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Rob's Reviews > Cosmos
Cosmos
by
by
A gorgeous book in every possible way. From the lush illustration and clever diagrams clear through to Sagan's lyrical and at times whimsical narrative, this is the science book for non-scientists. (And if you are a scientist, may this be a lesson in how to tell your story.) Sagan makes the astronomy and the math and the mind-boggling complexity of the universe not only comprehensible but palatable. He wraps up our history as a species into the history of the universe (such that we can even know it).
As a kid, I adored this book for the color plates. I would flip the pages in my Dad's copy over and over and over again. Down on the floor, on the couch -- anywhere. Probably every day from ages four through seventeen. I didn't go on to be an astronomer. Hell, I never took a physics class and I nearly failed more than one math class (as I recall) but this book...
Reading it cover-to-cover for the first time as an adult, I was struck by many things. The book is dense but Sagan paces it well, makes you hungry for every anecdote about Kepler or Pythagoras, thirsty for the decimal-laden scientific notation.
And then there was the moment that blew my mind; tucked away in a footnote about telescopic "snapshots" of galaxies:
...The near side of a galaxy is tens of thousands of light-years closer to us than the far side; thus we see the front as it was tens of thousands of years before the back. But typical events in galactic dynamics occupy tens of millions of years, so the error in thinking of an image of a galaxy as frozen in one moment of time is small.
!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
As a kid, I adored this book for the color plates. I would flip the pages in my Dad's copy over and over and over again. Down on the floor, on the couch -- anywhere. Probably every day from ages four through seventeen. I didn't go on to be an astronomer. Hell, I never took a physics class and I nearly failed more than one math class (as I recall) but this book...
Reading it cover-to-cover for the first time as an adult, I was struck by many things. The book is dense but Sagan paces it well, makes you hungry for every anecdote about Kepler or Pythagoras, thirsty for the decimal-laden scientific notation.
And then there was the moment that blew my mind; tucked away in a footnote about telescopic "snapshots" of galaxies:
...The near side of a galaxy is tens of thousands of light-years closer to us than the far side; thus we see the front as it was tens of thousands of years before the back. But typical events in galactic dynamics occupy tens of millions of years, so the error in thinking of an image of a galaxy as frozen in one moment of time is small.
!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
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Quotes Rob Liked
“The near side of a galaxy is tens of thousands of light-years closer to us than the far side; thus we see the front as it was tens of thousands of years before the back. But typical events in galactic dynamics occupy tens of millions of years, so the error in thinking of an image of a galaxy as frozen in one moment of time is small.”
― Cosmos
― Cosmos
Reading Progress
January 27, 2008
– Shelved
January 27, 2008
– Shelved as:
science
July 28, 2008
– Shelved as:
all-time-favorites
July 28, 2008
– Shelved as:
history
Started Reading
August 1, 2008
– Shelved as:
evolution
August 1, 2008
–
Finished Reading
January 5, 2009
– Shelved as:
2008
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@Chris: I'm borrowing my Dad's gorgeous original edition hardcover (alas: sans dust jacket) which I have ogled since I was knee-high. finally getting around to reading it now. in about 2 days I'm already about 陆 way through it.
I have multiple copies, all ppbk unfortunately, I've searched in vain for a hardcover edition.I've given this book as a gift to three people, I deserve some sort of good karma for that.
re: "...I've searched in vain for a hardcover edition."That's why I told my Dad this weekend: "You better mark this as mine in your will." ;-)
This book occupies a strange corner of my brain. I remember looking at this tome as a young child and marveling at the illustrations. My groovy uncle owned this book and I fear that I could never read it myself without the help of a dry martini, a silk robe, and Jean Luc Ponty in the background; all the while exclaiming "Yes!" and "Verily!".-m
This is probably the only book I've ever read that I would consider 'inspirational'.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.