Don't Know Much About The Universe: Everything You Need to Know About the Cosmos but Never Learned - Hardcover

Davis, Kenneth C

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060194596 ISBN 13: 9780060194598

Publisher: Harper, 2001

Synopsis

From the ancients who charted the stars, to Jules Verne and Flash Gordon, to The X-Files, Apollo 13, and Armageddon, subjects engaging the heavens and outer space have intrigued people through the ages. And yet so many of us look up at the night sky and have to admit that we are totally in the dark when it comes to the most basic facts about the heavens.

Into the void steps Kenneth C. Davis with the latest addition to his bestselling and critically acclaimed DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT^® series. Don't Know Much About^® the Universe is a lively and readable guide to the discoveries, theories, and real people that have shaped space exploration, from the beginning of civilization to the present. Using the now-familiar and popular question-and-answer format that has appealed to millions of readers, Davis sets his sights on a subject that has inspired the greatest of fascinations, produced many popular misconceptions, and ultimately helped shape the course of history.

From a historical overview of man's preoccupation with space to a guided tour of our solar system and beyond, Kenneth Davis seeks, as always, to entertain as he teaches. He looks at issues that go beyond the bounds of simple "Science 101" and asks the kinds of questions we may have wanted to ask back in school but didn't have the nerve.

For example:

Who dug those canals on Mars?
Is a "blue moon" really blue?
What does astronomy have to do with astrology?
Will we end with a bang or a whimper?

About this title

About the Author

Kenneth C. Davis is the New York Times bestselling author of A Nation Rising; America's Hidden History; and Don't Know Much About^® History, which spent thirty-five consecutive weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, sold more than 1.7 million copies, and gave rise to his phenomenal Don't Know Much About^® series for adults and children. A resident of New York City and Dorset, Vermont, Davis frequently appears on national television and radio and has been a commentator on NPR's All Things Considered. He blogs regularly at www.dontknowmuch.com.

From the Back Cover

From the ancients who charted the stars, to Jules Verne and Flash Gordon, to The X-Files, Apollo 13, and Armageddon, subjects engaging the heavens and outer space have intrigued people through the ages. And yet so many of us look up at the night sky and have to admit that we are totally in the dark when it comes to the most basic facts about the heavens.

Into the void steps Kenneth C. Davis with the latest addition to his bestselling and critically acclaimed DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT^® series. Don't Know Much About^® the Universe is a lively and readable guide to the discoveries, theories, and real people that have shaped space exploration, from the beginning of civilization to the present. Using the now-familiar and popular question-and-answer format that has appealed to millions of readers, Davis sets his sights on a subject that has inspired the greatest of fascinations, produced many popular misconceptions, and ultimately helped shape the course of history.

From a historical overview of man's preoccupation with space to a guided tour of our solar system and beyond, Kenneth Davis seeks, as always, to entertain as he teaches. He looks at issues that go beyond the bounds of simple "Science 101" and asks the kinds of questions we may have wanted to ask back in school but didn't have the nerve.

For example:

Who dug those canals on Mars?
Is a "blue moon" really blue?
What does astronomy have to do with astrology?
Will we end with a bang or a whimper?

Reviews

Fifth in Kenneth C. Davis's bestselling series, Don't Know Much About the Universe: Everything You Need to Know About the Cosmos but Never Learned explores questions "not usually found in science textbooks: What does astronomy have to do with astrology? Did extraterrestrials build the pyramids? Who dug those canals on Mars? ...Was Werner von Braun a war criminal?" In this chatty, eminently approachable science and history survey, Davis (Don't Know Much About the Bible) quotes poets, unscrambles Galileo's coded notes to Kepler, defines "nova" and "planetary nebula" in liberal-arts-friendly terms, discusses The X-Files and generally strives to put science-phobes at ease. Illus., including several cartoons.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

The Don't Know series has attained commercial success by meeting people's desire to rectify their complete ignorance about a subject. Having already enlightened his audience about the Civil War, the Bible, and geography, Davis now applies his question-and-answer formula to astronomy. His questions frequently play off familiar aspects of the subject, such as, What object could have been the star of Bethlehem? A conversational response follows, with pointers to recent books on the matter at hand, and then Davis promptly moves on to the next query. He organizes his questions into five conventional groups: the history of astronomy, a description of the solar system, a description of the Milky Way and the local group of galaxies, the development of space technology, and the rudiments of big bang cosmology. The text is interspersed with astro-themed cartoons, which provide comic relief, and chronologies. By the conclusion, the neophyte on a self-teaching mission will have mastered the basics of the sun, the moon, and the stars. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Harper
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0060194596
• ISBN 13: 9780060194598
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368