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The Cosmic Tourist: The 100 Most Awe-Inspiring Places in the Universe
Take your seats for an out-of-this-word tour through the Cosmos!
Brian May, Patrick Moore, and Chris Lintott—authors of Bang!—fly us from Earth to the farthest-out galaxies. Along the way, we stop and gaze at 100 amazing sights, from asteroids to zodiacal dust. And each of our three tour guides has a special expertise and passion that they bring to their very personal explanations of what we see: Patrick is a lunar specialist; Brian is the leading authority on dust in our solar system, and Chris researches the formation of stars and galaxies. Extraordinary images present the universe as seen through the eyes of the biggest and best telescopes on Earth and in space, and occasionally from the backyards of expert amateur observers.
Reissue of THE COSMIC TOURIST.
Brian May, Patrick Moore, and Chris Lintott—authors of Bang!—fly us from Earth to the farthest-out galaxies. Along the way, we stop and gaze at 100 amazing sights, from asteroids to zodiacal dust. And each of our three tour guides has a special expertise and passion that they bring to their very personal explanations of what we see: Patrick is a lunar specialist; Brian is the leading authority on dust in our solar system, and Chris researches the formation of stars and galaxies. Extraordinary images present the universe as seen through the eyes of the biggest and best telescopes on Earth and in space, and occasionally from the backyards of expert amateur observers.
Reissue of THE COSMIC TOURIST.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published October 11, 2012
About the author
Brian May
85 books123 followersBrian Harold May, CBE (born 19 July 1947) is a British musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen.
As a guitarist he uses his home built guitar, "Red Special", and has composed hits such as "Now I'm Here", "Tie Your Mother Down", "We Will Rock You", "Who Wants to Live Forever", "Hammer to Fall", "Save Me", "Fat Bottomed Girls", "I Want It All" and "Too Much Love Will Kill You".
May earned a PhD in astrophysics in 2007 and is currently the chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University.
He was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2005 for "services to the music industry".
In 2005, a Planet Rock poll saw May voted the 7th greatest guitarist of all time. He was ranked 39th in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time", reflecting the magazine's editorial opinion.
As a guitarist he uses his home built guitar, "Red Special", and has composed hits such as "Now I'm Here", "Tie Your Mother Down", "We Will Rock You", "Who Wants to Live Forever", "Hammer to Fall", "Save Me", "Fat Bottomed Girls", "I Want It All" and "Too Much Love Will Kill You".
May earned a PhD in astrophysics in 2007 and is currently the chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University.
He was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2005 for "services to the music industry".
In 2005, a Planet Rock poll saw May voted the 7th greatest guitarist of all time. He was ranked 39th in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time", reflecting the magazine's editorial opinion.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 17, 2020
Zum ersten Mal reise ich wirklich/bildlich durch das Universum jenseits unseres Sonnensystems und das trotz 30 Jahre Perry Rhodan.
054 (S. 102) "Ab jetzt werden die Entfernungen, die wir ohne Zeitverzug zurücklegen, so groß, dass wir uns in der Zeit rückwärts bewegen, ganz ohne Hilfe von Dr. Who oder H. G. Wells und seiner Zeitmaschine."
078 (S. 145) "Mit anderen Worten sind die Atome der schweren Elemente (>Fe), die unsere Erde, dieses Buch und seine Leser enthalten, im Zusammenhang mit einer solchen Sternexplosion entstanden: Objekte wie der Krabbennebel gehören also gleichsam zu unserer Ahnenreihe."
054 (S. 102) "Ab jetzt werden die Entfernungen, die wir ohne Zeitverzug zurücklegen, so groß, dass wir uns in der Zeit rückwärts bewegen, ganz ohne Hilfe von Dr. Who oder H. G. Wells und seiner Zeitmaschine."
078 (S. 145) "Mit anderen Worten sind die Atome der schweren Elemente (>Fe), die unsere Erde, dieses Buch und seine Leser enthalten, im Zusammenhang mit einer solchen Sternexplosion entstanden: Objekte wie der Krabbennebel gehören also gleichsam zu unserer Ahnenreihe."
July 4, 2013
If I am honest, this book combines two of my least favourite approaches to writing a popular science book – celebrity authors and list books that have (in this case) 100 short entries around a particular theme. But in part because of the rather clever format (and also because, as scientific celebrity authors go, the late Sir Patrick Moore had a lot going for him), this particular example bucks the trend and works rather well.
The conceit is simple – our three voyagers, a rock musician (who admittedly has a doctorate in astrophysics, though this doesn’t necessarily make him a good science writer), a TV astronomer and an academic voyage through the universe, visiting the 100 must-see sights.
Just over half the topics are in the solar system, with the rest given over to the usual stunning Hubble images and the like. In reality, the ‘tourist’ model wears a little thin sometimes, and it does just become a collection of 100 interesting astronomical articles – so, for instance, the last entry is on the cosmic microwave background, not exactly something our intrepid explorers can visit on the spaceship pictured on the book’s cover. But some of the other entries, particularly those based in the solar system, really do give the sense of a visit guide, and so get the extra novelty of the format.
It is without doubt a good, well illustrated guide. There are better end-to-end reading books to get a real introduction to astronomy or the universe (including some of Patrick Moore’s own), but the novelty of the approach could bring in some additional readers, which is great, and I think this would make an ideal gift for a teenager who is showing the first signs of an interest in astronomy, or for an older reader who enjoys a little armchair exploring, but has tired of earthbound destinations. A bit of fun.
Review first published on www.popularscience.co.uk and reproduced with permission.
The conceit is simple – our three voyagers, a rock musician (who admittedly has a doctorate in astrophysics, though this doesn’t necessarily make him a good science writer), a TV astronomer and an academic voyage through the universe, visiting the 100 must-see sights.
Just over half the topics are in the solar system, with the rest given over to the usual stunning Hubble images and the like. In reality, the ‘tourist’ model wears a little thin sometimes, and it does just become a collection of 100 interesting astronomical articles – so, for instance, the last entry is on the cosmic microwave background, not exactly something our intrepid explorers can visit on the spaceship pictured on the book’s cover. But some of the other entries, particularly those based in the solar system, really do give the sense of a visit guide, and so get the extra novelty of the format.
It is without doubt a good, well illustrated guide. There are better end-to-end reading books to get a real introduction to astronomy or the universe (including some of Patrick Moore’s own), but the novelty of the approach could bring in some additional readers, which is great, and I think this would make an ideal gift for a teenager who is showing the first signs of an interest in astronomy, or for an older reader who enjoys a little armchair exploring, but has tired of earthbound destinations. A bit of fun.
Review first published on www.popularscience.co.uk and reproduced with permission.
February 6, 2019
2019 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge
#3 A book written by a musician (fiction or nonfiction)
Child-me is *furious* that this was only published in 2012. I enjoyed it a lot as an adult, but I can only imagine how much my younger self would have loved this book. I had one of a similar premise, but it was way, way, WAY shorter, and most of the pictures were artist impressions. (Aside: If you'd told 8-year-old Pluto-obsessed me that in 20 years we would have actual for-really-real pictures of Pluto to look at, I would have lost my little mind. Space is cool, y'all.)
There was a lot of stuff I was already familiar with, some stuff I wasn't, and lots of really cool pictures. It was a very nice way to end my day by reading a few entries every night in bed and appreciating the universe.
#3 A book written by a musician (fiction or nonfiction)
Child-me is *furious* that this was only published in 2012. I enjoyed it a lot as an adult, but I can only imagine how much my younger self would have loved this book. I had one of a similar premise, but it was way, way, WAY shorter, and most of the pictures were artist impressions. (Aside: If you'd told 8-year-old Pluto-obsessed me that in 20 years we would have actual for-really-real pictures of Pluto to look at, I would have lost my little mind. Space is cool, y'all.)
There was a lot of stuff I was already familiar with, some stuff I wasn't, and lots of really cool pictures. It was a very nice way to end my day by reading a few entries every night in bed and appreciating the universe.
July 5, 2021
I confess I haven’t finished this yet. It might take me a few years to do so. The three authors, two gurus of The Sky at Night TV programme and one regular visitor (after he gave up his full-time music career and finished his PhD), may only be taking the reader to 100 amazing sights, but they give each one a thorough examination–or as much as can supported with observations and fantastic images.
In fact, we start on Earth, and then check out planetary phenomena seen from space before arriving at the Moon. There are a great many amazing things to see on the Moon, but most of them are craters, with different forms and causes, and yes, they are interesting. But maybe I’ll go back to them later, as I got a little bored by them, and went on… to the Sun! Then the tour of the planets. I might skip Saturn, because, I reviewed the NASA Saturn System free ebook recently. And eventually we’ll leave our solar system and get into the sorts of things that I might find more interesting, because I don’t know much about them, or only of things heard in passing. Like exoplanets of all shapes, sizes and combinations.
The text accompanying the photographs is quite small, to fit it into a reasonable space in this large format full colour book. I found the style a little jarring, but if you know the style of A Sky At Night, and cross it with Stargazing Now for a younger or newer Cosmic Tourist, you’ll know the style. Chatty, with formal overtones. That may be another reason I can’t read it for very long. It isn’t meant to be read straight through. It’s a dip-into book, and a very beautiful one that people have put a lot of effort into making as beautiful and all-encompassing as possible.
Your young teenage astronomy enthusiast might well enjoy this for Christmas.
In fact, we start on Earth, and then check out planetary phenomena seen from space before arriving at the Moon. There are a great many amazing things to see on the Moon, but most of them are craters, with different forms and causes, and yes, they are interesting. But maybe I’ll go back to them later, as I got a little bored by them, and went on… to the Sun! Then the tour of the planets. I might skip Saturn, because, I reviewed the NASA Saturn System free ebook recently. And eventually we’ll leave our solar system and get into the sorts of things that I might find more interesting, because I don’t know much about them, or only of things heard in passing. Like exoplanets of all shapes, sizes and combinations.
The text accompanying the photographs is quite small, to fit it into a reasonable space in this large format full colour book. I found the style a little jarring, but if you know the style of A Sky At Night, and cross it with Stargazing Now for a younger or newer Cosmic Tourist, you’ll know the style. Chatty, with formal overtones. That may be another reason I can’t read it for very long. It isn’t meant to be read straight through. It’s a dip-into book, and a very beautiful one that people have put a lot of effort into making as beautiful and all-encompassing as possible.
Your young teenage astronomy enthusiast might well enjoy this for Christmas.
December 30, 2020
Pěkné a celkem jednoduše psané. Ale vlastně nic si z toho nepamatuji; asi to bude tím, že nejsem do vesmíru tolik zažraný. Trochu zbytečné mi přišlo to popisování toho, "jak letíme v raketě" a podobné prkotiny, protože toto není knížka pro děti. Ty jí nepochopí. Ale má to opravdu pěkné fotografie a popisky a cenný slovníček pojmů.
December 11, 2022
249 - 2022
Beli buku ini karena nama salah satu penulisnya. Iya, ini Brian May sang scientist yang nyambi jadi gitaris Queen.
Beli buku ini karena nama salah satu penulisnya. Iya, ini Brian May sang scientist yang nyambi jadi gitaris Queen.
September 4, 2023
breath taking photos
September 30, 2019
It’s really cool that the guitarist from Queen has a PHD. I honestly had not even realized until I read the back of the book. I don’t know much about astronomy so I can’t comment on the accuracy of this book, but it’s very enjoyable from the perspective of a reader. There are lots of stunning full-colour pictures of the subject matter and the information is presented in a very easy to read way. There’s an index and a glossary included as well. I am reading this fairly late though, and some of the book is already outdated. For example, New Horizons is supposed to reach Pluto in 2015, so the book has really blurry pictures as it was written before 2015. I was able to Google pictures though! I would recommend buying a more recent book, if possible, but this was a very enjoyable read. 4/5 September 30 2019
November 19, 2025
This is the sort of book I enjoy because it knows what it is trying to do and commits to it. I liked that it did not feel empty. Even when it was simply entertaining, there was enough craft there to make it satisfying. Brian May gives it enough control and personality that it feels like more than just a premise on a page. The pacing, mood, and central ideas all came together well enough that I was happy to keep turning pages. It had the right mix of substance and entertainment, which is always the sweet spot for me. Five stars because it stuck the landing for me and left a strong impression.
September 26, 2013
Enjoyable to anyone who likes to look at the sky and wonder what is out there. No background understanding of space phenomenon needed, very easy to understand writing. Points also for great, large enough pics.
April 3, 2014
An entertaining, informative, fun trip, with lots of incredible scenery. Only wish it could have been real.
May 11, 2014
This was quite a fun read of 100 noteworthy places in the universe. Each entry is fascinating but brief, so it's a nice way to discover things to further research.
February 20, 2015
Brilliant book....easy to read, informative and great pictures :)
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews