Isaac Asimov's Guide to Earth and Space

by Isaac Asimov

A thrilling nonfiction tour of the cosmos that brings the universe down to Earth, from one of the all-time masters of science fiction.
 
No one makes sense out of science like Isaac Asimov. Are you puzzled by pulsars? Baffled by black holes? Bewildered by the big bang? If so, here are succinct, crystal-clear answers to more than one hundred of the most significant questions about the essential nature of the universe—questions that have fired the imagination since the beginning of history.
 
Over the course of this fantastic voyage, the origins, the discoveries, and the stunning achievements of astronomy will unfold before your eyes. You will experience close encounters with giant planets, exploding stars, distant galaxies, and more. For anyone who has ever asked the ultimate questions, who has ever looked up at the sky and asked What in heaven is going on? , Isaac Asimov’s unique vision, skill, and authority will bring the big picture into focus.
 
“A fine introduction to modern astronomical theory.”— Library Journal

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Astronomy, Space, Physics, History, Popular Science

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

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

[Makmild · Rating 4 out of 5]

เหมือนจะง่ายแต่ไม่ง่าย แต่ไอแซกอธิบายเก่งมากๆ สนุก

คำถามในเล่มเหมือนจะง่ายนะ เช่น โลกมีขนาดเท่าไร (เอ้ย เวลาไอแซกตอบไม่ได้ตอบเป็นตัวเลขอย่างเดียว แต่อธิบายด้วยว่าเราหาขนาดของโลกได้อย่างไร สมัยก่อนมีวิธีแบบไหนก่อนที่จะใช้วิธีในปัจจุบัน) หรือ ถ้าโลกกลม ทำไมเราจึงไม่ลื่นหล่นจากโลก - แบบ ถามจริงงงงง แต่เวลาตอบ ต้องมานั่งคุยกันนะว่าเราตอบแบบที่เด็กอนุบาลเข้าใจได้มั้ย ไปจนถึงเรื่องยากๆ อย่าง พัลซาร์คืออะไร (ขอโทษที่บอกว่ายาก แต่เพิ่งรู้จัก) เพราะฉะนั้นคำถามในเล่มเป็นคำถามที่บางทีเราก็สงสัย แต่ขี้เกียจหาคำตอบหรือมันเป็นเรื่องรอบตัวที่ไม่รู้ว่าจะรู้ไปทำไม แต่พอรู้แล้วมันก็ทำให้เรามองสิ่งต่างๆ ต่างออกไปจากเดิม

คำตอบของไอแซกสนุกมากๆ มีข้อคิด และสอดแทรกประวัติศาสตร์มาเยอะมาก กว่าจะเป็นวิทยาศาสตร์ในปัจจุบันมันผ่านการคิดค้นและการสังเกตมาเยอะมากจริงๆ เป็นอีกเล่มที่อ่านสนุกและเข้าใจง่าย ชอบมากเลยค่ะ ที่ให้สี่ดาวเพราะอยากให้ยาวกว่านี้ 555555555

[Timothy Riley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tons of great information in this, some of those questions you always want to ask but are afraid to sound stupid if you do. It is well written for the layperson but I'm not sure it was well organized. Learned a lot about a subject I knew very little about before this.

[Alejandro De Luca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uno de los libros de divulgación científica de Asimov más fáciles de leer. Preguntas puntuales sobre física y astronomía, con respuestas claras, directas y contundentes.
Es recomendable para niños interesados en las ciencias, especialmente las que se vinculan de alguna forma con la investigación espacial.
La única contra que tiene es que quizás a esta altura algunas de las respuestas hayan quedado desactualizadas.

[Daniel E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear accessible prose from the most prolific author of the last century. Of course it’s great - it’s Asimov.

A fascinating and well-written introduction to our planet and beyond. Asimov is an excellent teacher and this shines throughout this book.

[Liedzeit Liedzeit · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always competent and wity. I like the idea to tell the history of science as question and answers.

[Tibor Konig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Száznál is több rövid fejezet a Föld, a Naprendszer, a Tejút és általában a világegyetem működéséről, fizikus/csillagász szemmel, de érthető és szórakoztató, akár felsős iskolás kortól fogyasztható stílusban. Igazából kérdések és válaszok, előbbiekre íme néhány példa:
- Milyen alakú a Föld?
- Ha gömbölyű, miért nem csúszunk le róla?
- A Föld forog - ha felugrunk, miért ugyanott esünk le, nem kicsit arrébb?
- Miért nem hűl ki a Nap?
- Hol van a galaxisunk központja?
- Milyen öreg a világegyetem?

Közben egy kis tudományosmódszer-ismertetés és némi kultúrtörténeti áttekintés: ki és hogyan jött rá valamire, és hogyan bizonyította, hogy tényleg úgy van?

Néhány területen már rendelkezésre állnak újabb információk, de ez az eredetileg 1991-ben kiadott könyv (ami egy 1966-os korábbira épül) még ma is megállja a helyét.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just a great book. What else can i say.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy learning about why things are the way they are. It goes in detail enough to where I can understand exactly what he is trying to explain. Great book, Great author.

[Polifemo]

¿Cuál es la edad del Universo? ¿Hay vida más allá del sistema solar? ¿De qué están hechos los planetas? ¿Qué es la luz del sol? ¿Qué es un asteroide? ¿Qué son las nebulosas? ¿Qué es el efecto Doppler? ¿Existe un centro del Universo? ¿Qué es un cometa? ¿Cómo se produjo el Big Bang? ¿Qué es un agujero negro? ¿Se mueven las galaxias? ¿Qué es una supernova? ¿Qué produjo los cráteres lunares? ¿Cuál es la edad de la Tierra? ¿Cuál es el origen de terremotos y volcanes? ¿Por qué sopla el viento? ¿Se puede agotar la energía? ¿Qué son las mareas? ¿Cómo se formó la Tierra? ¿Continuará indefinidamente la expansión del Universo? 111 preguntas fundamentales de la astronomía respondidas con claridad y brillantez por Isaac Asimov, maestro indiscutido de la divulgación científica. Un viaje maravilloso por la astronomía, los orígenes, los enigmas, los grandes descubrimientos, los genios científicos… La ciencia al alcance de todos.

[Storm · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you ever thought about bigger picture stuff and were worried you would never be smart enough to understand astrophysics, don't worry. It's not you, it's just that you haven't discovered books like this by Asimov. Asimov is a very learned man, a scientist for the ages, whose real gift is being able to explain things in a very simple manner so that even the most complex subjects are reduced to things most normal people can understand. In essence, he makes the seemingly complicated stuff accessible.

He covers seemingly esoteric things in a straight forward manner, things like:-
🌏 The Earth is round
🌞 It revolves around the sun
💡 Light Speed
☄️ Comets
🌟 Neutron Stars
💫 Pulsars
💥 Super Novas
⚫ Black Holes
🌌 Nebulas and Galaxies

I learned a lot, so it was extremely effective.

[Senthil Kumaran]

This is Asimov’s non-fiction writing. His writing is very lucid and it tries to bring back the questions that a curious child wonders when standing outside and looking at the night sky. Questions like, “What are those shiny things?, Why is it there?, Why is not falling?, Why are so many of them there?, Why is it dark now?, Is sun asleep?, When we travel in a scooter how come moon is also traveling along with us?Can we race ahead of it?”. Those are just fun and very valid questions. Asimov tries to answer them all as it can be understood by the child who asks those questions. The book is simply too good. I really loved it. I read this book along with my friend, Avinash and both of us enjoyed it thoroughly.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book. I was frustrated by NDT’s Astrophysics for People in a Hurry because it only described WHAT we know, not HOW we know it, and I was left wanting more. This book takes longer to read, but it does a fantastic job of explaining how we know everything we know about the universe. Each chapter (just a couple of pages) describes how a particular observation led to a new understanding of some phenomenon. The next chapter then describes how that understanding allowed for new experiments to be designed, which led to new observations and new understanding. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this read.

[Mary Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could spend less than 20 minutes reading a couple sections to my six y.o. son each night. The book was clearly organized by topics that chronologically and thematically built in consecutive sections. Unlike the Giants of Science series that looks like it is for kids, but it is completely problematic, this books stays on point. There was no unnecessary stumbling into the scientists' marriages/affairs/etc. This book is for anyone interested in a straightforward and legible explanation of how our understanding of space has unfolded. There have been new discoveries since, but the book isn't too dated.

[Kavya Chilukuri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back in school, I used to find certain concepts regarding the
universe slightly beyond my understanding,
probably the massiveness of its scope combined with the
lack of knowledge as to the Hows, Whys and Whats played
a role in this.
Asimov on the other hand simply takes up a topic and explains the
the concept along with the story behind the discovery / need for it.
True to its name, this book really serves as a guide to space.
It is a must read for anyone who would like to be introduced to the workings of the Earth, space and the Universe.

[Vicente Edrehira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Desentraña varias dudas sobre los misterios del universo. Un muy buen libro.

[Sebastian Muller Silvestri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pese a los años que tiene sigue siendo un texto de divulgación científica genial para quien quiere conocer aunque sea superficialmente diversos aspectos de la astronomía.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have just read the late Isaac Asimov's book on "Guide to Earth and Space". He was a Humanist a philosopher, thinker, and a well known prolific writer. Known for his works of science fiction and popular science. I ordered his book because of my interest in the Universe and found it very informative reading on the subjects of the formation of Galaxies, Red Giants, White Dwarfs, Supernovas, Nebula our own Solar system, the Sun it's Planets and of course our own home of Earth and Moon.

However our views on beyond the Big Bang are poles apart. In this book he casts aside the concept of Creationism but also grappled as with many Scientists the question of what was beyond the point of the Big Bang.
Such a shame for a great man in his book "It's been a Good Life!" that he died without finding the answer that is God, and hence he was behind the Beginning of our Universe.

As with many others grappling with this problem the eventual answer for them has been the concept of the Big Bang having taken place in a vast, illimitable sea of nothingness has been assumed. Yet presumably within this sea of nothingness there contained energy, hence a tiny point of existence appears where the energy just happened. By blind chance of the forces of random changes to have concentrated itself. Scientist are still struggling with this model to inevitably solve and patch it up as the question as where the energy in this vacuum a sea of nothingness came from,

In Isaac Astimov's own words; "It won't help us to suppose that at that point there was a supernatural creation. For then we would be taking a step backwards to answer where the supernatural entity came from. The shocking answer to which is usually.
"He did not come from anywhere, He always was".

Is that a any more difficult to visualize than that of our existence happened where energy just appeared and combined with blind forces of random changes.This all supposedly occurring within a vast illimited sea of nothingness. Surely the idea of God creating the Universe is more believable and likely than believing in blind forces of chance that would not have existed prior to the creation of the Universe.

After detailing all the facts and information that he has within this book including the laws of nature and the Universe that bind and hold everything in unison, to all that we see here on Earth and beyond. He would as a profound thinker have seen beyond what can be seen, into life beyond.

As the British physicist James Jeans (1877-1946) once stated;
"The universe appears to have been designed by a pure mathematician" As mathematics appears to be almost too effective in describing and explaining not only the Cosmos at large, but even some of the most chaotic of human enterprises.
"How is it possible that mathematics a supposed product of human thought that is independent of experience fits so excellently the objects of phyical reality"? Albert Einstein

In his book "Time and Eternity", Professor William Lane Craig defends the remarkable conclusion that God is indeed timeless.
I think it would have helped this intellegent man and the others who doubt to have acknowledged that God does exist and He is the answer to the Creation of the Universe, it's laws, and everything that holds it together down to our very being and life on Earth.

[JV Maric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Coffee table books were ostensibly a lucrative business in the 70s and 80s, and it's no wonder that one of the most prolific writers in history got in on the action in his latter years. I have previously read Asimov's Guide to the Bible: The Old and New Testaments and Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare, Vols. 1-2 and this the first one that I've read a guide that deals with scientific topis.

I might have been dazzled by he title in combination with the name of a notable sci-fi author, and perhaps my expectations were too high, but this one was not one of my favorites.

The didactic style of Asimov's instructional compendiums is such that the reader assumes the role of an inquisitive child ("How are planets made? What are cosmic rays? How hot is the center of the Sun?") and Asimov himself becomes the sagely professor that tries to simplify things as best as possible, while taking particular care at tracing the history of science using the inventions at hand.

This all works a lot better in a humanities setting, mostly because I could never get past the incongruence of being spoken to in very tractable Simple English, and yet in the same paragraph get overloaded with numbers and physical units to the point where my eyes just started glossing over the text.

The good thing about this one is that Asimov's love of history reflects in the obeisance he gives to all the greats of astrology and physics: as much as possible, every finding is credited to its finder, including their date of life and death and even tidbits about the scientists' personalities and the greater societal context in which these findings were found, eg. ...

The general feeling in earlier times was that the whole purpose of worlds was to carry life, that a world that was empty of life was a wasted world, and that such wasted worlds would not exist.

... giving some of the chapters an unexpected air of profundity.

The bad thing is that the book seemingly expects of the reader at the very least an AP in physics.

There is also a couple of fun facts one can discover themselves while reading a piece of 1988 pop-scientific literature 30 years later. Apparently, at the time of the writing of this book, no planets outside of the Solar system have yet had a visual confirmation and still dwelled in the realm of the hypothetical? Had no idea.

[Prakash Shenoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

How do we know that stars are millions of miles away? How was the moon formed? Is there life on planets that circle other stars? What is a nova? What are black holes?

You will find the answers in this book, and not in long, mind-numbing technicalities. Isaac Asimov’s unique skill and authority have never been better deployed than in this fantastic grand tour of the cosmos. Over the course of this brilliant expedition, the reader will experience close encounters with giant planets, unusual views of pulsating stars, and rendezvous with distant galaxies, as well as the unfolding history of astronomical discovery, beginning with Eratosthenes (who calculated the size of the Earth in 240 B.C.) and ending with the stunning scientific achievements of the present day. In no other book can the intelligent layman get so keen and thorough a summary of the riddles of Earth and space. Asimov deftly reveals the secrets of the universe with explanations that anyone from novice to scholar can understand and enjoy.

[Peter Asper · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Guide to Earth and Space is a great overview of scientific endeavors to answer some of the most basic as well as some of the most complex questions about the world in which we live. I recommend this to anyone who is interested in a quick overview of science for the past two and a half thousand years.

Perhaps the nicest aspect of Asimov's treatment of these many questions is that he gives credit where credit is due where many others dismiss ancient ideas as foolish or insufficiently backed with proof. From the Presocratics to Aristotle, to the Renaissance, and beyond Asimov carefully mentions the names of scientists and thinker who are each worth exploring in their own right. The book as a whole reads like a pleasant anthology of science.

[Richard Croner · Rating 5 out of 5]

The amount of knowledge regarding the universe in this book is simply astounding. After reading this book I am convinced , that even as my life winds down, I know so little. I pretty much knew that before reading this book but it confirmed my opinion. The really interesting fact that showed was just how many individuals in previous century's were thinking and paying attention to concepts regarding our universe. Mind boggling! Of course, if you are the kind of person that wants answers this book may not be for you because its strong point is questions. I read a lot of Asimov's science fiction when I was younger and in my mind this book solidifies his scientific bonafide's.

[Josh T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great, and still to this day very relevant, Asimov book. Took a while to read as it was mostly stuff I have already learned multiple times, so i just picked away at it. A great introduction to a basic understanding of the universe and how we came to know what we know. This is a fairly easy read with tiny chapters, 111 of them, each containing a common question about the universe, an answer, and how we learned what we know about that answer. Not riveting. But a very good beginners book for adult or teenager. The science is mostly still correct in so far as i can recall from my astronomy classes in university etc.

[Sk Muzamil · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to know about stars, space, planets, comets etc than this is perfect book for you. This book is lucid and the things are written very briefly. Yes you heard it right the information is very brief but the best thing is that if you're a beginner towards space and earth then start with this book and after you complete this book go for a new book which occupy much more information than this.
I highly recommend this book to beginners.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to an audio version of this book but I also had a copy of it. I noticed that the audio version skipped sections even though it said unabridged so I'm guessing there are many copies of this book out there. If you like Asimov, this is worth listening to for the enjoyment, even if some of the information is a bit outdated. My version was read by Michael Jackson and it was really pleasant.

[AMY CUTLER · Rating 4 out of 5]

Popular-science can get a bad wrap. Isaac Asimov’s Guide to Earth and Space however offers clear and convincing answers to big questions on physics in a respectful conversational tone. Asimov organized the material as a high-level, roughly chronological tour that began with Earth-centered questions and steadily expanded outward. His use of a Q&A framework made the material bite-sized and easy to follow. An approach that makes complicated concepts approachable to anyone. Asimov emphasizes intuition and the narrative of discovery over heavy mathematics, resulting in an engaging primer. With that said, the information is a bit dated. Nevertheless I enjoyed learning just how much to great fiction writer truly understands about our world.

[Kurt Geisel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a number of Asimov's non-fiction science surveys years ago, and I probably forgot exactly which ones I read. I rediscovered some of these recently and one question that came to mind is whether they've stood the test of time, or have been superseded by recent discoveries and corrections. To the best of my lay knowledge, I found Earth and Space to still be quite valid. I know we've learned a lot since (this was actually one of the later ones--1988), but the firm foundation remains valid and intact.

I think the best quality of the book is that, in addition to learning facts and concepts, Asimov is careful to cite who the discoverers were and how they made their observations. This really helps to build a strong picture of where are knowledge is from and where it is going.

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not exactly the most up to date source, this book still provides a good fundamental understanding of Earthly topics as well as the cosmos at large. Also of note was the inclusion of the historical figures tied to each topic and/or discovery, which provided some context as well as an often-overlooked point of interest.

[John Peel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading Asimov's factual books, because he is so lucid and entertaining. It doesn't matter if he's covering an area I already know about, because he always has some clever little way of imparting facts. This volume deals with what we know of space (up to 1991), how we know it, and who was involved. A lovely guidebook.

[Porter · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not my favorite Asimov book it was still excellent. He has such a comprehensible and interesting way of presenting things and provides such insightful commentary on things. This book was a pretty interesting smattering of relevant and relatable scientific phenomena and facts with some asides and many historical stories about how they came to be known.

[Lee Belbin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Asimov is as good at writing and explaining non-fiction as he is at engaging science fiction. This is an excellent book about the Earth and the universe suitable for encouraging anyone older than about 10.