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You Are Here: A User's Guide to the Universe
The star Rigel is nearly a thousand light years away. If California was a thousand light years long, the bacteria between a movie star's teeth would be like clusters of planets.
Have you boggled your mind today? You Are Here is only 120 pages in the paperback edition, but it contains everything, from quantum foam to the Unobservable Universe.
What science tells about our alien world belongs to all of us, and it can be imagined and grasped and understood. People say that this or that thing is "just too big (or small, or complicated, or weird) to imagine”—but let’s not give up so easily! Let’s see if we can find ways to imagine them. Because science tells us things about where we live that are, in the most literal sense of that overused word, wonderful. And a universe is a terrible thing to waste.
If the Milky Way is Boston, and Andromeda is New York City, the giant elliptical galaxy IC 1101 is the whole of North America. On the same scale, our entire solar system out to Neptune is a grain of sugar in Harvard Square.
EXTRA! Ten pages of notes on everything from cellular slime molds to rogue waves and Dark Energy.
EXTRA EXTRA!! (So exciting, you may have a Lorentz Contraction) "Einstein Sheds Light on Time: The Tale of Zippy the Tourist."
Have you boggled your mind today? You Are Here is only 120 pages in the paperback edition, but it contains everything, from quantum foam to the Unobservable Universe.
What science tells about our alien world belongs to all of us, and it can be imagined and grasped and understood. People say that this or that thing is "just too big (or small, or complicated, or weird) to imagine”—but let’s not give up so easily! Let’s see if we can find ways to imagine them. Because science tells us things about where we live that are, in the most literal sense of that overused word, wonderful. And a universe is a terrible thing to waste.
If the Milky Way is Boston, and Andromeda is New York City, the giant elliptical galaxy IC 1101 is the whole of North America. On the same scale, our entire solar system out to Neptune is a grain of sugar in Harvard Square.
EXTRA! Ten pages of notes on everything from cellular slime molds to rogue waves and Dark Energy.
EXTRA EXTRA!! (So exciting, you may have a Lorentz Contraction) "Einstein Sheds Light on Time: The Tale of Zippy the Tourist."
- GenresScienceNonfictionPhysics
124 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
5 people are currently reading
1220 people want to read
About the author
Richard Farr
6 books89 followersI grew up in England's West Country - one of the world's leading producers of strange names for small villages. I now live in Seattle - the only American city with exactly the same climate.
When I'm not reading, writing, mentoring students and adults (richardfarr.net), or staring out of the window, I enjoy running, hiking and sea kayaking.
When I'm not reading, writing, mentoring students and adults (richardfarr.net), or staring out of the window, I enjoy running, hiking and sea kayaking.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 15, 2015
This book completely took me by surprise. I wasn't sure what I was getting when I started it and I admit, I put it down, let it sit for a bit and then picked it up again. I didn't put it down due to it being bad, I just wasn't in the mood for it at the time.
This book is just FULL of information, delivered in a way that isn't dumbed down or too difficult to understand. It achieved the "Goldilocks" standard of getting difficult information across in a way that was easily accessible to the average person. Just right!
I'm not a big chemistry or physics person. My preferred science is biology, so the whole universe size, quasars, string theory, etc., isn't something that I know very well or even pretend to understand. And this book isn't comprehensive, it's a toe-dip into the topics discussed, but it's a toe-dip that doesn't feel too cold and makes the reader, this reader at least, want to jump in and learn more!
This book isn't perfect, I want MORE darn it! And I want it NOW! How DARE you make me have to actually RESEARCH stuff on my OWN! It's definitely a tease, but not in a bad way.
I did read "Black Holes and Baby Universes" by Hawking when I was younger, but I only managed to catch one word in about ten thousand. In this book, I caught all of the words, except the last two appendices. My brain just went "pop" and was full for the day. I'll definitely go back and re-read it when my brain is a bit more empty.
I also liked how the author admitted that things change and new discoveries are being found every day. He encourages the reader who disputes a fact or has something to add to the conversation to contact him.
I highly recommend this book as a starter for getting into the ideas of the universe, both the tiny and infinite aspects of it. 4.5 stars, because I wanted more and I'm being a brat about not getting it.
This book is just FULL of information, delivered in a way that isn't dumbed down or too difficult to understand. It achieved the "Goldilocks" standard of getting difficult information across in a way that was easily accessible to the average person. Just right!
I'm not a big chemistry or physics person. My preferred science is biology, so the whole universe size, quasars, string theory, etc., isn't something that I know very well or even pretend to understand. And this book isn't comprehensive, it's a toe-dip into the topics discussed, but it's a toe-dip that doesn't feel too cold and makes the reader, this reader at least, want to jump in and learn more!
This book isn't perfect, I want MORE darn it! And I want it NOW! How DARE you make me have to actually RESEARCH stuff on my OWN! It's definitely a tease, but not in a bad way.
I did read "Black Holes and Baby Universes" by Hawking when I was younger, but I only managed to catch one word in about ten thousand. In this book, I caught all of the words, except the last two appendices. My brain just went "pop" and was full for the day. I'll definitely go back and re-read it when my brain is a bit more empty.
I also liked how the author admitted that things change and new discoveries are being found every day. He encourages the reader who disputes a fact or has something to add to the conversation to contact him.
I highly recommend this book as a starter for getting into the ideas of the universe, both the tiny and infinite aspects of it. 4.5 stars, because I wanted more and I'm being a brat about not getting it.
September 24, 2014
Richard Farr's You Are Here: A User's Guide to the Universe is a fast paced, EXTREMELY well researched dip into understanding the scale of our Universe, but it doesn't feel like 'being taught'... Using "Scales" instead of "Chapters", the author has found a very easy way to help readers to enjoy the information they are getting and also to make it easy for them to 'wrap their minds' around the idea of size.
I received this book last night in the mail, and devoured it... I couldn't put it down! Witty writing, coupled with super informative science broken down to laymans terms, describe this book throughout. The comparisons the author comes up with allowed me to get the idea, taking what some might think of as simply dry information and breathing life into it for me.
Mr. Farr, thank you for this. I am glad to have had the opportunity to read your book, sir. (That said, my wife is a bit frustrated with you, since I kept reading out to her your 'highlighted comparisons' - I just couldn't hold in how awesome they were!) Brilliant work, and brilliant way of writing to get the reader involved and happy to come along the for the ride.
Felt like taking a tour of the scale of the Universe, on a ride at Disney's Epcot Center. Bravo!
* I received this book for free, courtesy of GoodReads First Reads*
I received this book last night in the mail, and devoured it... I couldn't put it down! Witty writing, coupled with super informative science broken down to laymans terms, describe this book throughout. The comparisons the author comes up with allowed me to get the idea, taking what some might think of as simply dry information and breathing life into it for me.
Mr. Farr, thank you for this. I am glad to have had the opportunity to read your book, sir. (That said, my wife is a bit frustrated with you, since I kept reading out to her your 'highlighted comparisons' - I just couldn't hold in how awesome they were!) Brilliant work, and brilliant way of writing to get the reader involved and happy to come along the for the ride.
Felt like taking a tour of the scale of the Universe, on a ride at Disney's Epcot Center. Bravo!
* I received this book for free, courtesy of GoodReads First Reads*
August 11, 2017
This is the first book I've won in a giveaway and I took it on holiday with me. I read it while led next to the pool and it took my mind on a journey through the stars and amongst the atoms. Each chapter scales up or down in scale by a factor of ten and explains what you find at that measurement. That might not sound like the most flattering description but believe me it doesn't take long until you are traversing the universe in scales none of us can comprehend. I think it's a great idea to go both big and small at once as each conjurs up truly different worlds.
It's easily accessible to anyone without a background or qualification in science. All you need is a little imagination although everything described is based on our current understanding of Science. The only reason I don't give it five stars is as someone who loves science I found that it left me wanting a little more depth but it is a truly great read and would highly recommend it.
It's easily accessible to anyone without a background or qualification in science. All you need is a little imagination although everything described is based on our current understanding of Science. The only reason I don't give it five stars is as someone who loves science I found that it left me wanting a little more depth but it is a truly great read and would highly recommend it.
November 20, 2014
I received this book last month, with a handwritten card of Richard Farr (thank you so much for your kind words, it was really nice of you), i was currently finishing another book so i couldn't read it that same night. After a few days i saw my brother (28 years) devouring it, he liked it so much that he started to translating the main concepts of the book to my mother (who is not an English speaker).
I read the book in less than a week! is really interesting, and gives you perspective of the world, its dimensions and how small and big can someone be at the same time.
I really loved this book and its now one of my favorites, its really well written and its a breeze of new air from all the novels and books that i usually read.
(sorry for my English, i'm not a native speaker. I live in Montevideo, Uruguay)
* I received this book for free, courtesy of GoodReads First Reads*
I read the book in less than a week! is really interesting, and gives you perspective of the world, its dimensions and how small and big can someone be at the same time.
I really loved this book and its now one of my favorites, its really well written and its a breeze of new air from all the novels and books that i usually read.
(sorry for my English, i'm not a native speaker. I live in Montevideo, Uruguay)
* I received this book for free, courtesy of GoodReads First Reads*
December 6, 2016
This was an interesting read. I was not expecting a book full of facts when I picked this up, but it wasn't boring or too tedious to read. There is enough bite to the writing that your attention is kept, and enough wit that you begin to find yourself enjoying it. I also liked the fact that although the whole book is interconnected, I could put it down between chapters, and not find myself lacking flow. Each chapter is basically a mini essay on the specific scale it addresses. I'll be passing this title along!
January 20, 2015
A combination of wit and tongue in cheek humor made this a very quick and enjoyable read. I loved the concept of explaining the universe in scales.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews