Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution

Neil deGrasse Tyson is practically a household name among science writers. His television science specials are always top rated and his writing skills are evident from his years doing a monthly column for Natural History magazine. Donald Goldsmith is a science writer who also contributes to Natural History and has written and co-authored several books on astronomy. Put these two together in one book and you've got a sure fire hit. In "Origins" the authors take readers on a, no holds barred, tour of the cosmos from the Big Bang to the present and beyond. At first I just wanted to see how this book compared to Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" and found that it stands on it's own just fine. Not an in depth treatment of the subject matter "Origins" is a quick overview of cosmic history for the layman and professional readers alike. Exploring the beginnings of our universe Tyson reviews some mind blowing physics with concepts like quark soup, antimatter, inflation theory, multiverses and dark matter/energy. From there the authors move on to galaxies and galactic super-structures, the birth of stars and planets and the search for extrasolar planets. Any cosmic history would be incomplete without the story of Life, how it started, where we can find it and where we might find it in the future. Avoiding the advanced mathematics of Astrophysics and the complex chemistry of Biology, "Origins" is a layman friendly work that makes the science accessible to anyone interested in cosmic and biological evolution. Parts of the book deal with extreme speculations; theories like multiple universes/dimensions and life based on exotic chemistries other than the Carbon Based life were all familiar with. String theory is also touched on, but only briefly. For those interested in UFO's and SETI ( the search for extraterrestrial intelligence) the authors cover the prose and cons of visitors from outer space and detection of electromagnetic signals from distant parts of the cosmos. The Drake Equation is looked at in detail, and how it might help us narrow the search parameters when looking for alien civilizations elsewhere in the universe. Experienced science readers will probably find a lot of familiar ground here but it's so well written that, for me, it didn't matter and who knows you may even learn something new, I did. Illustrated with several breath taking astro-photos, many taken by Hubble and others from some of the largest land based telescopes in the world. "Origins" is truly a visual, as well as an intellectual, feast. Also look for the WMAP image and a beautiful painting by Don Davis depicting the K-T impact event of 65m YBP. All in all this was an excellent read and one that, like Carl Sagan's books, I'll be revisiting from time to time. I had no technical or formatting problems with this Kindle edition, and the illustrations came across just fine on both my Kindle and iPad.Last Ranger

Being an astrophysics klutz I have a real problem assimilating the vastness of the Universe, the hundred billion galaxies and the tiny objects-the quarks, positrons, bosons, nuons, neutrinos This highly entertaining volume, a cheerful paean to the Universe, clued me in a bit but I still have trouble with things like Dark Matter. However, "Origins" is a delight and if you are mathematically challenged like me don't hesitate to get the book, you'll love it, trust me."The Biggest story ever told" is, of course, the Big Bang. I was amused to learn that the moniker "Big Bang" was a sarcastic name applied by an astronomer named Fred Hoyle who didn't believe in it, and the disrespectful name stuck. How the Universe started after an explosion from a pin sized point and even more puzzling, why? will set you thinking. You may not grasp it but every atom in our bodies could be traced back to the Big Bang. Carl Sagan had said "We are all made of starstuff" which makes me feel better about myself right awayTyson and Goldsmith provide an entertaining and fascinating scenario of the history of the Universe from its birth at the Big Bang to right now. Space and time became a maelstrom and propelled the galaxies within the eternally expanding Universe as it gets cooler. The book is divided into topics that take you by the hand in baby steps to introduce you to the Cosmos. But the authors in no way dumb down the cosmic events, keeping the book lively, interesting and informative, a Cosmos for all, if you will."Origins" is divided into six main parts each with sub-chaptersThe Origin of the UniverseThe Origin of Galaxies and Cosmic StructureThe Origin of StarsThe Origin of PlanetsThe Origin of LifeGiven that the text must appeal to many levels of knowledge, "Origin" still manages to not only provide a wealth of information about the beginning of the Universe and its evolution, the book is highly entertaining, provocative and just plain interesting, full of meaty nuggets.As regards the possibility of life in the Cosmos, the authors deride Hollywood for putting forever little green men into the minds of people across the planet. Given the enormous variety of life on Earth, that creatures elsewhere in the Universe would look anything like humans is ludicrous. Astrobiologists, a nifty new category of scientists, believe that life anywhere in the Cosmos require:1. a source of energy2. a type of atom that allows complex structures to exist3. a liquid solvent in which molecules can float and interact4. sufficient time for life to arise and developAny reader can thoroughly enjoy this primer to cosmology for its distillation of facts into an interesting and attractive bundle or it can simply be enjoyed for itself. The book includes beautiful full color illustrations of many galaxies including our Milky Way as well as images taken by the Hubble telescope of galaxies ten billion light years away, almost back to the Big Bang."Origin" was published ten years ago. Today, (2014) Stephen Hawking is adjusting his concepts of black holes. Stay tuned!

Excelente referencia para los que nos gusta quebrarnos la cabeza y tratar de entender que somos , a donde vamos y como funciona el Universo.

A good small quick read on a vast timeless subject.

A great read....Degrasse makes every effort to offer pedestrian explanations of a most complicated topic... he sometimes succeeds

The media could not be loaded.  You need to be an atheist before read it

Very good book summarising the current state of cosmology when published.