Most Popular Books by Philip Plait

Advance praise for Philip Plait s Bad Astronomy "Bad Astronomy is just plain good! Philip Plait clears up everymisconception on astronomy and space you never knew you sufferedfrom." --Stephen Maran, Author of Astronomy for Dummies and editorof The Astronomy and Astrophysics Encyclopedia "Thank the cosmos for the bundle of star stuff named Philip Plait,who is the world s leading consumer advocate for quality science inspace and on Earth. This important contribution to science willrest firmly on my reference library shelf, ready for easy accessthe next time an astrologer calls." --Dr. Michael Shermer,Publisher of Skeptic magazine, monthly columnist for ScientificAmerican, and author of The Borderlands of Science "Philip Plait has given us a readable, erudite, informative,useful, and entertaining book. Bad Astronomy is Good Science. Verygood science..." --James "The Amazing" Randi, President, JamesRandi Educational Foundation, and author of An Encyclopedia ofClaims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural "Bad Astronomy is a fun read. Plait is wonderfully witty andeducational as he debunks the myths, legends, and 'conspiraciesthat abound in our society. 'The Truth Is Out There' and it's inthis book. I loved it!" --Mike Mullane, Space Shuttle astronaut andauthor of Do Your Ears Pop in Space?

A lively astronomy primer that uses cataclysmic scenarios to explain the universe?s most fascinating events. According to astronomer Philip Plait, the universe is an apocalypse waiting to happen But how much do we really need to fear from things like black holes, gamma-ray bursts, and supernovae? And if we should be scared, is there anything we can do to save ourselves? With humor and wit, Plait details the myriad doomsday events that the cosmos could send our way to destroy our planet and life as we know it. This authoritative yet accessible study is the ultimate astronomy lesson. Combining fascinating?and often alarming?scenarios that seem plucked from science fiction with the latest research and opinions, Plait illustrates why outer space is not as remote as most people think. Each chapter explores a different phenomenon, explaining it in easy-to-understand terms, and considering how life on earth and the planet itself would be affected should the event come to pass. Rather than sensationalizing the information, Plait analyzes the probability of these catastrophes occurring in our lifetimes and what we can do to stop them. With its entertaining tone and enlightening explanation of unfathomable concepts, Death from the Skies! will appeal to science buffs and beginners alike.

A Financial Times Best Science Book of 2023 • A Science News Favorite Book of 2023 • A Scientific American 2023 Staff Recommendation "The next-best thing to traveling through space and time." —Laura Helmuth, editor in chief of Scientific American A rip-roaring tour of the cosmos with the Bad Astronomer, bringing you up close and personal with the universe like never before. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to travel the universe? How would Saturn’s rings look from a spaceship sailing just above them? If you were falling into a black hole, what’s the last thing you’d see before getting spaghettified? While traveling in person to most of these amazing worlds may not be possible—yet—the would-be space traveler need not despair: you can still take the scenic route through the galaxy with renowned astronomer and science communicator Philip Plait. On this lively, immersive adventure through the cosmos, Plait draws ingeniously on both the latest scientific research and his prodigious imagination to transport you to ten of the most spectacular sights outer space has to offer. In vivid, inventive scenes informed by rigorous science—injected with a dose of Plait’s trademark humor—Under Alien Skies places you on the surface of alien worlds, from our own familiar Moon to the far reaches of our solar system and beyond. Try launching yourself onto a two-hundred-meter asteroid, or stargazing from the rim of an ancient volcano on a planet where, from the place you stand, it is eternally late afternoon. Experience the sudden onset of lunar nightfall, the disorientation of walking—or, rather, shuffling—when you weigh almost nothing, the irritation of jagged regolith dust. Glimpse the frigid mountains and plains of Pluto and the cake-like exterior of a comet called 67P. On a planet trillions of miles from Earth, glance down to see the strange, beautiful shadows cast by a hundred thousand stars. For the aspiring extraterrestrial citizen, casual space tourist, or curious armchair traveler, Plait is an illuminating, always-entertaining guide to the most otherworldly views in our universe.

««Plait accompagna i lettori in un giro turistico del cosmo che lascia a bocca aperta... Questo libro cambierà il modo in cui i lettori pensano allo spazio». » » «Publishers Weekly ««Leggere Sotto cieli alieni è meglio che viaggiare nello spazio e nel tempo. Philip Plait è una guida divertente, calorosa e accogliente, e ci racconta i luoghi più meravigliosi dell'Universo... Vi farà vivere l'esperienza di essere realmente lì, e imparerete alcune delle cose più sorprendenti che l’uomo abbia mai scoperto. Quando guarderete il cielo notturno, penserete a questo libro e sorriderete». » Laura Helmuth, «Scientific American» ««Una divertente introduzione all'universo, meravigliosa, sorprendente. La scrittura di Philip Plait ci trasporta in altri mondi e così facendo ci aiuta ad apprezzare il nostro». » John Green, autore di Benvenuti nell’Antropocene Come sarebbe viaggiare davvero nell’universo? Essere proprio lì, fisicamente? Ad esempio, come ci apparirebbero gli anelli di Saturno se fossimo su un’astronave, a pochi chilometri da loro? Cosa ci succederebbe se cadessimo in un buco nero, cosa vedremmo davanti ai nostri occhi (presumibilmente per l’ultima volta)? Con un misto di scienza d’avanguardia e fantascienza ben congeniata, Philip Plait descrive quali sensazioni proveremmo se potessimo essere testimoni diretti di una visita nello spazio. Ogni luogo viene descritto da un punto di vista soggettivo, mostrando al visitatore spaziale il probabile aspetto di pianeti lontani, come fosse lì, a viverli in prima persona. I luoghi scelti da Plait per questa visita spaziale sono la Luna, Marte, un asteroide, Saturno, Plutone, una stella nana rossa, una stella binaria, un ammasso globulare, una nebulosa e un buco nero. La dimensione fantastica (ma ben ancorata ai dati scientifici più aggiornati) ovviamente aumenta man mano che ci si allontana dalla Terra. Mentre per la Luna abbiamo un’idea piuttosto precisa di cosa ci aspetterebbe se davvero potessimo fare una visita turistica (in fondo ci siamo stati), e per Marte possiamo ricavare dati e immagini dagli strumenti che abbiamo paracadutato sulla sua superficie, per gli oggetti successivi le cose si fanno via via più sfumate, soprattutto oltre i limiti del Sistema solare. Ma non ci mancano comunque i dati su cui fare le nostre congetture in maniera accurata. Alla fine di questa lettura la sensazione è che abbiamo imparato molto di come sia fatto l’Universo, ma lo abbiamo fatto viaggiando e divertendoci. Un vero regalo di divulgazione scientifica.

🌟《金融時報》（Financial Times）2023最佳科學圖書🌟 🌟《科學新聞》（Science News）2023最喜愛圖書🌟 🌟《科學人》（Scientific America）2023編輯推薦讀物🌟 「這是為未來太空旅客準備的生動導覽指南！」 十個遙遠異域的天體，十片壯闊奇異的天空 跟著天文學家踏上一趟遨遊銀河之旅，用前所未有的視點體會宇宙的奧妙風光 PanSci 泛科學 王為豪 中央研究院天文及天文物理研究所研究員 李昫岱 屋頂上的天文學家主理人、國立中正大學兼任助理教授 李家維 國立清華大學侯金堆講座教授 林新惠 科幻小說家、研究者 曾耀寰 中央研究院天文及天文物理研究所研究技師 劉志安 台北市天文協會理事長 ——穿越銀河推薦 你有沒有想過遊歷宇宙會是什麼感覺，又是否想像過置身在這些奇景之下？ ⁍在光耀奪目的行星環下仰望夜空，同時看見六個月亮高掛天際。 ⁍踏上天行者的故鄉，看見兩顆太陽冉冉升起，一如他所見的景象。 ⁍穿梭球狀星團，一覽一百萬顆恆星在你身上投下浮光掠影。 ⁍置身七彩絢爛、星塵縹緲的恆星工廠——星雲——之中。 ⁍晃蕩於黑洞事件視界，在將要變成義大利麵前，體驗時空異象。 穿梭科學與科幻的界限，從不一樣的角度仰望異域的天空 天文學家菲利．普雷特將化身銀河旅遊團的導遊，邀請讀者和他一同登上宇宙星艦，並帶領我們展開一趟精彩的銀河風光之旅，感受浩瀚宇宙壯麗而荒涼的奇景。在這趟身臨其境的星際之旅中，普雷特結合了最前沿天文物理學知識和豐沛的想像力，為我們描繪出一幕幕真實嚴謹又光怪陸離的景色。 ～為你精挑細選的十處宇內風光～ ．我們的好鄰居——月球 ．人類的未來家園？——火星 ．太空碎石堆——小行星與水星 ．星環下的世界——土星 ．太陽系的邊疆——冥王星 ．血色天空——紅矮星的行星 ．天行者的故鄉——塔圖因……？ ．有一百萬個太陽的地方——球狀星團 ．恆星孕育之地——星雲 ．時空異變的不歸之路——黑洞 在遼遠而陌生的異星天空下，看起來會是什麼樣子呢？ 讓我們來弄清楚吧！ 【各界好評】 「一趟令人興奮、奇妙且引人敬畏的宇宙導覽。普雷特用文字帶領我們探索其他世界，同時讓我們更珍惜自己的世界。」 ——約翰．葛林 John Green｜《生命中的美好缺憾》（The Fault in Our Stars）及《人類事評論》（The Anthropocene Reviewed）作者 「閱讀《在異星的天空下》就跟穿梭時空一樣引人入勝。普雷特是一位幽默、溫暖和親切的嚮導，帶領我們前往宇宙中最奇妙的地方……你將在身臨其境的同時，學習到人類所探索出的、最具啟發性的科學。每當你仰望夜空，將會想起這本書並會心一笑。」 ——勞拉．海爾穆斯 Laura Helmuth｜《科學美國人》（Scientific American）主編 「普雷特帶領我們前往鄰近的世界和遙遠的星系盡情探索——一點點天文科學，以及無限驚奇。他所描繪的太空船和太空衣，讓你會緊緊地繫上安全帶並繼續閱讀。這場科幻般的飛行之旅既科學又壯觀，享受這趟旅程吧！」 ——比爾．奈爾 Bill Nye｜行星學會（The Planetary Society）CEO 「《在異星的天空下》既迷人又獨特，同時詳盡而準確，是增進我們對宇宙瞭解的極佳導覽。」 ——查克．韋納史密斯Zach Weinersmith｜《星期六早晨的穀物早餐》（Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal）作者、《紐約時報》暢銷書《拯救或毀滅世界的十種新創科技》（Soonish）共同作者 「普雷特帶領我們經歷一趟宇宙之旅——這是為未來太空旅客準備的生動指南。」 ——克萊夫．庫克森 Clive Cookson｜《金融時報》（Financial Times） 「在《在異星的天空下》中，普雷特懷著他一貫的好奇心和幽默感，帶領我們前往太陽系和更遙遠的星空，探索十個迷人的地點。普雷特深入探討了那些絢爛世界的科學知識、也帶有一些科幻色彩，這趟旅程遠超出望遠鏡和太空攝影所能告訴我們，卻讓人身臨其境。」 ——拉明．史奇巴 Ramin Skibba｜《連線》（Wired） 「一本優秀的宇宙指南……普雷特是一位熟練、富有創意和時有遠見的嚮導，帶領我們探索外太空的遠方。」 ——西蒙．英格斯 Simon Ings｜《新科學人》（New Scientist） 「一場迷人的宇宙之旅，穿越太陽系及更遙遠的地方……普雷特是這次探險的完美船長，他生動地將這些外星世界帶入生活，同時巧妙地為這些場景提供了科學見解。」 ——艾什莉．葉格 Ashley Yeager｜《科學新聞》（Science News） 「普雷特引領讀者經歷了一場令人敬畏的宇宙之旅……這本書會改變你對太空的看法。」 ——《出版人週刊》（Publishers Weekly） 「普雷特對太空的瞭解勝過大多數人，但他設法找到了與普通人交流太空的方法……他不僅僅是仰望星空做夢，而是真正想像在群星間度過一個夏天會是什麼感覺。」 ——凱莉．布萊威 Kelly Blewett｜BookPage 「普雷特的描述寫實動人，喚起了人們對旅行的渴望，也使陌生的事物變得具象……這是一趟不凡的旅程。」 ——約翰．基奧 John Keogh｜《書單》（Booklist） 「普雷特向來善於以生動且準確的方式講解前沿科學，這本宇宙導覽書提供了絕佳的機會展現他的解說能力……這是一本令人愉快的讀物，為讀者帶來看待宇宙的新視角。」 ——翟爾斯．史拜羅 Giles Sparrow｜《BBC Sky at Night》雜誌 「由於天文學的進步，我現在對我們的宇宙鄰域，甚至更遠的地方有了更多的瞭解。《在異星的天空下》是你前往這些星空的門票。有了作者兼天文學家普雷特作為嚮導，這本書將帶你穿越宇宙，並在許多奇妙的地方停駐。」 ——克拉－布里．托希爾Clár-Bríd Tohill｜《Physics World》

Unser Planet wird untergehen – ganz sicher. Nur wie und wann, ist noch offen. Die von Philip Plait, einem der angesehensten Astronomen auf unserem dem Untergang geweihten Planeten, präsentierten Weltuntergangsszenarien beschreiben ebenso genau wie unterhaltsam, wie haarscharf wir in der jüngeren Vergangenheit einer finalen Katastrophe entgangen sind und was der Erde und uns den Garaus machen wird: Temperaturextreme, heftige Atmosphären, tödliche Strahlung, Asteroideneinschläge, Supernovaexplosionen, Magnetfelder und vieles mehr. Spannend, lehrreich, wissenschaftlich fundiert und dabei immer leicht verständlich erläutert der Autor die Horrorshow im Weltmaßstab – die ultimative Astronomielektion gleichermaßen für Experten wie Einsteiger, so fesselnd wie ein Science-Fiction-Film und voller erstaunlicher Phänomene.

With humor and wit, this astronomy guide explores some of the possible causes of an inevitable apocalypse and analyzes the probability of their occurrence. Each chapter covers a different phenomenon, from black holes to gamma-ray bursts to supernovae, and explains how it could come to pass and how life would be different if it ever did. Accessible enough for beginning astronomy students yet authoritative enough to be of interest to science buffs, this fascinating book gives a whole new perspective on the end of the world. Con humor e inteligencia, esta guía de astronomía explora algunas de las causas posibles del apocalipsis inevitable y analiza la probabilidad de su incidencia. Cada capítulo cubre un fenómeno diferente, desde los agujeros negros hasta explosiones de rayos gamma y las supernovas, y explica cómo puede ocurrir y cómo la vida sería diferente si llegase a suceder. Suficientemente accesible para los estudiantes principiantes de la astronomía pero con autoridad suficiente para ser de interés a los entusiastas de la ciencia, este libro apasionante da una perspectiva nueva al fin del mundo.