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Learning about our hostile universe (with a lot of laughs along the way)...

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Media seems to love stories that involve some astronomical event that threatens wide-spread devastation. The problem is, they never really explain the very small odds of the event actually coming to pass. Philip Plait takes these gloom and doom headlines and humorously (and scientifically) places them in the right context in his book Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End... If you're interested in phenomena like death by gamma-ray bursts or black holes, you'll really enjoy this book (and learn quite a bit in the process). Contents: Target Earth: Asteroid and Comet Impacts Sunburn The Stellar Fury of Supernovae Cosmic Blowtorches: Gamma-Ray Bursts The Bottomless Pits of Black Holes Alien Attack! The Death of the Sun Bright Lights, Big Galaxy The End of Everything What, Me Worry? Acknowledgments Appendix index Plait starts off with things that could conceivably happen. The most likely is the impact of an asteroid on Earth. It's happened before, and it'll happen again. But rather than just bemoan the inevitability of this event, he examines common (and not so common) ways that we might be able to prevent the impact, given enough forewarning. The Hollywood-inspired "blow it up with an atomic bomb" not only turns out to be risky, but there's a very good chance that it would have absolutely no effect whatsoever. On the other hand, it could be very feasible to use a orbiting satellite of a sufficient mass to affect the gravity pull of the asteroid and alter the course just enough that it bypasses earth. He escalates the doomsday scenarios up to the ultimate death of the entire universe. Granted, we're dealing with a lot of conjecture and numbers so large as to boggle the mind, but he does a good job in explaining the strange science that comes into play when quantum physics enters the picture. Of course, by this time, your measly 70 year lifespan wouldn't even register as a nanosecond on the timeline of the universe. Had this been just raw, hard-core science writing, I don't think it would have much appeal except to other astrophysicists. But Plait injects humor and images to allow those of us without his technical background to at least begin to grasp the possibilities and realities of red supergiants and black holes. Don't let the B-movie sci-fi title fool you into thinking this is something less than it is... a solid scientific (and fun) look at the hostile universe in which we live.

Death from the Skies, Indeed!	Customer Rating:
I purchased this book for my Kindle and was enjoying every page of it until I got to the chapter on aliens--at which point it caused my Kindle to crash. Not only that book was unreadable, my entire library became unavailable until I pushed the reset button. Amazon reimbursed me, but removed the e-book version from their catalog.

A great educational read	Customer Rating:
A fantastic description of the terrors lurking in the Universe. Dr. Plaitt presents them in an entertaining and informative fashion.

As Gripping as it is Informative

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I can't praise this book enough! This gifted author, a renowned astronomer, discusses the various ways in which our world could end due to catastrophes of a cosmological/astrophysical nature. In order to do this, he must explain the scientific principles involved and relate them to the ways in which we could meet our end - in morbid detail. For all of these events, probabilities are given regarding their possibly occurring during our own lifetimes, as well as whether any are actually preventable. The prose is simply outstanding; it leaves the reader breathless! The author's passion and excitement for his subject matter are quite contagious. Not only is the writing style clear and authoritative, but it's also immensely accessible. Using wit, humor, excellent analogies and everyday language, the author weaves each potential disaster tale in such a way that both general readers and scientists alike can relish them. Reading this book is the most pleasant way that I can think of for learning of human-race-annihilating disasters. This book can be enjoyed by anyone!

GRBs, Black holes, Galactic Cannibalism and more lurk within...

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But how much of your day do you need to worry about such events? Space may look peaceful, but its full of suprises, some beautiful, some down right frightening, and some so far a way that we don't know about them yet. Philip presents a "What if..." Scenario in each chapter and then lays pretty much everything out for you in easy to read dialog. There is a little math, but nothing major, as I said easy to read. I should tell you right now that this is NOT science fiction, it is indeed fact. Philip takes the time to talk in great details about things, yet making it easy to understand. I do recomend this book for anyone who is curious and likes to ask questions, "what if....?" as well as "what are the odds of this event happening?" Pick up the book, open up your mind, but don't let your guard down