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leona's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
4.0
I really rather enjoyed this book.
Cosmic Impacts are an area of astrophysics that particularly fascinates me. Maybe it's the lure of existential dread and the reminder of how feeble humanity is when presented with a threat as powerful and unavoidable as a huge rock hurtling straight towards the planet at unimaginable speeds, with unimaginable force.
I feel this book was written in a very approachable manner, taking things completely back to basics. It never felt 'dumbed down' or simplified, but the author was careful not to overwhelm its readers with too much technical jargon. It introduced some terms I wasn't aware of, such as the 'perihelion' and 'aphelion' of an orbit / asteroid, as well as the distance of an object from Earth (AU). I think a basic understanding of physics would help readers, however for the most part it was pretty 'no nonsense' and straight forward. The information was presented in a logical way, without assuming readers were already aware of things. There were also a few little sci-fi references that helped lighten the tone.
The section talking about the actual impact of a collision was particular fascinating, the sheer scale and force of a possible collision is so immense it is practically incomprehensible. But the opportunity's for mining or deflecting a comet are equally as incomprehensible.
Overall, I feel I learnt a decent amount from this book, or at least it gave me something to think about. I would recommend to anyone curious about threats from space, or someone looking to give themselves some existential dread, or really anyone wanting to learn a little more about asteroids and comets. I definitely see myself rereading sections of this book or reminding myself of some of the statistics in the future. I rate it 4 stars.
Cosmic Impacts are an area of astrophysics that particularly fascinates me. Maybe it's the lure of existential dread and the reminder of how feeble humanity is when presented with a threat as powerful and unavoidable as a huge rock hurtling straight towards the planet at unimaginable speeds, with unimaginable force.
I feel this book was written in a very approachable manner, taking things completely back to basics. It never felt 'dumbed down' or simplified, but the author was careful not to overwhelm its readers with too much technical jargon. It introduced some terms I wasn't aware of, such as the 'perihelion' and 'aphelion' of an orbit / asteroid, as well as the distance of an object from Earth (AU). I think a basic understanding of physics would help readers, however for the most part it was pretty 'no nonsense' and straight forward. The information was presented in a logical way, without assuming readers were already aware of things. There were also a few little sci-fi references that helped lighten the tone.
The section talking about the actual impact of a collision was particular fascinating, the sheer scale and force of a possible collision is so immense it is practically incomprehensible. But the opportunity's for mining or deflecting a comet are equally as incomprehensible.
Overall, I feel I learnt a decent amount from this book, or at least it gave me something to think about. I would recommend to anyone curious about threats from space, or someone looking to give themselves some existential dread, or really anyone wanting to learn a little more about asteroids and comets. I definitely see myself rereading sections of this book or reminding myself of some of the statistics in the future. I rate it 4 stars.
austra_pro's review against another edition
4.0
Nu ko, vēl viena lieliska grāmata šogad, kas jauki saliek pa vietām asteroīdus un komētas, kas klaiņo apkārt tāpat vien vai ar mērķi kaut kur ietriekties. Sākumā man gan bija neliels vīliens, jo autors runāja par to, ko es jau zinu. Šķita, ka esmu iegrābusies uz 0. līmeņa čaiņiku grāmatu, bet tālāk vai nu izrādījās, ka tā 1. līmeņa čaiņiku grāmata (vai ar es tomēr esmu 0. līmeņa čaiņiks). Lai nu kā, uzzināju visādas interesantas lietas, turklāt autors saprot savu publiku (čaiņiki) un neapgrūtina mūs ar sarežģītiem vai vispār jebkādiem vienādojumiem (ok, bija 1, un tas man necik daudz nepatika).
Zinātnē pēdējos gadu desmitos noiets garš un produktīvs ceļš, apzināts tūkstošiem asteroīdu un citu lidojošu objektu, tostarp to orbītas, ir izdomāti dažādi rīcības plāni gadījumam, ja draudētu sadursme, tomēr autors atzīst, ka beigās tas tāpat atdursies pret masu stulbumu, vai tie būtu sazvērestību cienītāji (nekāda asteroīda nav, valdība, NASA un zinātnieki mums melo), reliģiskie fanātiķi (ja mums lemts aiziet ar blīkšķi, tad tā ir Dieviņa griba) vai vienkārši eksperti, kas noklausījušies vienu podkāstu. Un Covid-19 pandēmija pierāda, ka asteroīds/komēta, visticamāk, būtu cilvēces gals, jo mēs jau ne par ko nespējam vienoties, pat ja no tā atkarīga pašu izdzīvošana.
Pluspunkti par katastrofu filmu un grāmatu stipro un vājo vietu analīzi. Iesaku tiem, kam interesē tēma, bet kas nav augstākā čaiņiku līmenī un/vai daudz lasījuši par šiem jautājumiem. Bet vispār, citējot pašu autoru - “fascinating stuff”.
Zinātnē pēdējos gadu desmitos noiets garš un produktīvs ceļš, apzināts tūkstošiem asteroīdu un citu lidojošu objektu, tostarp to orbītas, ir izdomāti dažādi rīcības plāni gadījumam, ja draudētu sadursme, tomēr autors atzīst, ka beigās tas tāpat atdursies pret masu stulbumu, vai tie būtu sazvērestību cienītāji (nekāda asteroīda nav, valdība, NASA un zinātnieki mums melo), reliģiskie fanātiķi (ja mums lemts aiziet ar blīkšķi, tad tā ir Dieviņa griba) vai vienkārši eksperti, kas noklausījušies vienu podkāstu. Un Covid-19 pandēmija pierāda, ka asteroīds/komēta, visticamāk, būtu cilvēces gals, jo mēs jau ne par ko nespējam vienoties, pat ja no tā atkarīga pašu izdzīvošana.
Pluspunkti par katastrofu filmu un grāmatu stipro un vājo vietu analīzi. Iesaku tiem, kam interesē tēma, bet kas nav augstākā čaiņiku līmenī un/vai daudz lasījuši par šiem jautājumiem. Bet vispār, citējot pašu autoru - “fascinating stuff”.
otherwyrld's review against another edition
3.0
This rather slight book does what is says on the cover but doesn't go into real detail. It's not a bad book per se, I just wanted a bit more. The frequent references to science fiction books and films could be either annoying or entertaining depending on you perspective - I leaned more to the latter, being a science fiction fan.
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