From the Bookshelf of Science and Inquiry…

Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Start date: June 1, 2009

Finish date: June 30, 2009

Discussion: Book Club 2010 & Prior

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Book Club 2010 & Prior

March Book Club "A Short History of nearly Everything"
By William · 14 posts · 147 views

last updated Aug 06, 2014 12:20PM

November 2010 - Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End / The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God
By S. · 62 posts · 80 views

last updated Apr 19, 2012 04:58PM

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What Members Thought

Jun 09, 2010 Eric Bingham rated it liked it

I just finished this book and I'm really having trouble deciding what to rate it. If I had it to do over, I would still read the book (it was very interesting,) but I would skip the last section. I came into this book with a strong background in science, but almost no background in the field of astrophysics. I felt like some of the book was very "user friendly" while other parts were difficult for me to follow. I definitely learned a lot about the universe. I also learned a lot about Neil deGras I just finished this book and I'm really having trouble deciding what to rate it. If I had it to do over, I would still read the book (it was very interesting,) but I would skip the last section. I came into this book with a strong background in science, but almost no background in the field of astrophysics. I felt like some of the book was very "user friendly" while other parts were difficult for me to follow. I definitely learned a lot about the universe. I also learned a lot about Neil deGrasse Tyson (the author.) He kept some parts of the book light and funny by inserting his personality into the book, but at times his personality came of as being quite smug, and it was a little abrasive. He definitely has a very high opinion of himself. Having said that, I was all set to give this book a 4 star rating, but the last 60 pages of his book were mostly just random unconnected ranting about all types of things. It was like he thought, "OK, I'm done with my book, now what soapbox items can I throw in at the very end?" His last section was especially abrasive as he asserts his certainty that God does not exist. After implying that scientists who include religion in their books are doing so to try to make more money, he himself spends the final section of his book, (which was great up to this point) ranting about religion. He goes off about how ignorant people are who believe in intelligent design, and the way he defines intelligent design does make it sound like an ignorant idea. He poses intelligent design as an idea that is strictly contrary to science by saying, "I don't want students who could make the next major breakthrough in renewable energy sources or space travel to have been taught that anything they don't understand, and that nobody yet understands, is divinely constructed, and therefor beyond their intellectual capacity." My views on intelligent creation hold no such ideology. I just happen to believe that God is, among other things, a scientist. Why wouldn't he then use science and physical laws to create all things, and why wouldn't he want us to learn as much as we can about those laws? Which brings me back to where I started. This is a great book, but I would recommend just stopping one section short of the end. ...more

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