Death by Black Hole

And Other Cosmic Quandaries

By: Neil deGrasse Tyson

Narrated by: Dion Graham

Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

“[Tyson] tackles a great range of subjects…with great humor, humility, and—most important—humanity.” —Entertainment Weekly

Neil deGrasse Tyson has a talent for guiding readers through the mysteries of outer space with stunning clarity and almost childlike enthusiasm. Here, Tyson compiles his favorite essays that he wrote for Natural History magazine across a myriad of cosmic topics, from astral life at the frontiers of astrobiology to the movie industry’s feeble efforts to get its night skies right.

Tyson introduces us to the physics of black holes by explaining the gory details of what would happen to our bodies if we fell into one, examining the needless friction between science and religion in the context of historical conflicts, and noting Earth’s progression to “an insignificantly small speck in the cosmos.”

Renowned for his ability to blend content, accessibility, and humor, Tyson is a natural teacher who simplifies some of the most complex concepts in astrophysics while sharing his infectious excitement for our universe.

©2007 Neil deGrasse Tyson (P)2007 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"Tyson takes readers on an exciting journey from Earth's hot springs...to the universe's farthest reaches....witty and entertaining." (Publishers Weekly)
"Smoothly entertaining, full of fascinating tidbits, and frequently humorous, these essays show Tyson as one of today's best popularizers of science." (Kirkus Reviews)
"[Tyson] demonstrates a good feel for explaining science in an intelligible way to interested lay readers; his rather rakish sense of humor should aid in making the book enjoyable." (Library Journal)

Well worth the time

I read a lot of popular science and I really appreciate a well read, well written, presentation of the information. The author, a good choice for reading his own book, gives flavor and enthusiasm to his reading. He knows where he wants the emphasis and conveys his own excitement of the subject with his voice.
This is a basic introduction to the subject of astrophysics, and thus presents no mind-boggling discoveries to those who read or watch this subject closely. He does, however, answer many questions, sometime with speculation, which he freely admits, which I have been asking most of my life.
I listened to this book while I worked around the house, and my reluctance to stop listening gave me the opportunity to get lots of work done in the yard.
I highly recommend the book.

Well written and well read

Neil deGrasse Tyson presents this complex subject in a clear and gripping way. The reader,Dion Graham, has just the right pace and inflection to keep your attention. Normally, this subject requires diagrams to clarify what is being said but this presentation is clear without them.

An absorbing book that I look forward to hearing again.

A decent alternate perspective

The author adequately provided an alternate perspective on many issues facing the scientific community and succeeded in being an enjoyable distration from the daily commute. The only reason this didnt get 5 stars from me was because of the obvious prejudice he demonstrated against Creationism. The author would have been better served had he left out that chapter as I feel he lost a good deal of his objectivity in favor of his dislike for Creationist on the cutting room floor. Up to the final chapter where he expressed more feeling than fact, I would say this is an excellent book. Definately worth the credits if you enjoy science.

Tyson dishes it up and up...good show!

Tyson is an authoratative television personality who also has a great grasp of physics and the universe. This book had such a catchy title, how could I have even passed it up?

While being much more approachable in terms of use of analogy to explain very complex scientific concepts, it is also a sounding board for Tyson to rant on a few topics that drive him crazy about popular culture's views of science.

That said, it was a very fun book and well worth the money. Tyson is fun to listen to and his thoughts travel smoothly from point to point. He introduced me to some new information that I, even as an avid reader of all things science, had not known.

The only thing that could have made this book even stronger, perhaps, would be expansion on some of the scientific thoughts for those of us more versed in science. But Tyson's strength is reaching the common man, and so I wasn't surprised that occasionally very in-depth accounting of scientific preceps didn't meet my voracious appetite's needs.

I'll definitely be re-listening to this every now and again, though. It's wonderful for sitting outside and staring at the amazing sky. Bravo :)

A Boy And His Stick

This is a group of Essays written at different times. This leads to him repeating himself several times. If you did not understand a concept the first time, chances are you will hear it again. I think I heard that Drake came up with the Goldilocks scenario about five times. I found it a bit annoying that he would rant and rave about movie directors, TV producers and even Jodi Foster, saying they should have gotten every nuance correct, when his own book had so many repeats. Sometimes he would say "as mentioned earlier" but, most of the time it was presented as new material.

Thou Doest Protest To Much.

His ranting and raving about shows and movies went on for hours and is done at least twice in the book. Mention it and let's move on.

Since it is different essays, you may enjoy some parts better then others. For instance, every time I hear Boson or Quirks, my brain freezes, but when talking about Galaxies, Quasars, Suns, the expanding Universe etc.., I am all ears. Some parts read like math word problems and some parts are Oh Wow!. I learned a few things and that is the most important thing to me. I came away knowing stuff I did not know before, so cool.

I thought the narrator was great.

Text 5, Narration 1

My star rating is an average of individual ratings for the author and the narrator. Taken for what it is, an anthology of essays, this book gives a good overview of many topics in astrophysics and science in general. As others have noted, if you are familiar with the current state of affairs, there will be little new to you. Tyson is clearly the heir apparent to Carl Sagan as popularizer of science. Someone should have provided the narrator with a pronunciation guide, though. To say that he pronounced non-English names and titles in a sometimes "non-standard" way would be charitable. The thing that set my nerves on edge the most was everytime he referred to the Apollo launch vehicle, the venerable "Saturn V", as the "Saturn Vee", not realizing that the "V" was a Roman numeral and the rocket was called the "Saturn 5". I never got the feeling the reader really understood what he was talking about and, therefore, all the excitement and emotion of Tyson's words came out as flat and forced. Too bad.

Reeaalllyy Bad Narration

Hi. For those who know what I'm talking about - its clear that this narrator has either no a)Interest in or b) Ability to speak in the proper tone about physics and astronomy. The guy narrates it like he's reading Sports Illustrated....his tone is all wrong. Listen to the "Short History of Nearly Everything" sample or "Pulp Physics" to see what good narration can do for a book.

Listen to this book to hear what bad narration can do. I'm not saying the guy is a bad narrator - but his vocal characterisations just AREN'T APPROPRIATE for this type of book.

I've listened to every physics/astronomy book on this site - and I've learned its very difficult to narrate one in an interesting and authoritative way, especially if you aren't a technical person. But pass on this one, it will drive you NUTS!

Great for an introduction to space and astronomy

This is a great read for those looking to get an introduction to Space and Astronomy. The presentation bounces around lots of fascinating space facts and theories that keep you captivated. Even if you are not new to space, astronomy and the solar system, this is a great read. I found myself enjoying the many things I didn't know before and discovering space a new.

Hard to put down

Of the scientific book I listened to lately, this one was probably one of the best. Not just did it provide a comprehensible excursion through astrophysics, it also provided insights into other areas of the physical world and was intellectually quite stimulating...to the point where I had to write an E-mail to the author to ask a question about something I did not understand in the book...and the E-mail was promptly answered by a member of his lab...well worth the read!

A good listen

Very enjoyable, offers brief explanations the sciences behind the objects which we use in everyday life as well as understandable clarifications of the findings in todays scientific frontiers. The author has a gift for making humorous and enlightening analogies and the narrator has an engaging voice. This is an audible offering I shall listen to many times.

Sleepless Nights Ahead!

Slip on the head phones, close your eyes and prepare for a truly captivating journey back to the beginning of time, a sling shot ride forward to the leading edge of space, and all the bits in between as to why it's all there and where it's all heading, superbly explained with a kingsize pinch of playful humour added throughout.

Awesome, book that budget Space Shuttle window seat, the sky at night will never look the same!

Excellent!

An excellent audiobook! Very well explained and (mostly) easy to follow theories and facts about the known and unknown universe. Brilliant for a long, long car journey. A fascinating exploration peppered with humour.

Enthralling collection of Essays

Very well compiled and very well narrated. A fascinating collection of Astronomical essays read and written with love and enthusiasm. A great listen. Packed full of interesting topics.

Great Content Badly Read

Audible is one of the best things since sliced bread. Of the books I've downloaded only one has irritated me to the extent I felt I had to post a review.
The content of this book is amazing, exciting and real. It contains a number of concepts that need to be digested and thought over and this is where the problem lies.
The reader attacks the content in such a way that there's hardly a pause between words and certainly no time to even think about the points made let alone mull them over for a fraction of a second.
I have never heard written words spoken so quickly for so long and I'm amazed that the producer (or whatever the right name is for the overseer of a recording) didn't recognize this and either get a new reader or cancel the production completely.
This may sound a little harsh but I was just not able to get beyond the second hour of what promised to be an amazing journey.
The book is worthy of being re-recorded... with a carefully selected reader. Which brings me to a general question... how are readers selected?

Pretty good

Lots of short digestible chapters touching on most things cosmos related (everything then?) with a bouncy performance. Section 6 onward’s is mostly a rant not worth the listen. Overall pretty good and worth re listening to sometime (only up to section 6). I guess the type of humour crowbarred in fits the type of persons who get paid as cosmologists (or whatever self inflating title they like to use).

The worst clown taking you on a nightmare tour

I have honestly given this guy a try, a few times even. First when I bought it, over a year ago, and again a few months later, and I tried it again earlier this week. But what should indeed be a Journey Through It All becomes a guided tour where after a few block you feel like doing something bad to the guide because of his irritant way of trying to be the superstar himself instead of showing you around.
Both the author as well as the narrator (haven't checked if they're the same or not) think they are the Clown of the Class Room with the worst jokes ever, the most boring 'tongue in cheek' attempts to entertain, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

If through the horrible text a star shines through it is - trust me - because of the strength of the star and is in no way caused by this most boring of books ever to have graced my virtual bookshelf.

Although I have loads of space on my disk, this book is going through the digital destructor.

What an absolute waste of money, time and effort...
Worst audiobook in my wide collection.

Arduous

Have given up listening to this repeatedly as it failed to grab my attention...

Fascinating

This is a fantastic audiobook. The writing is witty and narrated in a way which maintains interest throughout. Very worthwhile and massively interesting. My friend who previously showed no interest in the subject became obsessed with it after listening to this. If you can't make your mind up, choose this one.

left brained

Good stuff within but author rather stuck in his own academic thinking to think outside the box.
Not for those who like to explore other ways of thinking.

Down to Earth, in a space sort of way

I've an inherent interest in anything "space" and physics, but this book is quite superb. The information is presented in an easily understandable way, with technical terms explained. There is subtle humour to keep it light hearted. I've listened to it several times now, and still want to go back for more!
Bravo