Would you enjoy knowing every cataclysmic scenario regarding how the world will end? If you answered yes, you fit into the category of people who can’t get enough of Philip Plait’s newest novel, “Death From The Skies! These Are The Ways The World Will End.”
Plait, who also authored “Bad Astronomy,” is more than eligible to speak about the end of the world. He is an astronomer who worked with both the Cosmic Background Explorer and the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope.
Though the novel discusses the statistics of each impending, possible event, Plait also manages to focus on how our solar system works by definition and example.
Most of these situations won’t happen in our lifetime or even the next, but Plait is sure to remind readers that every event he presents and discusses in great detail is “not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when” it will happen.
Though I am not sure he would love the comparison, Plait is the Bill Nye of astronomy. He gives readers the facts without holding back but intertwines humor in the whole book. The humor, which does not detract from Plait’s intellect, does manage to make the reader at ease, at least for a short while.
After all, this is the real world and not Hollywood. Chances are, when the end of the world does come, humans will not be able to reverse or stop any event as apocalyptic movies often portray.
One of the most important aspects about this book is that Plait gets the reader to think. At the end of the book, there is a 14-page index of all the terms Plait discussed in the book. The index creates a sense of credibility and research that balances the humor throughout.
Such humor, especially in the footnotes, suggests that even someone as smart and serious as Plait can have lighter side.
As Plait says in one footnote, “[t]he very best way to tick off an astronomer is to call him an astrologer,” and in another, he gives readers a phonetics lesson about Theta-1 Orionis, perchance readers would like to make a lasting impression in social circles.
“Death From The Skies!” is well written, researched, comical and, of course, educational. This read is a sure way to keep anyone laughing and learning at the same time — even when “it’s the end of the world as we know it.”
Rating: W W W W 1/2
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