30-Second Astronomy: The 50 most mindblowing discoveries in astronomy, each explained in half a minute

by François Fressin (Editor), Martin J. Rees (Foreword)

Everyone has questions about our universe: How hot is Venus? Can you distinguish between a pulsar and a quasar? Is there a universe or a multiverse? Where do we fit into the infinitely grand scheme of things? How do we map the Cosmic Microwave Background? Most tantalizing of all: Is there anyone out there? This small volume encapsulates the terrifying hugeness of the cosmos into bite-sized particles that mere earthlings can understand. It takes you on a cosmic tour, shedding light on the most awesome of objects and places and explaining some very big ideas, concepts, and discoveries. It also presents the scientists and observers who have done so much to understand life and the universe.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Astronomy, Reference, Physics, Space, History

160 pages, Hardcover

First published July 4, 2009

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book from the series on a subject that I am not very familiar with and I have to say I felt that the book was a lot more informative as a result.

It still followed the series format of each page containing a condensed introduction to a particular subject (with the facing page showing an image related to it) along with various hooks for further reading and links to other entries. There are also suggested longer and shorter reading lists if you are interested in that topic too.

Interspersed throughout the book are double page entries on particularly important people who made substantial contributions but like all subjects they are just the starting point there are links and hooks all over.

So yes a fascinating reading which I think was all the more beneficial for my lack of understanding in this subject

[Preston · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has become my favorite armchair book. I keep it close at hand. Over the past couple of months, whenever I find that I have a few minutes I will pick up this great little book and read about everything from our solar system to dark energy and wormholes. It can be read from front to back, or like myself, by picking subjects that sound interesting.
It is written in language that can be understood by virtually anyone, and even though it is not a children's book, it can be used by parents to share some of the latest discoveries about our amazing universe with their children. As one example, how does a meteoroid become an meteor and then a meteorite?It is all explained clearly with excellent graphics.
There are many "astronomy for everyone" books available. This is one of the best I have seen.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

So simple. So fascinating.
Perfect for us dummies who wants to learn more.

[Meike · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF @ 42%

I loved the idea of a book about astronomy that acts as something like a quick guide through the basics of astronomy. But a quick guide should also be thorough, and this was not it. It felt like they wanted everything to be explained as quickly and shortly as possible, so they just crammed every page with a shitload of information, and then they added a glossary so every unknown ‘thing’ could be explained. But it’s not like I can read an entire glossary, remember all the information and then read a page that contains all those difficult glossary items, and still get what everything was all about. As much as I love everything space related, this was confusing and quite hard to understand.

2 stars for the fact that I did learn something, it just cost me too many braincells to understand everything

[Laina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've had this book for several years and only just decided to pick it up. It's a very quick read, but it provides a lot of basic information about everything in the topic of astronomy. It look at planets, stars, black holes, worm holes, and even notable astronomers/scientists. While it's not a very complicated book, it provides enough information that it can be a jumping off point for learning about other topics.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trying to sum up Isaac Newton's theory of relativity and Albert Einstein's theory of gravity or general relativity in 30 seconds makes this sort of a hard read for those not studying astrophysics or astrobiology....

[Analuabc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Foi o primeiro livro desta colecção que li. Gosto do conceito de expôr factos duma temática em pequenos textos e concisos com a informação mais relevante para quem ler, estando menos por dentro do assunto, conseguir captar melhor a ideia. Quem acompanha as descobertas da Astronomia não sentirá que são as 50 mais extraordinárias descobertas, no sentido que já se falou muito delas. Mas é sempre bom recordar ou aprender novos pormenores. Com a internet cheia de informação livros como este poderão parecer desnecessários mas, é sempre bom ter à mão para tirar pequena dúvida ou simplesmente deliciar com as ilustrações que tem.

[David Freudenburg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful, short, user-friendly, one-page articles on a variety of concepts in the fields of astronomy and astrophysics. Includes lots of diagrams and illustrations and a few short biographies. Although I still find it very difficult to understand all of the concepts, this book has helped me a lot. It is fun to read just one or a few articles each day. One at a time is a really good pace. And it makes it feel kind of like a devotional--regardless of whether you believe in God, a god, some gods, or no god.

[Helen (they or he) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, to be a scientist in 21st century cooking up theories about dark matter and naming things "MACHOs" and "WIMPs."


I think I might be in love with this 30-second series! The content is obviously beginner-friendly and uncomplicated, yet informative and eye-opening. You can use the content in this book to read up more about the subjects and I believe if you do that, you'll gain the knowledge equivalent of taking a college-level introductory class because this book covers everything.

I've only read 2 books from this series, but I like that they use terms related to the content to make fun titles. "3 second thrash" in theories book where as "3 second bang" in astronomy book.

[Vern Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. One of those that you can pick up for a couple minutes whenever you have them.

[Anna Sereda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book for light reading with simple facts about universe :) enjoyed it very much

[Julia Brühl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a big interest in astronomy but I know quite little about the subject so I thought this book would be perfect for me in order learn the basics about astronomy. I really liked the first half but then things got a bit complicated. Of course it's complicated, it's space! What I mean is how certain things was written and composed. I found that some sentences barely even made sense. However, I still found this book very educational and overall enjoyed it.

If you're interested in learning the basics of astronomy, then go ahead and read this book. It's short but still educational and enlightning :)

[Etienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Très semblable aux autres livres de cette collection. Pour ceux qui commencent à s'intéresser au sujet seulement. On apprend quelques trucs intéressants. Certaines théories sont très complexes à résumer en si peu de temps, ce qui malheureusement, rend parfois la vulgarisation un peu moins réussi que dans les autres volumes. Sinon, une lecture intéressante, qui fait un tour d'horizon et qui pistera peut-être vos futures recherches ou lectures sur des sujets plus pointus.

[V. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I give up. I so wanted to like it and to recommend it to friends who are interested in astro, because I love this kind of tidbits-book. But it's badly written, not well-explained and in big parts plainly not understandable except if one does not know the basics anyway - and while I do, the book was still confusing and boring. Duh :(

[Fred · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once I finished 2001:Space Odyssee, I really wanted to know more about astronomy. This book seemed like a great deal of lots of info in not so many words. Turns out it doesn't answer to the questions I had in the first place. Starts out as an easy read, but the last chapters are really hard to understand.

[Valérie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Je n'ai malheureusement pas du tout aimé la forme de ce livre.

[Aaron Wong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite enough to whet the appetite.

[Issa · Rating 5 out of 5]

"...the breadth of your finger, held up to the sky, covers millions of galaxies"... Poetic, yes?