Welcome to the Universe: An Astrophysical Tour

Product Description

The New York Times bestselling tour of the cosmos from three of today's leading astrophysicists

Welcome to the Universe is a personal guided tour of the cosmos by three of today's leading astrophysicists. Inspired by the enormously popular introductory astronomy course that Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michael A. Strauss, and J. Richard Gott taught together at Princeton, this book covers it all―from planets, stars, and galaxies to black holes, wormholes, and time travel.

Describing the latest discoveries in astrophysics, the informative and entertaining narrative propels you from our home solar system to the outermost frontiers of space. How do stars live and die? Why did Pluto lose its planetary status? What are the prospects of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe? How did the universe begin? Why is it expanding and why is its expansion accelerating? Is our universe alone or part of an infinite multiverse? Answering these and many other questions, the authors open your eyes to the wonders of the cosmos, sharing their knowledge of how the universe works.

Breathtaking in scope and stunningly illustrated throughout, Welcome to the Universe is for those who hunger for insights into our evolving universe that only world-class astrophysicists can provide.

Top Reviews

Crash Course on Astrophysics for the masses
by Lucien Desar (5 out of 5 stars)
September 28, 2016

This is essentially a quick primer on astrophysics, written in a clear and easy to understand manner without dumbing down the contents. It reminds me of what I had learned in high school and college but my understanding after reading this book is a lot better because the examples were so much better. I wish the three authors taught my science courses!

The book covers fun topics including black holes, warp drives, solar systems, galaxies, multiverses, superstring theory, M-theory, unique star types, space colonization, and time travel along with equations with basic algebra concepts explained throughout.
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Astrophysics for the uninitiated ... not to be missed.
by Chris (5 out of 5 stars)
October 18, 2016

This is an extremely well done book. The authors are to be particularly commended for excellent coordination between topics, referencing each other across chapters. Given the breadth of the topics, the effort to insure integration and coherence is notable.

Starting with "astronomy 101", recounting history and discoveries to provide understanding of 'how we got to the present', the book moves from the solar system outward ... finally to the cosmology of the universe. At the start concepts are elemental, imparting knowledge many with interest in astronomy learned in early years. As the story grows more complicated, astronomy becomes astrophysics with authors incorporating necessary physics background. There are extensive discussions on aspects of galactic structure, star types, stellar evolution. Later, in the book there are select chapters on special relativity, general relativity, black holes, time travel. It is a seemingly whirlwind tour, but one well designed and described. The authors have taken great pains (and succeeded) in helping us understand what they have learned about the universe and associated complex physics.

As a grade school child, I became fascinated with astronomy, encouraged by a Cal Tech aeronautical engineer neighbor who was similarly attracted. Not having joined the astrophysics family, reading this book rekindled the old interest. On a higher level anyone pondering the core existential questions lacks adequate knowledge without a grasp of the nature of our universe. This is a good volume from which to find that knowledge. Bravo!
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Welcome to the Universe
by weston (5 out of 5 stars)
June 4, 2017

This is an interesting book, both in its content and in its concept. Three prominent astrophysicists have written a textbook on the subject of astrophysics for students at Princeton with little or no prior training in the physics and math upon which the subject is based. Based on the success of the course, the book is now being marketed to the general reading public, which is a noble experiment. I have a lifetime of prior experience in the type of math and physics upon which astrophysics is based, but no experience of applying that math and physics to the problems discussed in this book. I can imagine that a Princeton student, given some examples and some exercises (not included in the book), could work through most of the math at the level discussed, and the subject is sufficiently interesting to motivate them to do so (I found myself wanting to do this.) With my background, I could understand how it should be possible to work through the calculations that they described to "measure" the composition and temperatures of stars, the distances to distant galaxies, etc. However, I suspect that readers without at least a BS in Physics sort of background will feel that they are being asked to take a lot on faith, despite the authors' efforts to the contrary. However, this is a breathtaking and profusely illustrated story of how stars and planets and galaxies are formed, evolve and die, of how the (perhaps multiple) universe is expanding, of the necessity of "dark" matter/energy, of the implications of relativity, the geometry of space-time and of how we have determined all of this.
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A Great Book for "Universal" Perspective
by Amazon Customer (5 out of 5 stars)
January 22, 2017

This is one the most fascinating and enjoyable books I have read. For someone like me who is an astronomy and physics novice, but yet captivated by the cosmos, this book is more than I could have hoped for in terms of combining fun reading with education. DeGrasse Tyson and the other authors do a great job of explaining complex concepts with understandable terms and examples, while also providing enough of the science and math foundation and principles to challenge and allow the reader to exercise his or her brain. It is written for the truly curious, not for the passive. It is a book to fully contemplate each chapter, not to rush. It also provides plenty of fun and almost incomprehensible quick facts with which readers can amaze their family and friends. With all of the recent strange events going on in the world, this book is fun and smart escapism, with fascinating real facts but also yet to be explained phenomena, certain to keep things for us here on Earth in "universal" perspective.
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cosmoligy explained
by max maven (3 out of 5 stars)
November 10, 2017

Written in a conversational style, with a lot of information on current astronomy.

Does not work as a text book because the subjects are long narratives, with no headings & subheadings, which a

standard text book has. These headings divide subjects into smaller sections, which are easier to digest & remember.

Also, subjects are easily to look up in a standard text book.

But if you want to read about astronomy, & don't have to study for a final exam, this book is very good.
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Enough of everything to begin
by Tom Eagen (5 out of 5 stars)
April 9, 2018

I have had this book for about a year and have re-read much of it several times. Cosmology and physics have been my hobby of decades and now that I am retired, I have time to at least notice the incredible progress made in the last half century. This book is an excellent source to do that. Of course, I long ago appreciated that men like the three authors here, even when they set out to explain all this to students with no science background, will leave me behind from time to time. The subject matter is not so easily grasped and integrated by we lesser minds BUT curiosity is a driver!!!

It is true that illustrations would be very helpful to explain many concepts. More and more of this is done now b/c of digital capture and the outgrowth of television programs. The art of scientific illustration has made great strides in some fields and I have seen some of it in physics and cosmology. Not in this book, however. Too bad: Einstein understood that many very difficult concepts would be conveyed to and understood by people if they were 'pictured': his whole insistence on delivering his completed research as to a child, beginning with 'picturing' yourself racing alongside a light beam. But for all of that, this is a five star book for me.
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Tyson and Co-authors Lay out the Awsomeness of the Universe
by David N (5 out of 5 stars)
October 15, 2019

This is a very ambitious book: the Universe is an awesome and extremely interesting place. But how do you communicate this without piling on the math that shows how it works? I think the three co-authors have managed to balance the "wo - this is awesome!" part with at least passing references to the math that connects everything. This is entertaining but not extremely light reading. You can skip over the mathy parts and still learn a huge amount about the science that underlies our current understanding about the universe. But if you spend the time to read and try to understand the mathematical relationships, your understanding and appreciation will be that much greater. Keep in mind that this book is used as a textbook for non-science majors at Princeton, and is entertaining but by no means dumbed down to attract readers who think that anything beyond a few text messages is just too much. I wish this type of class was available when I went to college in the '70s. This is an ambitious and fantastic book.
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Fabulous and fun!
by Designer Mom,Top Contributor: Cooking (5 out of 5 stars)
February 2, 2018

I'm taking my time reading this book to make it last as long as possible. Dr Tyson is about the best astronomy teacher there is. I was already a huge fan and this book didn't disappoint me. I've watched all of his videos and I've been reading quite a bit, so I chose this astronomy text for deeper understanding. It's perfect for my current level of understanding. It's written in a way that is both entertaining and comprehensible. It's a rare talent to make complex topics easy to understand. Right away I knew I was in for a treat when he used McDonald's hamburgers to illustrate the reality of a number as large as 100 billion. I found that I can get even more out of the book by searching for videos on YouTube about the various topics. I had no idea that there were so many astronomers posting such excellent videos. Many thanks to Dr Tyson and his colleagues for giving me an invitation to the Universe and the wonderful people in it! It's a whole new reality for me!
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If you really want to take your understanding to the next few levels....
by Richard Carter (4 out of 5 stars)
February 17, 2018

Very good for most readers, but the second half gets into areas of newer physics which is easier to understand by those with some educational background in relativity.

For those who are without that education, I would suggest https://www.amazon.com/Astrophysics-People-Hurry-deGrasse-Tyson/dp/0393609391/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1518881387&sr=8-1&keywords=neil+tyson+degrasse+books. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry

For 6-12 students, I would suggest https://www.amazon.com/Cosmos-Spacetime-Neil-Degrasse-Tyson/dp/B00IWULSTC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1518881481&sr=8-3&keywords=neil+tyson+degrasse+cd

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey [Blu-ray
]
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Welcome to a Great Review!
by ironmanth (5 out of 5 stars)
December 7, 2017

Sensational! Recalling so many years ago (4th-5th grade!) when I fell deeply in love with astronomy and all things celestial, I took a knowing gamble and bought this incredible book. Neil et al absolutely whetted my thirst for knowledge. What makes this book exceptional, I feel, is its ability to explain concepts in terms that I believe can be understood by the masses. It brings to mind the aphorism, "if there is a misunderstanding between the professional and the student, it is the professional's responsibility to correct it" (or closely akin to this reasoning!). Bravo to the authors for doing this. I found it fun and enlightening to peruse the many chapters and learn much the very first read. Thanks all, for a such a great read.

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