5/5 stars
What's it about? Tyson breaks down the basics of our universe and its many mysteries, both solved and unsolved, in a series of palatable essays that inspire curiosity. A read that leaves one humbled and grateful to exist.
How’d I find it? If you’ve ever strolled around the Hampden neighborhood of Baltimore, you’ll often pass on the sidewalk a cardboard box of books free for the taking. I found this book in one of those boxes, and now it is mine to revisit or pass along.
Who will enjoy this book? This is a book for the people, particularly the spiritually, philosophically, or scientifically inclined. Close readalikes include Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything and Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens.
What stood out? I am on a hot streak of finding five-star books, and Astrophysics for People in a Hurry sparked what I crave most in a nonfiction read: a desire to learn more. Tyson had me scrolling through Astrophysics Journal for research on quasars, sketching out my own theories, and enrolling in a quantum mechanics class on Coursera. The book’s many descriptions of scale boggle and satisfy the brain. Example: “more bacteria live and work in one centimeter of my colon than the number of people who have ever existed in the world.”
Which line made me feel something? “Again and again across the centuries, cosmic discoveries have demoted our self-image. Earth was once assumed to be astronomically unique, until astronomers learned that Earth is just another planet orbiting the Sun. Then we presumed the Sun was unique, until we learned that the countless stars of the night sky are suns themselves. Then we presumed our galaxy, the Milky Way, was the entire known universe, until we established that the countless fuzzy things in the sky are other galaxies, dotting the landscape of our known universe. Today, how easy it is to presume that one universe is all there is.”