Posted on Monday, October 26, 2015
Elephants in Space by Ben Moore
If you're looking for an all-encompassing read about the Universe, then "Elephants in Space" is a good start.
With less than 200 pages, this book is basically a crash course in the history of the Universe, starting with how scientists theorize the Universe went from a tiny speck to the size it is now and what happened in-between and what will happen in the future. Although that in itself seems like a long and complicated topic, the author gets through it all in a fast paced manner with several side-trips to go into more details where needed.
In addition to the history of the universe, the book also goes into the fascinating topic of life in the universe - how it emerged on Earth and whether there's any hope of finding it outside of Earth and could we possibly colonize other planets.
The book ends with the ultimate end though - the end of the Universe, which is always a slightly sad event to read about.
It will be positive though, if you just remind yourself that we live at a special time when other galaxies can be seen and also that most of the bright stars we see in the night sky are giant stars, something you're unlikely to come across at the end of the universe (the end time-wise; space-wise, there would still be more giant stars if you look towards the beginning of the Universe).
"Elephants in Space" was a very enjoyable and interesting read. It's popular in scope so you don't need higher mathematics to understand it, but it's still fun even if you've read a lot cosmology before.
Labels: Ben Moore, Elephants in Space