Death by black hole : and other cosmic quandaries

Record details

ISBN: 0393330168 (pbk.)
ISBN: 9780393330168 (pbk.)
ISBN: 0393062244
ISBN: 9780393062243
Physical Description: print
384 p. ; 22 cm.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: New York : W.W. Norton, c2007.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references (p. [343]-368) and indexes.
Formatted Contents Note:	Prologue: The beginning of science -- Section 1: The nature of knowledge : the challenges of knowing what is knowable in the universe. Coming to our senses ; On Earth as in the heavens ; Seeing isn't believing ; The information trap ; Stick-in-the-mud science -- Section 2: The knowledge of nature : the challenges of discovering the contents of the cosmos. Journeys from the center of the Sun ; Planet parade ; Vagabonds of the solar system ; The five points of Lagrange ; Antimatter matters -- Section 3: Ways and means of nature : how nature presents herself to the inquiring mind. The importance of being constant ; Speed limits ; Going ballistic ; On being dense ; Over the rainbow ; cosmic windows ; Colors of the cosmos ; Cosmic plasma ; Fire and ice ; Section 4: The meaning of life : the challenges and triumphs of knowing how we got here. Dust to dust ; Forged in the stars ; Send in the clouds ; Goldilocks and the three planets ; Water, water ; Living space ; Life in the universe ; Our radio bubble. Section 5: When the universe turns bad : all the ways the cosmos wants to kill us ; Chaos in the solar system ; Coming attractions ; ends of the world ; Galactic engines ; Knock 'em dead ; Death by black hole -- Section 6: Science and culture : the ruffled interface between cosmic discovery and the public's reaction to it. Things people say ; Fear of numbers ; On being baffled ; Footprints in the sands of science ; Let there be dark ; Hollywood nights -- Section 7: Science and God : when ways of knowing collide. In the beginning ; Holy wars ; The perimeter of ignorance.
Summary, etc.:	A collection of essays on the cosmos, written by an American Museum of Natural History astrophysicist, includes "Holy Wars," "Ends of the World," and "Hollywood Nights."