Smithsonian Intimate Guide to the Cosmos: Visualizing the New Realities of Space

I must say that I was a very happy to have stumbled on this book. I have been looking into Astronomy a lot lately and wanted something to act as a good primer, something that not only explained what we currently know about our solar system but our galaxy and, even farther out, our universe, but to also show me. Smithsonian Intimate Guide to the Galaxy did just this and even more than I had hoped. You are immediately taken aback by the breath taking photos of our solar system. Couple this with the narrative nature of Dana Berry, one as though we were there exploring as we moved farther and farther away from Earth, and you feel as though you have a very good view and understanding of our solar system. In addition the scientific breakthroughs of late as well as the possible future of future exploration was titillating. She moves out in to our greater galaxy, exploring other stars, nebula and so on, all the while explaining succinctly what is currently known as well as what is hypothesized. I found that by the end of the book I was well primed for further research, to dig further myself and have a very good general base to stand upon. The only drawback of this book is that it was published in 2004 and the field of astronomy/astrophysics advances so much that the book could become dated very fast. She mentions a lot of missions that were either going to be launched, just being launched or will be launched and you want to know what happened to them, what did they discover. So a good primer to research more. A recommend for a very sound base from which to build upon. 5 stars.

The Smithsonian Intimate Guide to the Cosmos is an informative and engaging read that is more like a personal tour through the Universe with author Dana Berry as our guide. Backed by stunning images, we begin our tour in our own solar system as Barry guides us from there as we pass by the Alpha Centauri system, monstrous black holes, star clusters, and meteors as we drift towards the moment of the Big Bang and the creation of the universe. Barry is an excellent guide and you don't have to know a lot about science/astronomy (or even like it) to be awed and amazed at the wonders of the universe and our place in it. Besides offering an amazing tour Barry also discusses the possibility of life in the universe (how should we communicate with aliens?), spaceflight, how our universe may not be the only one (there may be up to nine others co-existing with ours), the ultimate fate of humans and our home planet and how the universe may one day all end. Though earth may be but a small planet that orbits around a rather average star in the suburbs of the Milky Way, it is still awe-inspiring to learn more about the wonders of the Universe and both its possible origins and ultimate fate. Through astronomy we learn a little more about ourselves. I highly recommend Intimate Guide to the Cosmos to anyone, its engaging and informative and a enlightening read. Here are the chapters: Chapter 1 - Our Place Among the Stars Chapter 2 - Earth and Environs Chapter 3 - Is There Life in Outer Space? Chapter 4 - Other Planets, Other Suns Chapter 5 - The Milky Way and Beyond Chapter 6 - The Starry Messengers Chapter 7 - The Big Picture

Well, it is very comforting to know that the Universe will not end in a "big crunch" and that the Sun will not run out of hydrogen for another five billion years. But jokes aside, didn't you ever wanted to ask someone who knows about life universe and everything, and get a real answer illustrated with awesome pictures? Didn't you ever wanted to listen to someone telling the story of cosmos in a clear, understandable, yet scientific language with all the terminology and the buzz words? Didn't you ever try to read about latest discovery in astrophysics just to find out that the writer either overloads you with the facts that you would never understand anyway or tells it in such baby terms that you fall asleep before finishing the second sentence? For a person who has always been interested in the secrets of the Universe but never had enough time to keep up with the scientific news, for a person who wants to dazzle his kids with explanations how the stars work but realizes that the phrase "they are very hot" no longer cuts it, for a person like myself, this book is a real treasure. What made this book so unique is author's amalgamation of skills and experience. He is a talented artist, knowledgeable scientist, and a great writer with unbelievable access to the vast graphical material some of which he probably created himself during his association with Hubble and Chandra programs. This book should be in every household. It is a fantastic reference to the world around us from Sun to the back wall of the Universe and even beyond.