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Rocket Science for the Rest of Us: Cutting-Edge Concepts Made Simple
Want to understand black holes, antimatter, physics, and space exploration? Looking for a common sense guide to quantum physics that you can actually understand? Rocket Science for the Rest of Us is the book you're looking for! Get a grip on even the most mysterious and complex sciences with Ben Gilliland's guide to dark matter, exo-planets, Planck time, earth sciences, and more. You'll hear yourself saying, "I get it now!" again and again as you explore the fun graphics and clear explanations in Rocket Science for the Rest of Us. Whether you want to impress your friends with your knowledge of quantum physics, finally know what a black hole actually is, or just learn more about the universe that's all around us, Rocket Science for the Rest of Us breaks it all down so science and physics are easy to understand. You're not a rocket scientist? So what! That doesn't mean you can't understand it!
192 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2015
22 people are currently reading
197 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
May 5, 2015
An Entertaining and Somewhat Demanding Survey
This isn't a textbook; it's like a really well illustrated anthology of extracts from a lot of "Scientific American" or Astronomy" magazine articles. Each topic is treated briefly, with one predominant theme, a few interesting sidebars, and a wealth of illustrations, most of which are helpful and all of which are interesting.
As with science magazines generally, the difficulty level varies considerably. Some articles are interesting and perfectly understandable - say, the article on brown dwarf stars. Some sections are generally comprehensible, but don't lead one to a firm and deep understanding - say, the article on using the inverse square ratio, apparent brightness and pulsing Cepheids to calculate star distances. Some bits I can't say I ever really fully grasped - for example, the explanation of how galaxies positioned on an expanding space time bubble can appear to be travelling faster than the speed of light. Or the subtleties of supersymmetry.
That said, there isn't going to be an exam and I don't try to pass as a cosmologist at dinner parties, so the real question is whether the book is interesting or fun. The answer there, for me, was yes. I learned a lot of new stuff and firmed up some things I already sort of knew. The sidebar factoids and the historical throwaway bits were interesting. Further, because developments in this field move quickly and usually aren't widely reported, there were lots of new bits about areas I'd lost track of. (Example, it's hard to keep track of all the new discoveries that come out the Hubble operations.)
But of course there is a lot more here than just Big Bang cosmology. There are updates on the latest findings about the other planets in our solar system, an explanation of the demotion of poor Pluto, a discussion of the cutting edge of the search for exoplanets, a history of probes and explorers, the latest on colonizing Mars, a discussion of the effort to construct a unified field theory, an explanation of gravity lensing, an explanation of why glass is transparent, speculation on how a warp drive would work, and on and on.
The upshot is that if you like to keep in touch with current developments in the field and like to learn about and think about such science topics, this book offers a lot of rewards. That's especially the case here because this is a DK book, and as is the case with their destination guides a great deal of attention has been paid to pictures, illustrations, graphs and the like. The graphics run from "pretty" to very helpful and informative, and are nicely tied to the narrative. The topic lends itself to a visual presentation and DK has not skimped in that department.
So, a happy find for a science minded browser, and a commendable attempt to present science "to the rest of us", without any of that corny "Dummies" filler. (Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book. )
This isn't a textbook; it's like a really well illustrated anthology of extracts from a lot of "Scientific American" or Astronomy" magazine articles. Each topic is treated briefly, with one predominant theme, a few interesting sidebars, and a wealth of illustrations, most of which are helpful and all of which are interesting.
As with science magazines generally, the difficulty level varies considerably. Some articles are interesting and perfectly understandable - say, the article on brown dwarf stars. Some sections are generally comprehensible, but don't lead one to a firm and deep understanding - say, the article on using the inverse square ratio, apparent brightness and pulsing Cepheids to calculate star distances. Some bits I can't say I ever really fully grasped - for example, the explanation of how galaxies positioned on an expanding space time bubble can appear to be travelling faster than the speed of light. Or the subtleties of supersymmetry.
That said, there isn't going to be an exam and I don't try to pass as a cosmologist at dinner parties, so the real question is whether the book is interesting or fun. The answer there, for me, was yes. I learned a lot of new stuff and firmed up some things I already sort of knew. The sidebar factoids and the historical throwaway bits were interesting. Further, because developments in this field move quickly and usually aren't widely reported, there were lots of new bits about areas I'd lost track of. (Example, it's hard to keep track of all the new discoveries that come out the Hubble operations.)
But of course there is a lot more here than just Big Bang cosmology. There are updates on the latest findings about the other planets in our solar system, an explanation of the demotion of poor Pluto, a discussion of the cutting edge of the search for exoplanets, a history of probes and explorers, the latest on colonizing Mars, a discussion of the effort to construct a unified field theory, an explanation of gravity lensing, an explanation of why glass is transparent, speculation on how a warp drive would work, and on and on.
The upshot is that if you like to keep in touch with current developments in the field and like to learn about and think about such science topics, this book offers a lot of rewards. That's especially the case here because this is a DK book, and as is the case with their destination guides a great deal of attention has been paid to pictures, illustrations, graphs and the like. The graphics run from "pretty" to very helpful and informative, and are nicely tied to the narrative. The topic lends itself to a visual presentation and DK has not skimped in that department.
So, a happy find for a science minded browser, and a commendable attempt to present science "to the rest of us", without any of that corny "Dummies" filler. (Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book. )
May 15, 2019
This is kind of a funky approach to some scientific question, in general it's just a better choice than WikiPedia
did-not-finish
October 9, 2022DNF at 15%
Didn't like how it was written. Felt very stilted and like a slog to get through.
Didn't like how it was written. Felt very stilted and like a slog to get through.
July 31, 2017
It had a lot of information, which is good, because it didn't only include rocket science, but many more pieces of knowledge that is important. Overall, the book was ok.
January 26, 2024
A surprisingly excellent book. I was expecting a book with nice pictures on astrophysics, but it is definitively more than that. It explains complicated concepts in a very accessible format and it includes the most recent discoveries in the field. It is rather surprising how the author was able to do that in such a format. I found out plenty of new things and some of them were unknown to me. A great read for anyone interested in the universe, black holes, dark matter and energy, atoms and how it all began and what is happening around us outside the planet we are living on. A book that kept me from going to sleep for a couple of nights.
June 15, 2017
Even though I knew most of the things in this book, I still found that it was informational, and filled in some of the gaps in my knowledge (it was especially helpful with explaining parts of quantum mechanics, supersymmetry ((S.U.S.Y.)), and antimatter).
November 16, 2021
This book had some really fascinating and brain-bending concepts and my 7-year-old really loved it. It catapulted them from wanting to learn about astronomy / the universe to wanting to learn about quantum physics. XD It wasn't really written for a 2nd grader (in fact I think it's aimed at an 8th grade and up level) but my kiddo was very interested and mostly followed along. It's explained simply enough that they could grasp it. I did explain some things further, but really it's got a great amount of information that is as easily accessible as it could be, for what it is.
April 13, 2021
A good overview of difficult concepts in physics, from astrophysics to quantum mechanics. The information is presented in a colorful, easy-to-understand format. The colors and illustrations are occasionally distracting, but overall, the book does a good job of presenting complex concepts in chunks the layperson can understand.
February 27, 2018
A thrilling read about so, so much more than just rocket science. A must read.
April 19, 2020
Learned a lot about the universe and beyond!
Great read, enjoyed the illustrations and the explanation.!
Great read, enjoyed the illustrations and the explanation.!
August 28, 2021
This book was fun. I enjoyed reading it. I learned a lot about rocket science. Rocket science for the rest of us was a good book.
November 5, 2021
Misleading title
May 11, 2022
Really good refresher, though I cringed a little at the description of an amorphus solid as both a liquid and a solid, but I guess that's the simplest way to describe it to teens.
September 19, 2016
4.5/5 stars
Being arranged from easy to complicated parts, "Rocket Science for the Rest of Us" is a well-illustrsted book of science, especially astronomy, cosmology and particularly physics. It aims for general readers who eager to know more about the frontier of science. I personally find this book enjoyable to read. Despite coming across some parts of physical physics several times, I still somehow cannot grasp the behaviours of subatomic particles and quantum mechanics. Yet, expecting a book to make you understand quantum mechanics after reading it is just silly.
Being arranged from easy to complicated parts, "Rocket Science for the Rest of Us" is a well-illustrsted book of science, especially astronomy, cosmology and particularly physics. It aims for general readers who eager to know more about the frontier of science. I personally find this book enjoyable to read. Despite coming across some parts of physical physics several times, I still somehow cannot grasp the behaviours of subatomic particles and quantum mechanics. Yet, expecting a book to make you understand quantum mechanics after reading it is just silly.
January 5, 2017
Un livre plutôt bon, avec finalement un focus très science physique. Voire même très physique des particules et astro. Je n'ai rien contre, j'adore cela, mais j'ai été surpris que ce soit aussi concentré sur ces thèmes.
Un point positif, en dehors du fait que le livre est abondamment illustré et de bonne qualité concernant son contenu, c'est qu'il rappelle la façon dont fonctionne la science, ce qu'est une théorie, une hypothèse, etc et explique aussi qu'il faut faire très attention aux pseudo-sciences et aux affirmations de certains à l'encontre de la science et de certaines théories dont notamment la théorie de l'évolution. Très agréablement surpris d'avoir lu cela dans un livre grand public.
Le seul bémol, mais je chipote un peu, c'est le fait que, parfois, des concepts un peu compliqués apparaissent ici ou là sans forcément être expliqués et cela pourrait déstabiliser les moins calés en mathématiques ou en physique parmi nous.
Dans l'ensemble un très bon livre ! Vous pouvez y aller les yeux fermés !
Un point positif, en dehors du fait que le livre est abondamment illustré et de bonne qualité concernant son contenu, c'est qu'il rappelle la façon dont fonctionne la science, ce qu'est une théorie, une hypothèse, etc et explique aussi qu'il faut faire très attention aux pseudo-sciences et aux affirmations de certains à l'encontre de la science et de certaines théories dont notamment la théorie de l'évolution. Très agréablement surpris d'avoir lu cela dans un livre grand public.
Le seul bémol, mais je chipote un peu, c'est le fait que, parfois, des concepts un peu compliqués apparaissent ici ou là sans forcément être expliqués et cela pourrait déstabiliser les moins calés en mathématiques ou en physique parmi nous.
Dans l'ensemble un très bon livre ! Vous pouvez y aller les yeux fermés !
July 29, 2016
With a title like this, I was sure I would love this book. The concepts inside are nicely written and explained fairly well. I really appreciate some of the space history given in this book; however, they do give incorrect information on Laika and Sputnik 2. My overall enjoyment was hampered by the silly and sometimes garish illustrations sprinkled throughout the book. It seems like they were aiming at a teen/tween audience with this book. This would probably be a great choice for teens/tweens, but there are better choices for adult readers.
January 15, 2016
Definitely aimed for a teen audience, but interesting nonetheless. Apart from a few errors and typos (Jupiter instead of Saturn in one spot left me scratching my head for a while until I realized the mistake), the explanations were clear and up to date with current theories. I wish the sub-particles section had been just a bit clearer though (but then again, I've always had trouble with Gluons and Leptons).
April 3, 2017
A decent attempt to explain some of the hot topics in science using graphics as well as text. I enjoyed it, but found it somewhat unfocused. The bulk of the book deals with cosmology and space exploration, but towards the end a few random quantum physics topics pop up. I appreciate what Gilliland is trying to do, but overall I have read many text-centric books that do a much better job.
May 3, 2015
This is not a "bad" or "poor" book by any means. The use of many illustrations and extremely simple conceptual description lead me to conclude it's better rated as a read for teenagers or people with an interest in quantum/astrophysics that may be lacking even simple background information.
February 8, 2020
Enjoyed reading it!!
November 28, 2021
Really enjoyed reading it, insightful and funny.
April 6, 2025
This was my favourite book as a child for so long. It covers many fascinating topics and I learnt so much from it.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews