Astrophysics for People in a Hurry
But good even if you’re not in a hurry
■ Author: Neil Degrasse Tyson
■ Publisher: Norton
■ Price: £13.99 / $18.95
■ Release: Out now
Somewhere between research paper jargon and equations, Einstein wrote: “If you can’t explain something simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” If there was any doubt that renowned astrophysicist and TV host Neil Degrasse Tyson didn’t really know his stuff before he wrote Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, then consider it removed.
This book belies such a weighty and expansive subject – you could almost carry it around in your pocket. The font is large and double-spaced, and Tyson discusses some of the bleeding edge of astrophysics topics in a light, conversational style, as if he was kicking back in a comfy armchair and reeling off well-worn anecdotes. The birth of the universe and cosmic expansion, with its strange extremities of infinitesimally large space, tiny fractions of time and blistering energies, are discussed almost in the same chapter as the relatively mundane and accidental discovery of the cosmic microwave background by two telephone engineers in the 1960s.
If we’re going to be technical here, astrophysics blurs with cosmology and other academic fields, but we’re not going to argue with Tyson on this subject. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry is the antithesis of a stuffy textbook or research paper, explaining the story of the universe in Tyson’s inimitable, easy-going and engaging tone. You could zip through all 12 chapters in a single sitting – or perhaps a long train journey – but we think it deserves the respect of a dedicated read, rather than being crammed in to fill a couple of empty hours in a busy schedule. You’ll certainly want to pause and digest some of the mindboggling concepts Tyson deals with.
The RRP is a premium, but we suppose that reflects the entertainment and educational value that this little hardback offers. Whether you’re an astrophysics initiate, expert or complete novice, there’s something you can learn from reading Astrophysics for People in a Hurry; at the very least it’s a lesson in how to take a subject that can read like wading through treacle and deliver it in an engaging, accessible and often funny package. ★★★★☆
This book belies such a weighty and expansive subject