How It Ends – From You to the Universe by Chris Impey; W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., New York, New York; (hard cover) $26.95; April 2010.
Despite the apocalyptic sounding title, the author has crafted an engaging, thoughtful, as well as amusing look at our cosmic mortality.
Chris Impey is a professor in the Astronomy Department at the University of
Arizona in Tucson. His talents in observational cosmology and think-it-through theory shine in this nicely written book – one that not only outlines the reader’s fate, but highlights everything from extremophiles and exoplanets to extraterrestrial life and multi-universes.
Each chapter contains shorter sub-themes, giving the reader a gentle boost through the entire book as the author explores a wide array of themes.
“This is a book about endings,” Impey writes. “Science mostly answers the questions of how things got to be the way they are. Yet if we stop at the present day, the job is only half done, as every good story needs an ending.”
The general reader here, as well as the up-to-date science erudite will find this volume a captivating examination of how things are – and where things are headed. The sweep of subjects Impey embraces makes this narrative unique and novel in approach.
I found his threats to our biosphere particularly compelling, coupled with how the universe ends just in case you still feel too comfy in the cosmos.
The book includes a great set of notes per chapter that plumbs the depths of information that Impey has amassed.
For more information on this book, go to:
http://books.wwnorton.com/books/detail.aspx?id=15587
By Leonard David