Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries

Book Description

A vibrant collection of essays on the cosmos from the nation's best-known astrophysicist.

Loyal readers of the monthly "Universe" essays in Natural History magazine have long recognized Neil deGrasse Tyson's talent for guiding them through the mysteries of the cosmos with stunning clarity and almost childlike enthusiasm. Here, Tyson compiles his favorite essays across a myriad of cosmic topics. The title essay introduces readers to the physics of black holes by explaining the gory details of what would happen to your body if you fell into one. "Holy Wars" examines the needless friction between science and religion in the context of historical conflicts. "The Search for Life in the Universe" explores astral life from the frontiers of astrobiology. And "Hollywood Nights" assails the movie industry's feeble efforts to get its night skies right.

Known for his ability to blend content, accessibility, and humor, Tyson is a natural teacher who simplifies some of the most complex concepts in astrophysics while simultaneously sharing his infectious excitement about our universe.

Customer Reviews:

Educational and entertaining.......2007-10-02

I have long known Tyson to be an excellent speaker and purveyor of scientific ideas with a Saganesque ability to convey the excitement of scientific findings with a bit more hipness and swagger to his talks than Sagan. This book is an excellent read through and through. I couldn't beat the feeling as I sat on the roof of a 14 story building in Curitiba, Brazil watching the sunset alone on the summer solstice (their winter solstice) while reading the section on Stick-In-The-Mud-Science and watching the long shadows creep across the sky and have Tyson explain to me all the celestial happenings around me (this really happened). Quite a magical read. The author presents complex scientific ideas in short, readable, cohesively-themed articles. Each article is on a topic familiar to us, upon which he expands towards scientific ideas which may be unfamiliar to us. There is enough overlap in the independent sections that the read feels like one is being 'taught' rather than just reading information. And Tyson is first and foremost a great educator. Although I did find myself trying to remember something from a previous chapter and flipping back through, I feel like I have learned a great deal about astrophysics from a book that was downright entertaining.

An enjoyable read for those with an interest in science and astronomy.......2007-09-27

The qualities that make Neil deGrasse Tyson so annoying on Nova Science Now are absolute positives when it comes to the written word. He is an intelligent and entertaining writer with an uncanny ability to reduce complex scientific concepts to bite sized chunks even I could (mostly) understand.

Death by Black Hole by Neil DeGrasse Tyson.......2007-09-19

An astrophysicist for the American Museum of Natural History, director of the world famous Hayden Planetarium, and columnist for Natural History magazine, Neil DeGrasse Tyson brings to the non-scientific world the ideal book for those fascinated with space, the cosmos, black holes, and all the questions and wonders therein. Death by Black Hole is the perfect book for the reader who wants answers to questions about the universe in a simple and clearly defined way so that even if they know next to nothing about science and it's jargon, Tyson makes it easily understandable.

While I was hoping for something a little more in depth in the style of Brian Greene's The Fabric of the Cosmos or Lee Smolin's The Trouble With Physics, Death by Black Hole nevertheless provides quick and simple answers to many questions everyday readers without a science background have about physics, the universe, space, and most matters dealing with the cosmos. The book is a selection of his columns in Natural History that are organized in a somewhat textbook fashion. Tyson starts with the idea of science and nature in its basic form, how humanity views Earth, the solar system, the universe. Along with this discussion, Tyson also gives minor history lessons on the development of different ideas in physics and astronomy, what people came up with what big ideas and how the progression led to the development of the big theories of our current time with string theory and relativity. Going on from here, Death by Black Hole address the crucial steps that led to the formation of the universe and its development over the many billions and billions of years, again explaining how it is that scientists know what they do and what instruments were used, as well as the history of who invented and used said instruments.

It is then that Tyson finally turns to the subject matter of the title of the book in the section "When the Universe Turns Bad: All the Ways the Cosmos Wants to Kill Us." Here he addresses the complex and still relatively unknown subjects of chaos theory, dark matter (which constitutes over 90% of all matter in the universe, while we still know next to nothing about it), and finally black holes. Tyson takes the reader on a hypothetical journey with what would happen if one were to be sucked into a black hole and how as they approached the event horizon, they would become stretched until the elasticity point of their skin was surpassed and the body would be torn into thousands then millions of little pieces.

With many questions now answered, in the next section Tyson discusses how science is viewed by the media, Hollywood, and people around the world in general. The final section addresses the concept of science and religion, again taking the reader on a historic journey through the development of first religion, then science, and the struggle that has ensued for centuries. It is the perfect end to a book on science, as Tyson lectures the importance of supporting fact and reality in a time when there are many who believe more in faith, even when all the evidence is to the contrary.

For more book reviews, and other writings, go to www.alexctelander.com

Conversational Cosmology 101 - Superb!.......2007-09-19

New York Planetarium director and astrophysicist Tyson has been writing a column for "Natural History" magazine for some 11 years - that makes about 132 short essays. Tyson says this monthly chore is "one of the most exhausting and exhilarating things I do." Forty-two of these essays appear in this volume, "mildly edited for continuity and to reflect emergent trends in science."

He divides these essays into seven sections:

1. THE NATURE OF KNOWLEDGE - The challenges of knowing what is knowable in the universe.
2. THE KNOWLEDGE OF NATURE - The challenges of discovering the contents of the cosmos.
3. WAYS AND MEANS OF NATURE - How nature presents herself to the inquiring mind.
4. THE MEANING OF LIFE - The challenges and triumphs of knowing how we got here.
5. WHEN THE UNIVERSE TURNS BAD - All the ways the cosmos wants to kill us.
6. SCIENCE AND CULTURE - The ruffled interface between cosmic discovery and the public's reaction to it.
7. SCIENCE AND GOD - When ways of knowing collide.

"Natural History" is the same magazine Stephen J. Gould wrote 300 essays for, overlapping with Tyson for seven years. In both cases, the authors excelled in making their respective fields (evolutionary biology and cosmology) easily readable for the general public, adding to their already impressive credentials.

From page 33: "This universality of physical laws tells us that if we land on another planet with a thriving alien civilization, they will be running on the same laws that we have discovered and tested here on Earth - even if the aliens harbor different social and political beliefs. Furthermore, if you wanted to talk to the aliens, you can bet they don't speak English or French or even Mandarin Chinese. You don't even know whether shaking their hands - if indeed they have hands to shake - would be considered an act of war or of peace. Your best hope is to find a way to communicate using the language of science."

The format provides for benign redundancy as the Big Bang, formation of galaxies, creation of the chemicals in the periodic chart, and predictable physics versus chaos of interactions are looked at over and over from differing perspectives. This book is highly entertaining and I recommend it for anyone who wants to buff up their knowledge of astronomy (cosmology, astrophysics...) or for the confirmed science nut like me. First rate!

Heavy & light reading all in one.......2007-09-14

Anything by this author is worth reading. I like the way he starts off explaining things in a very simple way and winds up getting deep into the end result. "A professional con job with very educational results".

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Average customer rating:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers
Pants on fire?
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Very Interesting
History as Science Fiction

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
History: Fiction or Science? Astronomical methods as applied to chronology. Ptolemy's Almagest. Chronology III
Discovering the Mysteries of Ancient America: Lost History And Legends, Unearthed And Explored
Before the Pharaohs: Egypt's Mysterious Prehistory
They Cast No Shadows: A Collection of Essays on the Illuminati, Revisionist History, and Suppressed Technologies

ASIN: 2913621058

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays

Average customer rating:

A great scientist explains his work and his life
Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays
EVENT HORIZON
Fascinating and Stimulating
Good, but not up to Hawking's standard

Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays
Stephen W. Hawking
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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A Brief History of Time
The Nature of Space and Time
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ASIN: 0553095234
Release Date: 1993-09-01

Book Description

Readers worldwide have come to know the work of Stephen Hawking through his phenomenal million-copy hardcover best-seller A Brief History of Time. Bantam is proud to present the paperback edition of Dr. Hawking's first new book since that event, a collection of fascinating and illuminating essays, and a remarkable interview broadcast by the BBC on Christmas Day, 1992. These fourteen pieces reveal Hawking variously as the scientist, the man, the concerned world citizen, and-always-the rigorous and imaginative thinker. Hawking's wit, directness of style, and absence of pomp characterize all of them, whether he is remembering his first experience at nursery school; calling for adequate education in science that will enable the public to play its part in making informed decisions on matters such as nuclear disarmament; exploring the origins of the future of the universe; or reflecting on the history of A Brief History of Time. Black Holes and Baby Universes is an important work from one of the greatest minds of the twentieth century.

Customer Reviews:

A great scientist explains his work and his life .......2007-04-01

This book consists in two distinct parts. In one Hawking talks about his life, and in the other about his major areas of interest in his researches. Both parts of the work are written in clear and understandable language, though I admit that when he talks about black holes, singularities, and the real heart of his work my own lack of understanding and knowledge prevents me from feeling I really 'get it'. Hawking's work in these areas is considered foundational and of great importance. I cannot possibly evaluate it.
As for the second simpler section on his life there is the one overwhelming fact. It was only after he contracted AMS that he decided to get down to work, and become a serious researcher. His meeting Jane Wilde was the key here for this gave him hope for his future. She became his wife and the mother of his three children. And though they later divorced he attributes her with having given the hope and belief he needed at that critical time.
Despite his infirmity Hawking went on to make major scientific discoveries. He at one point lost his power his speech and learned to communicate through a special synthesizer. He is a widely appreciated figure whose 'Brief History of Time' won a worldwide readership. He has continued to speak out on issues such as global warming, the nuclear - war danger, the necessity for human population of space.
The book is naturally reticent about many questions regarding Hawking's life which no doubt future biographers will more deeply explore.
One more thought about the 'scientific work'. It seems to me and this is a layman's opinion that a lot of his work is done in areas and ways which are speculative and not as yet verifiable by experimental test. It thus seems to me that comparisons sometimes made of his work with that of Newton and Einstein are probably premature.

Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays.......2007-02-06

Very very interesting. Made my husband very happy+

EVENT HORIZON.......2006-11-14

An event horizon is the boundary of a black hole, defined by the light that can reach out that far and no further. Hawking himself sometimes uses pictorial metaphors to illustrate abstruse mathematical concepts, and this one occurred to me by way of an analogy of the brilliant illumination that I am trying to persuade to shine out far enough to reach my own dim wits hovering hopefully in the outer darkness.

The whole `feel' of Hawking's discourses reminds me of the stories I have read about Einstein at work - placid, orderly and without excitement (or should I say `perturbation'?). Genius of this kind seems to be a kind of glorified knack - such minds just operate naturally with concepts of this kind, and there is no sense of effort or struggle. Sandwiched between some biographical material and a radio interview, the main material in this book is a collection of essays and lectures. They include Hawking's inaugural lecture at Cambridge where he occupies the chair of mathematics once held by Newton, and all are intended in the first place for an audience of his peers. On the other hand, where Newton and Einstein did not try to address the general public, Hawking, like Russell, seeks to do just that, and he does it superbly. The style of writing is both literate and unpretentious, and the occasional jokes are very good. Readers who, like myself, are intensely interested in the subject-matter but entirely lacking in natural aptitude for it, ought to find this book enormously helpful. There is a certain amount of repetition inevitably, but the more of that the better so far as I'm concerned. Any amateur trying to get a handle on mathematical concepts like these has to get into a mathematician's way of thinking as best he can and stop thinking as a layman. We can all understand the basics of gravitation without being Newton, but if we are still struggling with the general idea of the General Theory of Relativity in 2006 it's worth remembering that it was propounded in 1915 and that physics and astronomy have came on a long way since then, so we had better get our minds round it at last.

At least as astounding to me as Hawking's triumph over his physical paralysis is the fact that this professor of mathematics at Cambridge never graduated in that subject. His degree subject was physics, allegedly on the grounds that the Oxford physics course was easy. Not easy enough to tempt me away from Latin and Greek, I must say, but doubtless for him. Mathematics is just a technique that Hawking invokes as a tool in his quest for a grand unified theory of the entire cosmos. This, said he 20 or 30 years ago, is something he hoped and largely expected could be achieved in 20 or 30 years. I'm sure we would have heard if he thought by now that he had got there, but he honours us with his ideas at the time of writing on the origin and future of the universe. The main obstacle to the final resolution of the issue is apparently that no one has yet successfully integrated old Newton's gravitation with the rest of it. However he also helps us with some more `back-at-the-office' theory concerning black holes, on which topic he appears to be the leading thinker, and that gives him the opportunity to remind us of the outlines of the most important advances since Einstein, namely quantum mechanics and Heisenberg's uncertainty principle.

The latter principle enunciates that the better the position of a particle can be predicted the less well its velocity can be predicted, and conversely. Since it is necessary to predict both, all we can do is predict the combination on a `smeared' statistical basis. It seems to come into everything, and Hawking invokes it to try to comfort us with the belief that although everything (and everyone) actually is determined by particle physics, the extent of the unpredictability is such that we might as well consider ourselves to be free agents. For once, I would dare question him. In the first place such a view doesn't seem to require Heisenberg - simply viewing the story of the cosmos as a chain of events constituting causes and effects would surely get us that far, as the permutation of these is incalculably large and therefore only to some extent predictable. Secondly, when we talk about `free will' and `determinism' what are we even talking about? I'm often told in arguments that I can think what I like. On the contrary, I wish I could, but my own observation and reason, such as they are, leave me unable to. When I exercise `free choice', e.g. in choosing from a menu, I can quite understand that my choice might be determined by physical causes (whether that is the truth of it or not). However when I change my mind about something factual or theoretical, which is taken as a sign of free intelligence, I do so because I feel that the evidence leaves me no choice, and evidence is not an `event' or a `cause' or any matter of particles or physics. Where does all this leave `free will'?

Those seeking God or a Creator will find that Hawking hedges his bets, so that any capable by nature of thinking what they would prefer to think remain, I suppose, `free' to do so. The issue is beyond me, and my own quest is for a better understanding of the cosmos I have been born into and will have to leave before too long. May I wish Professor Hawking a long and productive further career. We are much the same age, and his 20-30-year estimate for solving the riddle of the cosmos is up around now. If he finds it, I hope I can recognise it when I see it.

Fascinating and Stimulating.......2005-11-29

Like others who have reviewed this work, I can endorse it as a stimulating and thoughtful book. It is in essence however not a coherent book with a single theme. It is a compilation of articles and as such there is much in the book that is repetitive. Hawking acknowledges this and disclaims it at the outset. Even with the forewarning I found that element to be a tad annoying.

I listened to the audio version of the book while commuting and I found it overall to be a fascinating read. The biographical material about Hawking helped to put a "person" to the personality. Hawking is, without doubt, brilliant. His ability to reduce difficult concepts to listener sound bites speaks to that brilliance. I came away with an appreciation for his brilliance and abilities as well as the field of cosmological science that I did not have before.

Of particular note, I found Hawking's treatment of metaphysics to be interesting but ultimately no more valuable than anyone else's opinions in that area. Physics will never answer the question of why the universe exists or whether God in fact exists and created this universe. Science can only answer how the universe works and what laws govern its behavior. Hawkings admits this himself so I took no offense to his words, I just found it interesting that his position did not make his insights in that regard any more valuable.

The final segment of transcript from a radio show read by the narrator struck me a an opportunity missed to allow Hawking to finish with his own voice and presence. I was disappointed they did not use the original sound feed and chose to read the transcript.

Well worth the read or the listen. Entertaining. Already dated though and perhaps his more recent works would be of more value to most listeners.

Good, but not up to Hawking's standard.......2005-07-08

I immensely enjoyed A Brief History of Time, and had high hopes for this book as well. Unfortunately I was disappointed. Don't get me wrong, it is a good book full of interesting things, but there is far too much repitition, both with A Brief History of Time and withing this book itself. It seemed that he explained his "the only boudary conditition is that there is no boundary" theory in every essay. Good material, but you won't find much in here that you didn't already know if you read A Brief History of Time. I would recommend skipping this and going straight to The Universe in a Nutshell, a more recent Hawking book.

Average customer rating:

Fresh Perspectives on a Fragile Planet
An excellent choice for anyone of any age
Only Being in Orbit Could Give You a Better View!!!!
A new perspective
best book on earth

The Home Planet
Kevin W. Kelley
Manufacturer: Addison Wesley Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0201550954

Customer Reviews:

Fresh Perspectives on a Fragile Planet.......2006-01-28

Let's not forget we're living on a little planet, what some like to call spaceship earth. If earth is a spaceship, this is the owner's manual: THE HOME PLANET. Political boundaries are dissolved by a moon's-eye view of Earth to create bold visions of the planet through 150 color photographs culled from the American and then-Soviet archives. Commentary is provided solely by eloquent quotes from astronauts of 18 nations which are shown both in original language (be it Arabic, Chinese, Vietnamese, Hindi, Mongolian, French, German, Spanish, Hungarian, Romanian, Polish, Czech, Bulgarian, Dutch, or Russian) and English translation. The message is simple--we are all citizens of the same global nation.

An excellent choice for anyone of any age.......2002-03-07

This superb coffee table book by Kevin W. Kelley is especially apt in this day and age, when so much in life feels precarious and precious. A simple and simply eloquent collection of photographs and quotations, it is so much more than the sum of its parts.

The astronauts who have either landed on the moon or have orbited the earth have so much to tell us and it's easy to see from the photographs why they feel words fail them. Luckily for us, words DON'T fail them. This select, small group of men and woman try mightily to tell us what their experiences were, and overwhelmingly they succeed in conveying the mystery and beauty they saw from their unique perches in space. A few of the better bits include:

"[From space] you have an almost dispassionate platform--remote, Olympian--and yet [seeing the earth from up there is] so moving that you can hardly believe how emotionally attached you are to those rough patterns shifting steadily below."
- THOMAS STAFFORD, USA

"O. Henry, the American writer, wrote in one of his stories that if you want to encourage the craft of murder, all you have to do is lock up two men for two months in an eighteen-by-twenty-four-foot room. Entering 'Salyut,' which was to be both our home and our office for six months, we told each other: We are brothers. I am you and you are me."
- VALERIE RYUMIN, USSR

"Before I flew, I was already aware of how small and vulnerable our planet is; but only when I saw it from space, in all its ineffable beauty and fragility, did I realize that humankind's most urgent task is to cherish and preserve it for future generations."
- SIGMUND JAHN, GERMANY

In no book that I can think of does the phrase "A picture is worth a thousand words" better fit. The photographs herein are astonishing in showing the exquisite planet we occupy. A view of England's North Sea coast looks like a slab of lapiz lazuli, its surface flecked with sparkle and hue. Canada's Lake Winnipeg from space has the appearance of something primal, almost fetal. The Indian Ocean off Madagascar looks like a sheet of slate over which some divine presence has tossed a handful of diamonds. So few of us can ever hope to share the experience of these men and women that this book is all the more precious, and beautiful.

Only Being in Orbit Could Give You a Better View!!!!.......2001-03-28

This coffee table book presents some of the best photographs taken of the Earth and the Moon by both astronauts and cosmonauts. Due to the large size of the book, these photographs are even more stunning. In addition to the photographs, several quotes by those who have flown in space accompany each photograph.

One of things that I really liked about the book is that other than the small quotes, there is very little accompany text. The only real text is at the end of the book, where NASA's chief photographic planner describes "Why Space Photography?" I found thispart kind of chilling where he states, "it is a far more air-polluted Earth today than it was in the past ... twenty years ago"

A new perspective.......1999-03-09

A wonderfully moving and beautifully compiled collection of images. Mountain ranges and river deltas dissolve into abstract designs of astounding beauty. The accompanying commentaries show a world united in space in a way that is sadly absent on Earth. The book would make anybody want to become an astronaut.

This is the perfect present for any occasion. It has touched the hearts of everyone I know who has ever seen it. Highly recommended.

best book on earth.......1999-02-21

Political boundaries are dissolved by a moon's-eye view of Earth to create bold visions of the planet through 150 color photographs culled from the American and then-Soviet archives. The pictures are allowed to speak for themselves, with only tiny captions describing locales and weather conditions. Commentary is provided solely by eloquent quotes from astronauts of 18 nations which are shown both in original language (be it Arabic, Chinese, Vietnamese, Hindi, Mongolian, French, German, Spanish, Hungarian, Romanian, Polish, Czech, Bulgarian, Dutch, or Russian) and English translation. The message is simple--we are all citizens of the same global nation.

Product Description

Ever since the Greeks coined the language we commonly use for scientific description, mythology and science have developed separately. But what came before the Greeks? What if we could prove that all myths have one common origin in a celestial cosmology? What if the gods, the places they lived, and what they did are but ciphers for celestial activity, a language for the perpetuation of complex astronomical data? Drawing on scientific data, historical and literary sources, the authors argue that our myths are the remains of a preliterate astronomy, an exacting science whose power and accuracy were suppressed and then forgotten by an emergent Greco-Roman world view. This fascinating book throws into doubt the self-congratulatory assumptions of Western science about the unfolding development and transmission of knowledge. This is a truly seminal and original thesis, a book that should be read by anyone interested in science, myth, and the interactions between the two.

Customer Reviews:

"A Ring of Noble Metal".......2007-04-17

Like so many of the readers of this fascinating book, Hamlet's Mill, it is a work that I have read several times, learning much with each reading. When first published in 1969, it was reviewed by the late MIT Professor Emeritus, Philip Morrison, who was reknown as a distinguished theoretical astrophysicist and interpreter of science for the general public. He wrote " "The book is polemic, even cocky; it will make a tempest in the inkpots. It nonetheless has the ring of noble metal, although it is only a bent key to the first of many gates." Many since that time have taken Santillana's lead and attempted to apply this "bent key" to other gates...as I did in 1992 with my book, "The Death of Gods in Ancient Egypt." After several readings of Hamlet's Mill I became convinced that a concerted search through the writings and artwork of Egypt, a culture whose myths diSantillana and Dechend had only written of superficially, would serve as a reliable test of the book's assertions. I certainly came away from that endeavor, convinced that Hamlet's Mill did indeed offer a valuable key to the many puzzles of ancient religious myths and beliefs.

Offkilter.......2007-01-04

A lot of interesting theses and odd connections, but the horrid presentation and possibly untrustworthy sources lessen the value of this book.

Hamlet' farm.......2006-11-03

The book is based on old texts that are not commonly known. The subject is interesting and in the same directions with recent discoveries on the human race past. The book is difficult to be read due to the way it is written by the author.

As above, so below........2006-11-03

Please note this is NOT an easy book by any means and should not be attempted by those looking for the casual read. Although very well researched, the organization of the book is somewhat chaotic making it more difficult to understand and follow. The main idea outlined by the authors of the book is that myths, on a primeval level, represented a "technical language" designed to record and transmit astronomical observations - most importantly those connected with the precession of the equinoxes. The mythology of many ancient cultures including Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek, MesoAmerican, Chinese, and a wealth of others all included this knowledge. The authors show by dissecting some mythological stories of these cultures the imbedded astronomical data contained within and their precessional implications. Although some of these myths are easier understood than others, there are some cases made by the authors that are arguable at best.
To take it to the next level, check out Fingerprints of the Gods and its sequel Heavens Mirror by Graham Hancock; The Orion Mystery by Adrian Gilbert and Robert Bauval; The Message of the Sphinx by Robert Bauval and Graham Hancock; The Sirius Mystery by Robert Temple.

Really Heavy.......2006-08-25

This book is unbelievably heavy in the figurative sense. Although the writing can be laborious, the argument put forth regarding ancient astronomical facts being tied up in "folk tales" is stunning. Deeply researched, long, this book is definitely NOT for your ten year old.

Cosmic Horizons: Astronomy at the Cutting Edge (American Museum of Natural History Books)

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Cosmic Horizons: Astronomy at the Cutting Edge (American Museum of Natural History Books)

Manufacturer: New Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Astronomy | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

Astrophysics & Space Science | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Essays & Commentary | Science | Subjects | Books

Merlin's Tour of the Universe
One Universe: At Home in the Cosmos
Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries
The Sky Is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist
Here Be Dragons: The Scientific Quest for Extraterrestrial Life

ASIN: 1565846028

Book Description

Leading experts explain the discoveries of modern astrophysics in an illustrated companion to the American Museum of Natural History's newly renovated Rose Center for Earth and Space. Cosmic Horizons illuminates the most recent discoveries of modern astrophysics with essays by leading astronomers, including NASA scientists. The book also features profiles of astronomers such as Carl Sagan and Georges Lemaître (father of the Big Bang theory), case studies that cover the controversial evidence for the possibility of life on Mars, and stunning four-color photographs throughout. Written for the general reader, Cosmic Horizons makes the complex, abstract areas of astronomy and astrophysics—from the Big Bang to black holes—accessible and comprehensible to the public. Complementing the museum's acclaimed new Frederick Phineas and Sandra Priest Rose Center exhibition, the book investigates how the universe expands to produce galaxies, stars, and planets, and, perhaps, life on other worlds. It also examines some of the emerging technologies that make these discoveries possible. With more than eighty full-color images and a resource section that includes a bibliography and an extensive glossary, Cosmic Horizons offers a new appreciation of the complexities of time and space and a greater understanding of our fragile planet and the universe beyond. Four-color illustrations throughout.

The New Press is pleased to announce the publication of this new title with the American Museum of Natural History, a collaboration that began with the publication of Epidemic! in 2000.

Product Description

`History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2` is the second volume of the most explosive and astounding tractate on history ever written - however, every theory it contains, no matter how unorthodox, is backed by rock solid scientific data. The book is easy and pleasant to read; it is well-illustrated, contains hundreds of charts, graphs and illustrations, copies of ancient manuscripts, and countless facts attesting to the falsity of the chronology used nowadays. You will be amazed to discover: - That the chronology universally accepted today and taken for granted is simply wrong; - That ALL methods of dating of ancient sources and artefacts known today are erroneous or non-exact; - That there is not a single document that could be reliably dated earlier than the XIth century; The Author refers to the Middle Ages as the Antiquity and proves mutual superimposition of the Second and the Third Roman Empire, both of which become identified as the respective kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Furthermore, he asserts that the famous reform of the Occidental Church in the XI century by Pope Gregory Hildebrand was the reflection of the XII century reforms of Byzantine emperor Andronicus who in his turn identifies with Jesus Christ. The Trojan war counted by Homer happened only as late as of the XIII century A.D. and the great poet actually lived in XIV century A.D. No stone in history of Antiquity is left unturned. Literally. This book is the beginning of a major correction to the chronology we live with.

Customer Reviews:

Check and see.......2007-06-21

I don't care what other people say of this book. Those affirmig it's fake, they hadn't ever read it. Or have some special reasons to do so. "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see..." This book won't make you feel comfortable. It'll make you feel free. It'll make you feel you're "not the only one" to feel you'd been lied to for centuries.

Suprise! Suprise!.......2007-03-22

Here is a serie of books which turns "the whole world" upside down. I learned a lot of it and I hope that a new book from A.T. Fomenko will follow very quick. A absolute must for everybody who is interested in history or even a little bit from it.

Prescient St Augustine?.......2006-02-05

We can so far divide the New Chronology into the following three parts:

a) The verifiable theory that proves consensual chronology wrong with the aid of astronomy, statistics and mathematics;

b) The new chronology hypothesis based on a new understanding of known historical facts and the most likely logical explanation of the most obvious inconsistencies inherent in the official version of history;

c) The history conjectures, that is experimental historical reconstructions based on assumptions that the authors believe to make sense in the light of their research and linguistic parallels - void of ironclad factual support to date.

Fomenko's theory complies with the most rigid scientific standards as a whole:

It gives a coherent explanation of what we already know.

- It is consistent: independent lines of inquiry all lead to the same conclusion.

- The predictions it makes are confirmed empirically.

Fomenko goes by the following axioms:

- Chronology is the basis of history;

- Human evolution has always been linear, gradual and irreversible;

- The "cyclic" nature of human civilization is a myth, likewise all the gaps, duplicates, "dark ages" and "renaissances" that we know from consensual history;

- The accumulation of geographical knowledge as reflected in cartography is a gradual and irreversible process;

- The chronological distance between a given manuscript and the events described therein is proportional to the amount of distortions it contains;

- There is no "useless" information in authentic ancient sources.

Why the mainstream historians do not shower mathematician Academician Dr.Prof Fomenko with thanks and laurels?

The Russians:

Because Fomenko asserts that there was no such thing as the Tartar and Mongol invasion followed by three centuries of slavery, providing a formidable body of documental evidence to prove his assertion. The so-called "Tartars and Mongols" were the actual ancestors of the modern Russians, living in a bilingual state with Arabic spoken as freely as Russian. The ancient Russian state was governed by a double structure of civil and military authorities. The hordes were actually professional armies with a tradition of lifelong conscription (the recruitment being the so-called "blood tax"). Their "invasions" were punitive operations against the regions that attempted tax evasion. Fomenko proves that Russian history as we know it today is a blatant forgery concocted by a host of German scientists brought to Russia by the usurper dynasty of the Romanovs, whose ascension to the throne was the result of coup d'état, charged with the mission of making their reign look legitimate. Fomenko proves Ivan the Terrible to be a collation of four rulers, no less. They represented the two rival dynasties - the legitimate rulers and the ambitious upstarts. The winner took it all! Over some 30 years of controversy, Russian historians have made a most remarkable transition - they were initially accusing the young mathematician Fomenko of anticommunist dissident activity and attempts to deface the historical legacy of Soviet Russia; nowadays the middle-aged mathematician is accused of adhering to "pro-communist Russian nationalism" and defacing the proud historical legacy of Great Russia.

The Westerners:

Because Fomenko blows consensual Russian history to smithereens, successfully removing a crucial cornerstone from underneath the otherwise impeccable edifice of World History. Fomenko adds insult to injury, wiping out one by one the Ancient Rome (the foundation of Rome in Italy is dated to the XIV century A. D.), the Ancient Greece and its numerous poleis, which he identifies as the mediaeval crusader settlements on the territory of Greece, and the Ancient Egypt (the pyramids of Giza become dated to the XI-XV century A. D. and identified as the royal cemetery of the Global "Mongolian" Empire, no less). The civilization of the Ancient Egypt is irrefutably dated to the XII-XV century A. D. with the aid of the ancient Egyptian horoscopes cut in stone. He was the first one to decipher and date all such horoscopes, coming up with mediaeval dates in every case. English historians rage at the suggestion that the history of Ancient England was de facto a Byzantine import transplanted to the English soil by the fugitive Byzantine nobility. To reward the English historians who consider themselves the true scribes of World History, the cover of the present book portrays Tintoretto's Jesus Christ crucified on the Big Ben.

The Chinese:

Because Fomenko wipes out the Ancient History of China outright. No such thing. Full point. The compilation of the so-called Ancient Chinese History is reliably datable to the XVII-XVIII century only. It is perfectly recognizable as the Ancient European history, reworked and transcribed in hieroglyphs as yet another historical transplantation, this time performed on the Chinese soil by the loving Jesuit hands. The Chinese are the next in line to go berserk. Chinese history is inevitably bound to get both more ancient and more eventful, proportionally to the growing involvement of China in the world affairs. Chinese historians will keep on finding valid proof of prehistoric Chinese spaceflights until the Politburo orders them to shut up.

The Arabs:

Too bad. Islam with all its key figures is datable to XV-XVI century A. D. Arabic historians may find consolation in the crucial historical role of the Ottoman Empire in the XVI-XVII century. The trouble is that this empire was initially a Christian state, with Hagia Sophia identifiable as Temple of Solomon, according to Fomenko! We can only guess if the acquisition of Alexander the Great (a Macedonian and a Christian) as the founder of the Muslim World Empire will make Fomenko's theories more acceptable to the Arabic mainstream. He certainly does not spare any holy cows at all, claiming The Stone of Qa'Aba in Mecca to contain the lost Arch of the Covenant.

The Divinity:

Despite of reiterated statement that his theory is all about chronology and not Religion, Fomenko stirs up a whole condominium of wasp nests. His collection of anathemas, fatwa, and other condemnations from all parties concerned is already considerable. Little wonder, considering that the history of religions à la Fomenko looks as follows: the pre-Christian period (before the XI century and JC), Bacchic Christianity (XI-XII century, before and after JC), JC Christianity (XII-XVI century) and its subsequent mutations into Orthodox Christianity, the Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, and so on.

According to Fomenko we know strictly NOTHING about the events that predate the X century A. D.

St Augustin was prescient when he spoke unto us: "be wary of mathematicians, particularly when they speak the truth."

Something of a disappointment.......2005-09-09

After having read the first volume of this expected series of 7 volumes I was triggered by the thesis of these authors that ancient Greek and Roman history did in fact take place in the Middle Ages. So I started studying medieval history of the Middle East - also known as Islamic history - to find out if the opponents of the ancient Greeks and Romans - the Acheamenid Persians, Sassanids, Scythians, Egyptians, etc. - also have their duplicates in medieval history. My search was disappointing: none of the many medieval Islamic dynasties seemed to correspond to the ancient middle eastern rulers.

However, I did find a close correspondence between Herodotus' Persian kings and medieval events:

- the defeat and capture of an Anatolian king - the Lydian Croesus - by the Persian conqueror Cyrus is identical to the defeat and capture of another Anatolian king - sultan Bayezid - by the Asian/Mongol conqueror Tamerlane;
- the Persian conquest of Egypt by the cruel tyrant Cambyses reds almost exactly as the Ottoman conquest of Egypt by Selim the Grim (note the nickname!);
- Darius the Lawgiver of the Persian Empire looks very much alike to Sulayman the Magnificent, the Lawgiver in Islamic history;
- Xerxes, whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by the Greeks at the naval battle of Salamis, looks like Selim II (the Sot) whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by a Spanish-Italian alliance at the naval battle of Lepanto.

I should have expected Fomenko et al. to arrive at similar conclusions, however, they claim that the Persian kings are the alter egos of the Angevin kings of Sicily whose biographies do not contain the exploits of the Persian kings.

The similiarities I indicate lead to the conclusion that Herodotus must have written his Histories at the close of the 16th century. But this is extremely late, given that Herodotus is "the Father of History", so therefore all other "ancient" histories must have been fabricated even later. Yet, the founders of modern chronology - Scaliger and Petavius - laid their foundations also at the close of the 16th century and had the full corpus of ancient histories already at their disposal.

It seems to me that Fomenko has to address these inconsistencies, maybe in the forthcoming 5 volumes?

Another critique of their book is that the correspondencies between different rulers are often based on a superficial comparison of the biographies; upon a more thorough comparison many details appear that do not correspond at all.

Finally, the authors rely heavily on the works of Gregorovius (1821-1891!!) - his medieval histories of Rome and Athens - as the source of medieval history; these works are - at least in the West - hoplessly outdated and have been superceded by more up-to-date works (for instance, Julius Norwich's trilogy on Byzantine history is not even cited).

Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy.........2005-07-30

If you agree with Fomenko that Roman chronology is basically the foundation of the entire edifice of global chronology; you would also certainly agree that despite its numerous gaps and inconsistencies, Roman history is the best-documented field of ancient history, and thus a reference scale. But how well is the actual date of the Eternal City's foundation known?

Firstly, Rome is supposed to have been founded by the Trojans who had to flee after the fall of Troy. Some claim Rome to have been founded by Aeneas and Ulysses shortly after Troy had fallen; others are of the opinion that there was an entire dynasty that ruled for 500 years between the fall of Troy and the foundation of Rome.

Well, that's just an innocent 500 years long misunderstanding compared with what heretic Fomenko says, asserts, proves in his second volume: Second Roman Empire, Third Roman Empire, Biblical Kingdom of Israel, Biblical Kingdom of Judah, Holy Roman Empire are stories about basically same events, written from different points of view at different times. The underlying events have actually taken place during xii-xv cy. These histories have been written and perfected by multitude of highly talented humanist and clerical writers of xiii-xvi cy disguised as "ancients" with glorious names like Homer, Pluto, Thucydides etc..Chronology 2.0 beta..

Historians are kindly invited to report the bugs.

Average customer rating:

sunny side up
Stark beauty of a devastating weapon
100 suns
100 suns is the ultimate photo book!
Excellent idea, poorly executed

100 Suns
Michael Light
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Color | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

Full Moon
Atomic Archive: Enhanced Edition
America's Atomic Bomb Tests - The Collection
Beyond : Visions Of The Interplanetary Probes
Trinity & Beyond - The Atomic Bomb Movie

ASIN: 1400041139
Release Date: 2003-10-21

Book Description

Between July 1945 and November 1962 the United States is known to have conducted 216 atmospheric and underwater nuclear tests. After the Limited Test Ban Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union in 1963, nuclear testing went underground. It became literally invisible—but more frequent: the United States conducted a further 723 underground tests, the last in 1992. 100 Suns documents the era of visible nuclear testing, the atmospheric era, with one hundred photographs drawn by Michael Light from the archives at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the U.S. National Archives in Maryland. It includes previously classified material from the clandestine Lookout Mountain Air Force Station based in Hollywood, whose film directors, cameramen and still photographers were sworn to secrecy.

The title, 100 Suns, refers to the response by J.Robert Oppenheimer to the world’s first nuclear explosion in New Mexico when he quoted a passage from the Bhagavad Gita, the classic Vedic text: “If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst forth at once in the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One . . . I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” This was Oppenheimer’s attempt to describe the otherwise indescribable. 100 Suns likewise confronts the indescribable by presenting without embellishment the stark evidence of the tests at the moment of detonation. Since the tests were conducted either in Nevada or the Pacific the book is simply divided between the desert and the ocean. Each photograph is presented with the name of the test, its explosive yield in kilotons or megatons, the date and the location. The enormity of the events recorded is contrasted with the understated neutrality of bare data. Interspersed within the sequence of explosions are pictures of the awestruck witnesses.

The evidence of these photographs is terrifying in its implication while at same time profoundly disconcerting as a spectacle. The visual grandeur of such imagery is balanced by the chilling facts provided at the end of the book in the detailed captions, a chronology of the development of nuclear weaponry and an extensive bibliography. A dramatic sequel to Michael Light’s Full Moon, 100 Suns forms an unprecedented historical document.

Customer Reviews:

sunny side up.......2007-09-04

This is a beautiful book. Very powerful (no pun intended). Exceptionally well-conceived. Lovely art direction. High printing standards. All of which were established with the author Michael Light's previous book, The Moon. (With a surname such as Light, he was destined to be a photographer.) I first saw a copy of 100 Suns at a friend's place in Paris and, without knowing it was the same photographer who had collated the pictures in both books, said how much its aesthetics and purpose reminded me of The Moon. Rather than NASA's various explorations to the lunar mass (assuming you believe, like me, that they did indeed go to the moon), this book is devoted to the war-mongering Americans' obsession with nuclear warfare. As a counter-balance to the predilection of other superpowers, such as the former USSR and China, for power, the Americans went for gold from the outset, initially possessing a ridiculously huge nuclear arsenal, a dominance that wained during the supposed Cold War (a propaganda exercise to rival the Nazis, if ever there was one). Then, for a spell, the Soviets possessed more nuclear warheads than the Americans, which is perhaps fair enough since they did send the first man into space (well done Yuri). However, throughout the atomic age, the Americans, like the pesky French, the irritable Russians, the stroppy North Koreans, the determined Chinese, the desperate Pakistanis, the resolute Iranians, etc, have continued to conduct tests of nuclear weapons. Unfairly, the French have even arrogantly and selfishly pursued theirs in the Pacific, which, as New Zealanders, my family, friends and I occupy. Is it any wonder we now have global warming? Isn't it at all conceivable that the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of nuclear tests conducted underground, on land, at sea and in the air are partially (perhaps even largely) responsible for global warming? These are, after all, mammoth disruptions to the harmony of earth and her atmosphere. I use the word 'mammoth' on purpose too because, like the furry fellow, we may one day be utterly extinct. Of course, if nuclear weapons (and the woeful double bombing of Japan to end the Second World War) are a crucial counterbalance between good and evil, the haves and will haves, they are perhaps a necessary (yet problematic) deterrent. Now, having jumped atop my soap box (actually, bar stool in front of my computer), I must admit that the pictures in 100 Suns are utterly bewitching. To say they are beautiful is fraught with guilt, since it is members of our very species who created and propagated such an evil force. However, in many things evil a kind of beauty resides, whether we wish to concede this or not. And there is something strangely, hypnotically, philosophically haunting about the 100 pictures of nuclear tests in this book. They look like amoeba, jelly fish, demons, and, yes, mushrooms. They appear to be the visual manifestation of some weird hallucinatory concoction - though in this case it's the result of mankind's intellect run amock. Not enough is spoken about the nuclear age. The pictures in this must-have book say much. Let the buyer beware.

Stark beauty of a devastating weapon.......2007-07-09

As terrible as a nuclear detonation can be, this book manages to capture the spectacle and beauty from the above-ground nuclear tests conducted at the Nevada Test Site and other detonation sites in the 50s and 60s.

The book is a collection of 100 colour and B&W photos from the US National Archives and LANL of various detonations. Some are taken mere milliseconds after detonation and show fascinating detail. Others show the detonations with soldiers looking on. Aerial shots show the impressive scale of the detonations.

Captions for the photos giving details on the test are listed in the back so as not to distract from the photo itself. It's an interesting book to look through and to see the scale of the above-ground nuclear weapon testing that was done in the middle of the 20th century.

100 suns.......2007-06-05

Some of the most brilliant photos of nuclear explosions you will EVER find. The book is almost all photos with a small documentary section in the back to help augment the photos. VERY nicely done for the non-technical person.

100 suns is the ultimate photo book!.......2007-05-21

this book is awesome! it has very stunning photos and is just plain cool.this is definitely the best coffee table book for people facinated by nuke technology.

Excellent idea, poorly executed.......2007-02-17

I agree with the review about the mushroom cloud in the center of the binding, split in two. That really reduces the effectiveness of the shot.

The idea of this book is great. I think the book is one-of-a-kind...to date I have not found a more comprehensive collection of *photos* in one place, of atomic explosions. That is cool.

But! The book misses the point! I wish there was so much more information, give me some specifications. How wide is that explosion? How tall? As I recall, there was scant info, such as power (X kilotons), but that is way in the back of the book. How annyoing to have to flip around the book to find out what could easily have been printed on the page where the photo is, such as a legend.

Here are a few things that would have pushed this book over the top.
- explosive power.
- width
- height
- location
- a perspective item, such as the transamerica pyramid, so we can see how big the cloud is.
- Etc. Surely there is declassified information available that the authors could have brainstormed, and included...?

I'm guessing the authors didn't want to "pollute" the pristine images with this extra info, however, by leaving out this critical information, we are left with images that fail to measure to their full grandeur. It's like when astronomy books show us pictures of galaxies, but don't tell us how many light years across they are, or how far away they are. Something's missing.

I give the idea of this book 4.5 stars. I give the execution 1.5 stars. The book is incomplete.

Bad Medicine: Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from Distance Healing to Vitamin O (Wiley Bad Science Series)

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Better than I expected - and funny.
interesting, readable, funny
Bad Medicine - Good Book
A Good but Incomplete Book
bad BOOK about Medicine

Bad Medicine: Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from Distance Healing to Vitamin O (Wiley Bad Science Series)
Christopher Wanjek
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

Bad Astronomy: Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from Astrology to the Moon Landing "Hoax"
The Skeptic's Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions
Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions
Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science (Popular Science)
The Faith Healers

ASIN: 047143499X

Book Description

"Christopher Wanjek uses a take-no-prisoners approach in debunking the outrageous nonsense being heaped on a gullible public in the name of science and medicine. Wanjek writes with clarity, humor, and humanity, and simultaneously informs and entertains."
-Dr. Michael Shermer, Publisher, Skeptic magazine; monthly columnist,
Scientific American; author of Why People Believe Weird Things

Prehistoric humans believed cedar ashes and incantations could cure a head injury. Ancient Egyptians believed the heart was the center of thought, the liver produced blood, and the brain cooled the body. The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates was a big fan of bloodletting. Today, we are still plagued by countless medical myths and misconceptions. Bad Medicine sets the record straight by debunking widely held yet incorrect notions of how the body works, from cold cures to vaccination fears.

Clear, accessible, and highly entertaining, Bad Medicine dispels such medical convictions as:

You only use 100f your brain: CAT, PET, and MRI scans all prove that there are no inactive regions of the brain . . . not even during sleep.
Sitting too close to the TV causes nearsightedness: Your mother was wrong. Most likely, an already nearsighted child sits close to see better.
Eating junk food will make your face break out: Acne is caused by dead skin cells, hormones, and bacteria, not from a pizza with everything on it.
If you don't dress warmly, you'll catch a cold: Cold viruses are the true and only cause of colds.

Protect yourself and the ones you love from bad medicine-the brain you save may be your own.

Customer Reviews:

Better than I expected - and funny........2007-01-08

I didn't have any particular expectations about "Bad Medicine" when I purchased it, except what the title (and the subtitle) told me. In fact, the subtitle was somewhat misleading - it had led me to expect that this book was an encycopdeia of bad ideas in medicine or healthcare (a bit like "the Skeptic's Dictionary"), but it isn't.

"Bad Medicine" is a series of short chapters covering such topics as common myths about physiology and diet, and ineffective alternative medicine. The very first chapter is an introduction that provides a history of medicine from the dawn of recorded history to the modern day. This introduction, in itself, is facinating and worth the price of the book.

The information presented in this book is drawn from reputable scientific sources - a bibliography for each chapter is provided at the end. In addition, internet sources are also listed for interested readers to pursue the topics in the book further.

Although drawn from science, the material in the book is presented in a truely understandable format. For example, when talking about theraputic magnets (and how they don't attract the iron in blood) the author used a good analogy to Magnetic Resonance Imagining (MRI). He points out that the if the theory behind theraputic magnets were correct the very strong magnets used in MRI should rip the blood from your body - but they don't.

After about 10 pages of "Bad Medicine" it dawned on me that not only was the content interesting and well written, the author was also very funny, so I wanted to know more about him. Turning to the back cover, I discovered that not only had Christopher Wanjek written for major newspapers and university publications, he's also written jokes for tv comedy shows. As such, if you read "Bad Medicine" I expect you'll find yourself amused, as well as well informed.

interesting, readable, funny.......2006-02-02

Some reviewers were a little skeptical about the author, but a quick search on google will show that he is indeed qualified to write about medicine.

But about the book: I found this book to be written in a very readable and easy to understand way. Many times I chuckled outloud at the authors sarcasm.

While most people know why homeopathic medicine is bunk, he goes onto explain why it is bunk. He also has an interesting chapter on diets and on milk.

This book is full of interesting information, and i highly reccomend it to everyone who is interested in real medicine.

Bad Medicine - Good Book.......2005-10-20

A spirited defence of evidence-based medicine with a wry sense of humour, this is an entertaining and informative read. The chapters break it up into easily digestible chunks for dipping into, although it is just as suited for reading straight through.

The core message is eat well and exercise: you'll save a fortune.

A Good but Incomplete Book.......2005-05-10

+++++

This book, by joke writer and science writer Christopher Wanjek, explains "Bad Medicine." He does not define this term but upon reading his book, it seems that it is medicine that does not have a rational cure for disease. By implication then, "Good Medicine" is medicine that does have a rational cure for disease. Wanjek implies that traditional medicine as it is practiced today with surgery, radiation, and drugs is good medicine.

This book has seven parts that encompass more than forty easy to read very brief chapters. Below I will give the title of each part and chapter (that are not the same as in the book):

(I) *Dispelling certain myths (9 chapters)

(1) How the brain works (2) Brain size and intelligence (3) How the eyes work (4) How the tongue works (5) Detoxification myths (6) The Appendix: useful or not? (7) Why hair turns gray (8) Baldness cures (9) Human race defined

(II) *Aging (5 chapters)

(1) Memory (2) Vitality (3) Disease (4) Life Span (5) Longevity and Genetics

(III) *Cause and cure of certain diseases (6 chapters)

(1) The Black Plague in the modern age (2) The common cold (3) Are all bacteria bad? (4) Radiation (5) Cancer and Sharks (6) What your genes say about your future health

(IV) *Nutrition myths (5 chapters)

(1) Antioxidants (2) Obesity (3) Cow's Milk (4) Organic Food (5) Water: Bottled versus Tap

(V) *Alternative Medicine (8 chapters)

(1) Homeopathy (2) Magnetism (3) Ayurveda (4) Aromatherapy (5) Oxygen (6) Touch Therapy (7) Herbs (8) The true dangers of vaccines

(VI) *Risk (4 chapters)

(1) Science of toxicity (2) How health studies work (3) Important health study findings (4) Rating America's health

(VII) *Bad medicine in the news and at the movies (4 chapters)

(1) Accuracy of TV medical news (2) Guns and their aftereffects (3) Getting knocked out in Hollywood and in reality (4) A Hollywood heart attack versus a real heart attack

There is also an appendix that gives almost fifteen more examples of bad medicine. These were not entered into the main narrative because (I guess) they were not bad enough. There are also a dozen illustrations in this book.

Many chapters in this book are good especially those parts of chapters where Wanjek explains how things work. I should emphasize that such information can be found in a good medical text or even on a reliable internet site. It is nice, though, to have this information in one small volume. He also does a good job in explaining medical myths.

There are many chapters that, I feel, are too brief and somewhat simplistic. One obvious example is the chapter on vaccinations. This is a huge, controversial subject that Wanjek attempts to reduce to a mere six pages! He should read the classic book "The Medical Mafia" by Guylaine Lanctot, M.D. In her book, Dr. Lanctot clearly states that:

"The big lie [that vaccines protect us] has been perpetuated for 150 years despite the: (1) Ineffectiveness of vaccines in protecting against illness (2) Uselessness of certain vaccines (3) Innumerable complications of vaccines [that go] from minor problems...to death (4) Numerous...complaints [against vaccines] continually repeated by...conscientious [MDs] (5) Parent leagues and associations [that warn about the dangers of vaccinations] (6) Legal actions...that are so numerous that they have threatened the very livelihood of certain manufactures of vaccines (7) Catastrophic and staggering consequences of extensive neurological deficiency, which effects a great number of children, following [the administering of vaccinations] (8) Frightening and unforeseen effects [associated after administering vaccinations]."

It should be of no surprise that Wanjek puts down the alternative medicine he mentions. He should read the classic book "Confessions of a Medical Heretic" by Robert Mendelsohn, M.D. In his book, Dr. Mendelsohn clearly says,

"Get used to the idea right away that no single system can or should claim to have an exclusive fix on the dynamics of health."

Another interesting thing I found in this book occurs on the last page of the main narrative as well as on the last page of the "recommended reading." The last page of the book touts the fame of "[the late LINUS] PAULING, [James] Watson, and [the late Francis] Crick." These people were true scientists and made important discoveries. They truly deserve praise. Watson and Crick won a shared Nobel Prize but LINUS PAULING won two unshared Nobel Prizes, a remarkable achievement. On the last page of the Recommended Reading section, Wanjek mentions the value of an internet site called "Quackwatch."

Quackwatch is a good site that I've visited many times since it "combats health care fraud, myths, and fads." It also interestingly enough has a list of people, both living and dead, to AVOID getting health advice from (through their books).

There are two things that any person that reads this long list will find interesting. First, most of the names on this list are, believe it or not, medical doctors!! Second, guess whose name is in the deceased column of this list? You guessed it. LINUS PAULING!!!! I wonder what Wanjek would think of this?

I found other minor problems with this book.

Finally, this book, as I have said, is easy to read. However, Wanjek writes in a smart-alecky style. Perhaps this is his joke writing skills coming through. Personally, I was not offended by this but some readers may
be.

In conclusion, this is a highly readable book on an important subject. Unfortunately, it does not delve into some of its subjects thoroughly enough.

*** 1/2

(first published 2003; acknowledgements; introduction; 7 parts or 41 chapters; main narrative 250 pages; epilogue; appendix; recommended reading; bibliography; index)

+++++

bad BOOK about Medicine.......2005-04-18

There's nothing worse than revealing misconceptions and misuses of medicine by adding new ones. "non-scientific-narrow-minded-orthodox-concepts-against-popular-beliefs.pdf" is a better name for this work, or "Help your doctor achieve the 600 sick patients target per year so he can cope with his bills" e-book.
The 'conceptions' suggested by this e-book are for "plastic human beings" who are going to live in Mars and wait 300 years to celebrate the first alfafa sprouted in martian soil.
Spend your money on much better books like: "Living Water: Viktor Schauberger and the Secrets of Natural Energy"- by Olof Alexandersson.
Heal yourself, don't be bottled by misuses and misconceptions like this one...

Between Inner Space and Outer Space: Essays on Science, Art, and Philosophy

Average customer rating:

Marked by Originality of Ideas
rehash of his earlier fine books

Between Inner Space and Outer Space: Essays on Science, Art, and Philosophy
John D. Barrow
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The World Within the World
The Book of Nothing: Vacuums, Voids, and the Latest Ideas about the Origins of the Universe

ASIN: 0198502540

Amazon.com

The publication over a decade ago of Stephen Hawking's runaway bestseller A Brief History of Time triggered a flood of more or less comprehensible books about the frontiers of physics and mathematics. And to judge by most of their authors, we are on the brink of finding the theory of everything, or the key to the cosmos, or some other Holy Grail of science.

Rarer are authors such as John Barrow, professor of physics at Sussex University, a genuine expert in these fields who writes coolly and clearly about the current state of play. Between Inner Space and Outer Space is a collection of Barrow's writings about the frontiers of science dating back to 1980, and is remarkable for the number of fresh twists and insights it brings to many now-familiar debates. For example, are scientists really close to a theory of everything, uniting all the fundamental forces in the universe and all the particles on which they act? Barrow shows how the quest may be stymied by fundamental limits to knowledge that have emerged from 20th-century mathematics. Are scientists really close to understanding the birth of the universe? Again, Barrow shows that a whole set of limitations--not the least of which is the fact that light travels at a finite speed--forever stops us from knowing for sure if our ideas are right. As in any collection, there is a modicum of repetition and a few ill-judged selections. Even so, any reader seeking thoughtful, sophisticated, and above all original writing about the cutting edge of physics and mathematics need look no further. --Robert Matthews, Amazon.co.uk

Book Description

In this superb collection of essays, acclaimed cosmologist and writer John D. Barrow explores the issues that perplex and amaze us as we cast our gaze around the Universe. Starting with a consideration of the (to some) astonishing popularity of Big Science, and physics and cosmology in particular, Professor Barrow moves on to the key questions concerning the Laws of Nature and the Universe and the vexed issue of life occurring in other planets, as well as the key issues of time and space, and quantum reality. He looks at the ancient foundations of science, mathematics, and their most modern expression - complexity theory. Finally, he considers how science relates to religion and to aesthetics. Each chapter consists of carefully selected essays, many never previously published, and all written in Professor Barrow's clear and engaging style. Each chapter is introduced by a short piece, setting the essays in the context of current focus in the area. Taken together, they form a rich introduction to contemporary debate in science.

Customer Reviews:

Marked by Originality of Ideas.......2000-10-28

This book is a collection of John Barrow's 42 essays mostly published between 1980 and 1998, but none of the topics treated has become out-of-date. Each piece of essay makes a chapter, and all the chapters are grouped into 10 parts. A short introduction in each part clearly sets the theme common to all the chapters of that part as well as the specific subjects of the chapters.

The title of every chapter is quite attractive to those interested in the fundamental problems of physics and cosmology and in their relations to, or a physicist's view of, other disciplines of mathematics, aesthetics and religion. Barrow's writings are sometimes not easy to follow, but are marked by originality of ideas.

For example: In the chapter "Why is the Universe mathematical?" the author first mentions that the sorts of answers depend upon what we think mathematics. Then he puts a puzzle, which is more fundamental in the laws of Nature, symmetry or computation. In the final paragraphs, Barrow states that the science is the search for algorithmic compressions of the world of experience, and comes to the conclusion that mathematics is useful in the description of the physical world because the world is algorithmically compressible. I have difficulty in finding how the earlier paragraphs are related to the last ones. However, the conclusion seems to be simple and persuasive, and would be paraphrased as follows: Mathematics is useful in the description of Nature because she has the characters of orderly complexity.

Only if you haven't read other books by Barrow and want to know his ideas, this would be a good buy.

rehash of his earlier fine books.......1999-05-26

I'm a fan of Barrow's, but this book is repetitive, repetitive, repetitive. It's a collection of pieces he did for various publications and everything in it is said more clearly in Impossibility or Pi in the Sky or others of his stimulating books. Save your money and buy one of those rather than this deflationary rehash.

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