by your ankles above the gaps of our knowledge. Why? Because therein lies the true source of curiosity and wonder: the not knowing—coupled with its only antidote, the need to know, empowered by the methods and tools of science applied to the cosmic frontier.
 
For all who loved National Geographic’s StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson, Cosmos: Possible Worlds, and Space Atlas, this new book will take them on more journeys into the wonders of the universe and beyond.
 
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KIRKUS REVIEW :
 
Astrophysicists Tyson and Trefil ask the big questions—and “not all have answers.”
 
Tyson, better known for popularizing and explaining tangled issues of science than for his considerable body of scientific research, and Trefil, a veteran physics professor and author of dozens of science books, peer into “the gulf between the depths of human curiosity and the limits of human ignorance.” That gulf has produced some fiery arguments over the years.
 
In a characteristically light touch, the authors imagine Aristotle sitting down to a glass of retsina and Isaac Newton quaffing a flagon of mead while arguing about the nature of gravity. Newton has the advantage, not just of a couple of thousand years of accumulated knowledge, but also because he has the scientific method on his side, “a technique that has led to profound changes in the human condition through the search for objective truths and an understanding of our place in the universe.”
 
Not that the ancients were without their insights: The Greek scholar Eratosthenes was able to suss out the circumference of the spherical Earth through an ingenious application of common knowledge and shrewd calculation.
 
As they proceed, the authors, with assistance from striking photos and illustrations, explain the reasons why our science is applicable everywhere in the universe—at least so far as we know—and consider why we haven’t found concrete evidence of being visited by extraterrestrials.
 
As for alien life, Earth has some very interesting critters. The authors highlight the tardigrade, a microscopic being that the European Space Agency sent into orbit for 12 days without a bit of harm coming to the tiny crew.
 
“Tolerating extreme conditions such as frozen polar lakes, boiling hot deep-sea vents, and even high doses of radiation, tardigrades have broadened our definition of life on Earth and diversified our search for life-forms on other planets,” they write appreciatively on the way to raising other big questions—e.g., “What preceded the Big Bang?”
 
A lively, richly illustrated celebration of scientific inquiry.
 
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About the Authors :
 
Legendary astrophysicist NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON is the host of the popular podcast StarTalk Radio and Emmy award-winning National Geographic Channel shows StarTalk and Cosmos. He earned his BA in physics from Harvard and his Ph.D. in astrophysics from Columbia. The author of more than a dozen books, including the best-selling Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, Tyson is the first Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium. He lives in New York City with his wife and two children. Facebook: Neil deGrasse Tyson.
 
JAMES TREFIL, Clarence J. Robinson Professor of Physics at George Mason University, is internationally recognized not only as a distinguished scientist but also as an expert in making complex scientific ideas understandable. He is the author of numerous magazine articles and books on science for the general public, including both editions of National Geographic’s highly successful Space Atlas. He lives in Fairfax, Virginia, with his wife.