Merlin's Tour of the Universe

by TYSON, NEIL DEGRASSE

• ISBN13: 9780385488358
• ISBN10: 0385488351
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 1997-07-14
• Publisher: Main Street Books

Summary

Merlin, a fictional visitor from the Andromeda Galaxy, Planet Omniscia, has been friends with many of the most important scientific figures of the past including Kepler, da Vinci, Magellan, Doppler, Einstein and Hubble. In this delightful tour of the galaxies, Merlin often recounts his conversations with these historical figures in his responses to popular astronomy questions asked by adults and children alike. Merlin's well-informed answers combine a unique combination of wit and poetry along with serious science explained in refreshingly clear, reader-friendly language. Dear Merlin: Can a person cross our galaxy in a spaceship during one human lifespan? Merlin: In 1905, Merlin's good friend Albert Einstein introduced the "Special Theory of Relativity," which predicts that time will tick slower and slower the faster you travel. Were you to embark on such an adventure you could conceivably age as little as you wish, depending of course, on your exact speed. The problem arises when you return to Earth, which will have moved several hundred thousand years into the future and everyone will have forgotten about you. A skywatcher's book for lovers of the universe by one of its greatest lights.

Table of Contents

PREFACE	ix	(2)
INTRODUCTION	xi
I. EARTH Everybody's favorite place	1	(24)
II. MOON From werewolves to blue moons	25	(22)
III. PLANETS Meet the Family	47	(24)
IV. ASTEROIDS, COMETS, AND METEORS Debris of the solar system--revealed	71	(14)
V. SUN Always a hot topic	85	(18)
VI. STARGAZERS Stars, constellations, and legends	103	(26)
VII. GRAVITY Weighty questions from all over	129	(18)
VIII. STARS They rotate. They blow up. They collapse.	147	(14)
IX. LIGHT & TELESCOPES The food source for all astronomical thought	161	(18)
X. GALAXIES GALORE Something to say about all 100 billion of them	179	(24)
XI. TIME, SPACE, AND A SENSE OF WHERE YOU ARE What's "up"? What's time? What's space?	203	(26)
XII. BLACK HOLES, QUASARS, AND THE UNIVERSE Two out of three are to be avoided	229	(24)
XIII. LIFE, HERE AND THERE Earth and Omniscia and	253	(14)
POSTSCRIPT	267	(1)
APPENDIX	268	(1)
GLOSSARY OF SELECTED TERMS	269	(14)
SUGGESTED BIBLIOGRAPHY	283	(6)
INDEX	289