Exploring the Earth and the Cosmos

Fórum da Ciência #8

by Isaac Asimov

Con questo compendio di astronomia, fisica, antropologia e geologia, Asimov si propone di farci conoscere le tappe dei progressi dell'uomo, accompagnandoci dall'interno del globo terrestre al cosmo, da oltre quattro miliardi di anni fa al domani, dall'invenzione della ruota al sogno di viaggiare nel tempo. Una materia interessante, che alla storia dell'uomo unisce le ipotesi sul futuro dell'umanità.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Astronomy, History, Reference

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Works of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles, The Foundation Trilogy (1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.

Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.

Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).

People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.

Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.

Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...

Reviews

[Sara Morelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Più interessante la prima parte, le altre un po' datate

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un interessante riassunto del sapere scientifico umano, perfetto per chi capisce poco di scienza ma vuole approfondire. Asimov è perlopiù giustamente noto come scrittore di fantascienza e questa è la prima volta che mi approccio a un suo saggio, ma posso dirmi pienamente soddisfatta. Sebbene alcune informazioni siano probabilmente datate (d'altronde questo libro è stato pubblicato quarant'anni fa) e sebbene non possa dire di avere capito tutto alla perfezione, è evidente la cura che l'autore ha messo nella stesura di questo volume, analizzando la storia delle scoperte fatte dall'uomo in vari campi scientifici. Particolarmente affascinante è la parte dedicata allo spazio, soprattutto perché vengono proposte alcune operazioni che nel frattempo sono state compiute e altre che non sono ancora realtà ma, se lo fossero, potrebbero portare molti progressi positivi nella storia umana. Non mi aspettavo che mi prendesse tanto, ma è un ottimo libro.

[Igor Neox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Покрај големиот број на дела со различни теми (научна фантастика, мистерија, драми, поезија), Асимов има напишано и многу книги од областа на науката (астрономија, математика, физика, хемија, биологија, историја…). Во оваа книга е опфатен голем дел од достигнувањата на човештвото, кое отсекогаш се стремело кон проширување на своите знаења и видици, нешто што континуирано се случува до денес. Каде е границата на човековиот ум и неговите можности?

[Pierre Fortier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Résumé expéditif de l'histoire scientifique sur le temps, l'espace, la matière et l'énergie. Un rappel des éléments fondamentaux de la recherche appris sur les bancs d'école à la fin de notre adolescence. Rafraîchissement intellectuel.

[Liedzeit Liedzeit · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10

[Anthony Faber · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was published earlier than "The measure of the universe" and has a somewhat different emphasis, but there's a significant amoutn of overlap,

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

550 A Asimov has the gift of making astronomy understandable to a science dolt like myself, using parallels to simpler things, (The earth's mountains don't stick out anymore than the nicks on a pool ball, etc.)

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Asimov writes about the universe in a non-fiction format. He was a master at many disciples and the work is very educational and easy to read.

[myriam kisfaludi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Très bon livre de vulgarisation scientifique pour démontrer à quel point l’homme peut faire tomber les Barrières de la connaissance. Un peu froid comme tous les écrits d’Azimov