Synopses & Reviews
"Touches on a dizzying array of subjects, including UV rays, inert gases, fossils, meteorites, microwaves, rainbows . . . Like many a good teacher, Berman uses humor to entertain his audience and liven things up." Los Angeles Times Bob Berman is motivated by a straightforward philosophy: everyone can understand scienceand it's fun, too. In Strange Universe, he pokes into the bizarre and astonishingly true scientific facts that determine the world around us.
Geared to the nonscientist, Berman's original essays are filled with the trademark wit and cleverness that has earned him acclaim over many years for his columns in Astronomy and Discover magazines. He emphasizes curiosities of the natural world to which everyone can relate, and dishes on the little-known secrets about space and some of science's biggest blunders (including a very embarrassing moment from Buzz Aldrin's trip to the moon).
Fascinating to anyone interested in the wonders of our world and the cosmos beyond, Strange Universe will make you smile and think.
Bob Berman is the director of Overlook Observatory near Woodstock, New York, and an adjunct professor of astronomy at Marymount Manhattan College. He is also the astronomy editor of The Old Farmer's Almanac and a monthly columnist for Discover and Astronomy magazines, and has appeared on the Today Show and Late Night with David Letterman. His previous books include Secrets of the Night Sky and Cosmic Adventure. How many scientific phenomena do you experience each morning? As it turns out, quite a few. What you perceive as a shower curtain blowing in annoyingly against your leg or the colorful swirls on an oily puddle, a scientist might describe as, respectively, Bernoulli's principle and diffractionkeys to understanding countless marvels that forever surround us. Why is Groundhog Day the strangest of our national traditions? How much truth is there to the belief that water spiraling down a drain has something to do with Earth's rotation? What was the most embarrassing, little-known moment about the first moon landing?
In this wide-ranging and entertaining tour of the cosmos (and of our own little planet), renowned astronomer Bob Berman points out that the universe is as full of curveballs as it is of electrons. Berman's "Strange Universe" column is one of Astronomy magazine's most beloved features, and here he expands on that column to offer an irreverent yet rigorous approach to grasping the countless mundane details of daily lifedetails that, in turn, launch us on an adventure across the universe.
With Berman's guidance, we discover:
*why tall people actually walk more slowly than short people
*why black holes are not sinister vacuum cleaners
*why men are five times more likely than women to be hit by lightning
*why moonlight makes the world look bluish green
*why time may not really exist
*why the center of every rainbow is the shadow of your head.
Appealing to anyone who wants to look at the world, and at life, through a fresh lens, Strange Universe is filled with the trademark wit and cleverness that has earned Berman widespread acclaim among scientists and aficionados alike.
"An engaging romp through the byways of the cosmos by a man who has devoted his life to revealing the universe's secrets. You'll finally understand why the sky is blue and why black holes don't deserve their bad rap."Paul Hoffman, author of Wings of Madness "Understanding the quirky workings of the Earth and the cosmos is hard enough. Explaining all those mysteries in a way that's clear, readable, and fantastic fun is another thing entirely. Bob Berman has made a career out of opening the door on both our home planet and the heavens. In Strange Universe he flings it wide. Do step through."Jeffrey Kluger, coauthor of Apollo 13
"An engaging romp through the byways of the cosmos by a man who has devoted his life to revealing the universe's secrets. You'll finally understand why the sky is blue and why black holes don't deserve their bad rap."Paul Hoffman, author of Wings of Madness
"[Berman] writes energetically, with a nice descriptive flair ('carbon dioxide is the gaseous equivalent of urine'). Hugely informative and remarkably entertaining."Booklist
"Berman has written a slim volume filled with enticing scientific tidbits. He expands on the 'Strange Universe' column he writes for Astronomy magazine and spends much of his time discussing things astronomical, occasionally branching into physics. The book is split in two sections: 'What's Going On Here?' and 'What's Going On Out There?' The first half deals with earthly phenomena (how rainbows are formed, the intricacies of UV radiation, unusual facts about meteors and meteorites, and the mechanics of celestial eclipses, to name just a few) while the second half takes a broader view of the universe, addressing such topics as the origin of the universe, whether black holes actually exist and, if they do, whether they are capable of 'swallowing' everything in their vicinity, and whether time and space are interchangeable. Throughout, Berman adopts the style of a magazine column; each chapter is self-contained and relatively short, making them easy and enjoyable to read."Publishers Weekly
Review
"Berman uses science to unravel some of the conundrums we face every day . . . His style is witty, and his presentation is thoughtful."
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Science News
Synopsis
"Touches on a dizzying array of subjects, including UV rays, inert gases, fossils, meteorites, microwaves, rainbows . . . Like many a good teacher, Berman uses humor to entertain his audience and liven things up." —Los Angeles Times
Bob Berman is motivated by a straightforward philosophy: everyone can understand science—and it's fun, too. In Strange Universe, he pokes into the bizarre and astonishingly true scientific facts that determine the world around us.
Geared to the nonscientist, Berman's original essays are filled with the trademark wit and cleverness that has earned him acclaim over many years for his columns in Astronomy and Discover magazines. He emphasizes curiosities of the natural world to which everyone can relate, and dishes on the little-known secrets about space and some of science's biggest blunders (including a very embarrassing moment from Buzz Aldrin's trip to the moon).
Fascinating to anyone interested in the wonders of our world and the cosmos beyond, Strange Universe will make you smile and think.
About the Author
Bob Berman writes the Strange Universe column in
Astronomy magazine. His previous titles on astronomy include
Cosmic Adventure: A Renegade Astronomer's Guide to Our World and Beyond and
Secrets of the Night Sky: The Most Amazing Things in the Universe You Can See with the Naked Eye. He lives near Woodstock, New York.