It is probably a safe bet that even as children, Universe Today readers gazed at the night sky with awe and wonder. Did you wish upon the first star light, star bright in the sky? Cultures across time have spun tales around constellations – images projected on the night’s expanse based on our perceptions. As science and technology progressed we realized the vast depths of space are truly full of wonder. There’s an incredible array of amazing things to be discovered, researched and understood.
The images within the chapters are well appointed. For example, at the beginning of the book during a journey from prehistory-1600 you’ll find a fantastic Library of Congress image of the Great Bear constellation, joined by the British Library’s ancient Chinese Star Map, that dates back to the 600’s A.D. This reviewer will definitely be trying some of the activities explained among the chapters such as “Make a 3-D Starscape” found on page 32. This craft project demonstrates the artificial grouping we’ve given our constellations and shows that they are actually comprised of stars great distances from each other and us.
Perhaps the best review of this book comes from my 8 year old daughter. For the past week, she has been reading this book in the car while travelling to school. A recent morning’s question from the back seat was “What’s a pulsar?” She’s excited to try all of the activities; first up will be making a radio picture found on page 82 or turning a friend into a pulsar by spinning them in a chair with two flashlights on page 89. In addition to her “two thumbs” up eagerness to read this every morning, she simply stated “I love this book.”
I extend a thank you to the author for creating a fun, educational STEM source that attracted not only the attention of my science oriented 14 year old boy, but also my daughter, who is as equally bright, capable and curious about the world around her.
Is time real or is it just an illusion of the human experience? An intriguing new book “Time Reborn” by theoretical physicist Lee Smolin discusses this concept. You can read our full review of this here, but we also have three free copies of this book to give away.
In order to be entered into the giveaway drawing, just put your email address into the box at the bottom of this post (where it says “Enter the Giveaway”) before Wednesday June 5, 2013. We’ll send you a confirmation email, so you’ll need to click that to be entered into the drawing.
If you’d like to purchase the book, you can find it on Amazon.
Time Reborn: From the Crisis of Physics to the Future of the Universe is one of those books intended to provoke discussion. Right from the first pages, author Lee Smolin — a Canadian theoretical physicist who also teaches philosophy — puts forward a position: time is real, and not an illusion of the human experience (as other physicists try to argue).
Smolin, in fact, uses that concept of time as a basis for human free will. If time is real, he writes, this is the result: “Novelty is real. We can create, with our imagination, outcomes not computable from knowledge of the present.”
Physics as philosophy. A powerful statement to make in the opening parts of the book. The only challenge is understanding the rest of it.
Smolin advertises his book as open to the general reader who has no background in physics or mathematics, promising that there aren’t even equations to worry about. He also breaks up the involved explanations with wry observations of fatherhood, or by bringing up anecdotes from his past.
Artist concept of Gravity Probe B orbiting the Earth to measure space-time, a four-dimensional description of the universe including height, width, length, and time. Image credit: NASA
It works, but you need to be patient. Theoretical physics is so far outside of the everyday that at times it took me (with education focusing on journalism and space policy, admittedly) two or three readings of the same passage to understand what was going on.
But as I took my time, a whole world opened up to me.
I found myself understanding more about Einstein’s special and general relativity than I did in readings during high school and university. The book also made me think differently about cosmology (the nature of the universe), especially in relation to biological laws.
While the book is enjoyable, it is probably best not to read it in isolation as it is a positional one — a book that gathers information scientifically and analytically, to be sure, but one that does not have a neutral point of view to the conclusions.
We’d recommend picking up other books such as the classic A Brief History of Time (by physicist Stephen Hawking) to learn more about the universe, and how other scientists see time work.
Neil deGrasse Tyson’s new book, Space Chronicles: Facing The Ultimate Frontier, at times, reads like an updated version of some of Carl Sagan’s classic work about the history of astronomy and our place in the Universe. You can read our full review of Tyson’s new book here, but we also have two free copies of this book to give away.
In order to be entered into the giveaway drawing, just put your email address into the box at the bottom of this post (where it says “Enter the Giveaway”) before Tuesday, May 28 2013. We’ll send you a confirmation email, so you’ll need to click that to be entered into the drawing.
But if you are feeling unlucky, then you can buy the book from Amazon.
For those fans of Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot, there’s finally a successor volume to that.
Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Space Chronicles: Facing The Ultimate Frontier, at times, reads like an updated version of Sagan’s classic book about the history of astronomy and our place in the universe. Like Sagan, Tyson talks about the human perception of astronomy over the years, starting from our belief that everything centered around us and then gradually graduating to the more nuanced perception of the universe that we have today.
The book is an anthology of interviews, magazine articles and other writings of Tyson, who is currently the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. His eloquence helps carry the reader through difficult concepts: “Engineering technology replaces muscle energy with machine energy”, he writes in part of the Industrial Revolution. In another part of the book, “Risks cancellations and failures are just part of the game” comes during an explanation of how some astronomical missions die before receiving funding from Congress.
Collecting his writings as an anthology, however, leads to some frustration for the reader who wants to read the book from the front to the back. Though Tyson awes with his knowledge of astronomy, popular culture and history, he sometimes uses the same anecdotes across different essays. There are at least three references concerning gas stations across the universe, for example, and he refers to the same John F. Kennedy speech (albeit different passages, for the most part) a few times as well.
The book is also aimed squarely at an American audience. The appendices are full of useful information on NASA, particularly its budget as it relates to government activities. Additionally, Space Chronicles opens with a new essay concerning NASA funding over the years and how it relates to American presidencies in a sort of echo of Spaceflight and the Myth of Presidential Leadership.
Tyson argues that space is non-partisan and that it takes more than a strong leader to move the program forward. Tyson criticizes NASA for de-emphasizing science in some of its past budgets. He refers to the controversy of Obama’s cancellation of George W. Bush’s 2004 vision for space exploration, and says one great weakness of NASA’s work is that it is continually handed mandates by new presidents with little follow-up on the grand ideas.
Through the book, Tyson talks about his ideas for NASA, mentioning initiatives such as asteroid tracking as high priorities. He also refers to the space committees he has been on and the people he has spoken to, and his efforts to bring space to children to encourage their participation in science, education, technology and mathematics.
Perhaps his most powerful essay comes at the end of the book. Tyson acknowledges the nature of his work sometimes makes him forget about Earthly problems: “When I pause and reflect on our expanding universe … sometimes I forget that uncounted people walk this Earth without food or shelter, and that children are disproportionately represented among them.”
That dilemma may never disappear, but Tyson’s book — at the least — provides powerful words for exploring the universe.
Buzz Aldrin, celebrated Apollo astronaut and an outspoken champion for the pursuit of space exploration, is on a mission. He has written a new book titled “Mission to Mars.” While the title focuses on Mars, the book covers much more. Buzz lays out his goals for the space program and how he believes we can get humans to Mars by the 2030s. He makes the case and argues passionately for pushing our boundaries of knowledge and exploration of our solar system and presents his “unified space vision.” He emphasizes space exploration should not be a competition, but with cooperation a stronger path to a sustainable future in space could be forged.
Want to win a copy of “Mission to Mars?” We have five copies to give away to our readers. However, this giveaway is limited to US residents only.
In order to be entered into the giveaway drawing, put your email address into the box at the bottom of this post (where it says “Enter the Giveaway”) before Monday, May 13, 2013. We’ll send you a confirmation email, so you’ll need to click that to be entered into the drawing. Remember, US residents only for this giveaway.
We’re only going to use these email addresses for Universe Today giveaways/contests and announcements. We won’t be using them for any other purpose, and we definitely won’t be selling the addresses to anyone else. Once you’re on the giveaway notification list, you’ll be able to unsubscribe any time you like.
Moonwalker and space visionary, Buzz Aldrin. Credit: National Geographic.
Buzz Aldrin, celebrated Apollo astronaut and an outspoken champion for the pursuit of space exploration has written a new book titled “Mission to Mars.” While the title focuses on Mars, the book covers much more. Aldrin says that while Mars is the destination, getting there is a journey that includes taking advantage of the efforts from commercial space companies, embracing space tourism, working towards planetary defense, developing technology, promoting STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education, and working together with international partners. What Aldrin calls his “unified vision” could provide a timeline of crewed missions to Mars is between 2035-2040.
“His point is trying to unify all of this,” said noted journalist and long-time Space.com writer Leonard David in an email to Universe Today. David is a co-author with Aldrin on this new book. “I hope the book is a good platform for moving the space exploration agenda forward.”
“Mission to Mars” is written from Aldrin’s perspective, and Aldrin and David spend little time looking back at the past achievements of Gemini and Apollo, and instead look forward of how the next steps in space exploration should be taken.
Universe Today had the chance to talk with Buzz Aldrin about his book and his plan. Following is part 1 of our interview:
Universe Today: Mr. Aldrin, it is an honor to talk with you – and congratulations on publishing another book. We really enjoyed getting the chance to read it and get your perspective on the future of space exploration.
Buzz Aldrin: Thank you very much. As far as the title, I really wanted to change the title to add an “s” to mission, as after thinking about it, it is the same title as Mike Collins’ book he wrote after we came back from the Moon, and it’s also the title of a not-so-successful movie! In this book, we also talk about much more than just one mission to Mars. We want many missions there, with a future-focused space exploration program.
Universe Today: Ever since you walked on the Moon, I think that Mars has been the ultimate destination that we’ve all dreamed about, and back in 1969, I think many people thought that by 2013, we certainly would have humans on Mars by this time. What do you think has been the biggest reason or roadblock that we’ve yet to achieve that goal?
Buzz Aldrin: There are probably a number of reasons. With Apollo, once having achieved the goal in a relatively intense parade of achievements, leading up to the crescendo of landing on the Moon six out of seven times, then it all ended. The events in the future are going to require much longer commitments to a pathway and a unified vision of what we should be doing and where we should go in space. I have always felt Mars should be the next destination following our landings on the Moon, but a unified vision is what we need to be able to increase the probability of being successful.
We are in a world that focuses on short term returns, and the politics these days is controlled by the desire to have an extraordinary portion of influence and control over the direction of the space program. That is probably one of the most important reasons for my embarking on a creating a foundation for the evolution of space policy, using what we’ve learned from the past to redirect some of our policies in the future for two things: the expansion of humans outward into the solar system and specifically for the US, global leadership in space as long as possible.
UT: You’ve long proposed the cycling system of having spacecraft almost on a railroad or bus lines of going regularly back and forth to Mars. Can you explain for our readers why this is the most efficient way of getting supplies and people to Mars?
Buzz Aldrin: When a spacecraft departs Earth, the main portion of it is rarely ever re-used. This one spacecraft contributes its one mission, as we did with the Apollo spacecraft. Now, if we can depart a spacecraft from the Earth that can carry some of the mass, in particular the radiation protection and other supplies for a brief 5-6 month trajectory of swinging past Mars, we can reduce costs.
Years ago I devised a method with cycling orbits of spacecraft on continuous trajectories between the Earth and Mars – a spacecraft going to Mars and then returning back to Earth at just the right time, angle and velocity to be able to repeat the process 26 months later when Earth, again, is in a favorable position. By using interplanetary cyclers, I feel, and other space experts agree with me, this is the most economical transportation system concept between the Earth and Mars.
When I first discovered this, it was studied and understood by the 1986 Paine Commission, a group who looked at pioneering space, led by the administrator of NASA who had directed us in our lunar landings, Tom Paine. This was, I think, one of the best and most complete studies ever really done.
Timetable of events proposed by Buzz Aldrin’s Unified Space Vision. Via BuzzAldrin.com
But since this Commission’s reference to cycling spacecraft, NASA officials and space companies have paid little attention to the advantages of cycling orbits — with the exception of the University of Purdue, which works with engineers at JPL and Caltech — and together with my pioneering ideas, we have discovered that if there are two cycling spacecraft, it gives us a bigger advantage and reduction in the fuel needed. In each cycle, the Cycler’s trajectory swings it by the Earth, and a smaller Earth-departing interceptor spacecraft ferries crew and cargo up to dock with the Cycler spacecraft, and likewise at Mars to reach the surface. So we’ve improved the cycling orbit potential. We now need to test the long-duration equipment that will be needed. Ultimately, this Cycler system of transportation offers a way to make travel to Mars sustainable for the long-term.
For the spacecraft, what I’ve done is taken my concept, which is based on some of NASA’s work of an interplanetary vehicle and put of them together side by side for redundancy, and perhaps adding a few other necessary elements, to become the Cycling spaceship. I also propose building a permanent base on the surface of Mars by actually landing on the moon of Mars Phobos, and building it tele-robotically from there, with various objects such as inflatable habitats, to be assembled into a Mars base. These missions should be international in nature.
All of this is very complex and we need to learn how to build up to it. But one of the most attractive ways would be, before finalizing the Mars base, we could execute an international lunar base. This could be based upon US leadership of what could be an international lunar development authority — much like Intelsat was developed for international satellite communications in geosynchronous orbit. We also have the International Space Station to do some of the initial testing of equipment, such as long duration life support systems.
Not only does NASA need this long-duration life support but also the recently announced Inspiration Mars Mission, which would send a married couple in January 2018 on a flyby of Mars. This would do much to stimulate the planning and testing of the progressive development of the interplanetary space capabilities.
Before we execute an international partner mission back to the Moon, we can test that assembly process on the Big Island of Hawaii where people have been working to select a site similar to where we might have a lunar base built and there we could practice building a base tele-robotically. Once on the Moon, we could develop lunar infrastructure, and allow for robotic mining that could be done for commercial development.
We’ll need cooperative activities between the government, NASA, other government agencies and the commercial companies executing their activities designed to evolve into profit-making businesses.
UT: You mention in your book that a space race with China would be counterproductive. Do you think there’s a way to work with them and have it be productive and beneficial beyond space exploration?
Buzz Aldrin: Right now, unfortunately, Congress forbids NASA personnel to even talk with China. The great opportunity of bringing China into the ISS, is that we could still do this during the lifetime of the space station. China is developing its own its space station, but there doesn’t seem to be an openness between our two countries to work on the big picture of space exploration. Everyone is out for their own return. But there could be a wonderful opportunity here for the US to exercise global leadership in space activities.
Tomorrow: Part 2 of our interview with Buzz Aldrin, where he discusses his thoughts on NASA’s asteroid-lassoing plans, space elevators, and future commercial mission.
Think about Dr. Seuss’ classic book If I Ran The Zoo. Young Gerald McGrew has an active imagination creating heretofore unheard of creatures to make his zoo the most astounding by far. All of Gerald’s inventions are quite interesting. But add them to the long list of different beings humans across time have dreamt up – from the Sphinx to the Griffin – and they still pale in comparison to actual creatures in existence. And yet, says author David Toomey in his new book Weird Life: The Search for Life That is Very, Very Different from Our Own, there are likely countless undiscovered forms of very weird life that we can’t even begin to imagine.
The very definition of weird involves words such as strikingly odd, strange, and bizarre. David Toomey travels down the strange path of Weird Life starting at the striking discoveries of extremophiles. Extremophile organisms push the boundaries of what conditions we thought life could exist in, thriving in environments too extreme for humans.
Astrobiologists soak up extremophiles because similar environmental conditions in our solar system might correlate with similar extreme life elsewhere. Would life elsewhere look exactly like our cold or acid-loving extremophiles on Earth or would they be even weirder? Vast lakes of liquid methane exist on Saturn’s moon, Titan. Can we find evidence of microscopic life in such an environment? We need to know how to isolate it, what exactly to test for and finance a mission to explore it. The fun part is that Titan is among a handful of strange places we theorize may harbor life in our own solar system. Recent discoveries of planets in other star systems are fodder for speculation of life, familiar to us or what we would deem as weird life.
My family and I recently visited Roswell, New Mexico. The entire town markets itself on the human notion that life exists elsewhere in a varied form from what we see in the mirror every day. Chapter Seven in Toomey’s book discusses “Intelligent Weird Life”. While some scientists having the thrilling job of searching for signs of intelligent life in the universe, some scientists enjoy the search for life on a much smaller scale on Earth – from the ocean’s bottom to the clouds above. Extremophiles push the boundaries of our beliefs and expectations. We are constantly made aware of what little we actually know. It’s possible a strange brew of exotic life exists here on Earth; we’re just not able to detect it, yet.
If phrases like “shadow biosphere”, “silicon life,” “desert varnish,” and “cloud borne Venusians” don’t pique your interest then perhaps this isn’t the book for you. For those interested in life very, very different from our own, this is right up your alley. Chapters entitled “A Bestiary of Weird Life” and “Weird Life in the Multiverse” certainly made this reviewer turn the pages of Weird Life with a childlike glee. Without a doubt, David Toomey’s book will teach you something you don’t know. Information interspersed with humor, appropriate science bios and anecdotes makes this a well rounded book for your bedside reading.
“Pilot,” a new sci-fi thriller, follows law enforcement officer Legitt Redd, as he finds himself in the middle of an extraordinary set of circumstances. It is set in a solar system where humans occupy 6 life-supporting planets. Each planet has a different role to the civilisation, one being an energy source, another a prison, another a holiday destination, for example. Legitt is a low ranking officer whom serves for the oppressive government, ‘The Ministry.’ He is introduced as a fairly ordinary, uninspired man whose main duty is to transport prisoners to and from the Prison planet Gorby for processing. He has a long standing friendship and affiliation with one such prisoner – Afyd Geller whom has a reputation as a leader in the underworld and has the respect of many amongst law enforcement. Once a free man, Afyd often invites Leggit for drinking sessions. It‘s on one of these ordinary drinking sessions that the out-of-the-ordinary sequence of events begins. After a few adventure and violent encounters, they travel to the Litton where the apparent real figure head of the underworld resides. Leggit find out that the mythical ‘boogie man’ of child stories of old, Murlon Furlong is in fact a real person, and the all-powerful ruler of criminals.
Murlon sets Leggit, Afyd and other members of this motley crew, on a task to kidnap a spiritual leader. There is a back story of the civilisation’s theology which, in short includes the beginning of time and the eventual coming of salvation.
When this goes horribly wrong Legitt realises his true potential, and attempts to conquer Murlon and avoid swift and violent punishment of The Ministry. This means a whole lot more than he realises and intends the reader to question what is good and what is evil.
This book has great potential. Author R.D. Drabble paints pictures with his words, as if he can see them all around him. Initially this was inspiring to read. You can really imagine the frames in which Drabble was describing. But this positive is also a negative and too much visual description means at times it reads like a script, rather than a novel. There is only the present tense and only one story line, which leaves the reader feeling a bit flat with this one dimensional presentation of an otherwise interesting plot. It would have been a lot more enjoyable if there was a sub-plot or scenes that did not include the main character. Even though Leggit was in every scene, I still felt I didn’t have much insight into him as a character.
Having said that, there are definitely great moments. The technological creations and concepts found in Pilot are really inspiring. They seem to mix the spiritual human elements with technological fantasy. And the Drabble paints an Orwell-esque picture of the Ministry ruled worlds, and there were some phrases that were so poignant and poetic, that is will make you read them twice. The book starts of in a very certain black and white view of the world but progresses a grey outlook, at the same time that character Legitt questions his own morality in certain situations.
But these great moments are sandwiched between cliché, yet lovable characters and the many un-foreshadowed random unnecessary scenarios. There is an appendix of illustrations to support the story lines and backstories, but these don’t really add value or are explored.
Having said that it is clear that Drabble has an amazing amount of imagination. The 6 worlds and their stories are quiet intricate and to be honest, could be explored further in future books. I hope Drabble can express this obvious talent of imagination in future stories, especially if they are in comic or graphic novel format.
Overall, it’s a great read with some cool concepts.
R.D. Drabble is an electrician and science fiction fanatic who has had a lifelong obsession with the strange and inexplicable. It was his love for the unusual that inspired him to write his debut novel Pilot.
“The Life and Death of Stars” is a thorough and richly detailed book that will tell you all you want to know about stars. The author, Kenneth R. Lang, is Professor of Astronomy at Tufts University, and he clearly has the knowledge and explanatory ability of someone who has spent his life studying stars. Though its density may deter the casual reader, I found this book engrossing from beginning to end.
If you’ve just been recently bitten by the astronomy bug, this book may not be for you. A more introductory book might be a better choice. But if you’re craving a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of stars, this book will deliver. Make no mistake though; for most readers, it will require some commitment to read your way through this book.
I was never an astrophysics student, but this book seems to me to have a textbook like thoroughness, though not in a dry way. The chapters and topics flow along logically and clearly, with the help of numerous charts and illustrations. For instance, the book starts off with a thorough explanation of light. Since almost all that we know about stars we’ve learned by observing light, where else should a book on astrophysics begin?
From there, the book moves on to chapters titled “Transmutation of the Elements,” “New Stars Arise from the Darkness,” and “Stellar End States,” with other stops in between. The final chapter is titled “Birth, Life, and Death of the Universe.” At the very end of the book, Lang discusses the possible endings of the Universe, and how the mystery of Dark Matter and Dark Energy may dictate the end.
My own understanding of the behaviour and lifecycle of stars has grown enormously from reading this book, and yours will too. For example, if you know that stars form when interstellar gas clouds collapse from their own gravity, but don’t understand exactly how, then “The Life and Death of Stars” will tell you all the detail you’ll need to know. If you know that heavier elements are formed via nucleosynthesis, in the hearts of stars, but you don’t grasp the finer details of that process, then the explanation in this book will bring it to life for you.
Lang is not a populariser of astronomy. His strength is in detailed descriptions, delivered in a comprehensible way. However, he’s not opposed to the occasional poetic turn of phrase: “All stars are impermanent beacons that eventually will cease to shine, vanishing like a circle of fire turning to ash.” True that. He also quotes the Bhagavad Gita, and the poet Shelley.
One of the ways I gauge a book is by my own level of excitement and interest as I’m reading it. I also judge a book by its clarity of explanation and its flow. In both these respects, Lang delivers with this book. After reading it, I’ll definitely be checking out his other books.
“The Life and Death of Stars” broadened and deepened my understanding of all things stellar. It’s a fantastic book, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to Universe Today readers who wish to expand their knowledge of astrophysics.
