For thousands of years, stars have been the prime example of something unattainable and unknowable -- places so far away that we can learn almost nothing about them. Yet amazingly, astronomers have been able to discover exactly what stars are made of, how they are born, how they shine, how they die, and how they play a surprisingly direct role in our lives. Over the past century, this research has truly touched the stars, uncovering the essential...

"In the ten years since its publication in 1988, Stephen Hawking's classic work has become a landmark volume in scientific writing, with more than nine million copies in forty languages sold worldwide. That edition was on the cutting edge of what was then known about the origins and nature of the universe. But the intervening years have seen extraordinary advances in the technology of observing both the micro- and the macrocosmic worlds. These observations...

America's most celebrated astrophysicist invites young readers to explore the mysteries of the universe.

"Bringing his cosmic perspective to civilization on Earth, Neil deGrasse Tyson shines new light on the crucial fault lines of our time--war, politics, religion, truth, beauty, gender, and race--in a way that stimulates a deeper sense of unity for us all"--

Provides an in-depth, comprehensive look at the universe with a unique integration of words and pictures. Topics covered include: black holes, galaxies, the solar system, asteroids, meteors, meterorites, stars, quasars and more.

Presents an illustrated guide to the universe and to Earth's relationship to it, moving from theories of creation to humankind's discovery of the cosmos, to general relativity, to space missions, and beyond.

Physicist Brian Greene relates the scientific story behind the research on string theory, which reveals a vision of the universe with new dimensions hidden within the fabric of space, black holes transmuting into elementary particles, rips and punctures in the space-time continuum, and gigantic universes interchangeable with minuscule ones.

"Who can ask for better cosmic tour guides to the universe than Drs. Tyson and Goldsmith?" —Michio Kaku, author of Hyperspace and Parallel Worlds

Our true origins are not just human, or even terrestrial, but in fact cosmic. Drawing on recent scientific breakthroughs and the current cross-pollination among geology, biology, astrophysics, and cosmology, ?Origins? explains the soul-stirring leaps in our understanding of...

Why do we remember the past and not the future? What does it mean for time to "flow"? Do we exist in time or does time exist in us? In lyric, accessible prose, Carlo Rovelli invites us to consider questions about the nature of time that continue to puzzle physicists and philosophers alike.--

Humanity's understanding of the physical world is full of gaps. Not tiny little gaps you can safely ignore--there are huge yawning voids in our basic notions of how the world works. Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson team up to explore everything we don't know about the universe, and while introducing the biggest mysteries in physics, they also helpfully demystify many complicated things we do know. And although the universe is full of weird things that...