What will I learn about: Grasp the immense scale of the universe by understanding that all of human history fits into the width of a single hair on a cosmic timeline spanning 13.8 billion years?

Grasp the immense scale of the universe by understanding that all of human history fits into the width of a single hair on a cosmic timeline spanning 13.8 billion years.

What will I learn about: why Earth's constant 23.5-degree tilt dictates everything from the constellations we see to the surprising fact that our planet is always exactly 50 percent illuminated?

Discover why Earth's constant 23.5-degree tilt dictates everything from the constellations we see to the surprising fact that our planet is always exactly 50 percent illuminated.

What will I learn about: the counterintuitive relationship between a star's color and its lifespan, where cooler, red stars outlive their hotter, blue counterparts by billions of years?

Understand the counterintuitive relationship between a star's color and its lifespan, where cooler, red stars outlive their hotter, blue counterparts by billions of years.

What will I learn about: Learn how the thermonuclear furnace at the center of our sun creates new elements, and why its eventual depletion will turn our star into an expanding red giant?

Learn how the thermonuclear furnace at the center of our sun creates new elements, and why its eventual depletion will turn our star into an expanding red giant.

What will I learn about: Explore the distinct families of our solar system—rocky terrestrials and low-density gas giants—to finally understand exactly why Pluto doesn't fit the planetary mold?

Explore the distinct families of our solar system—rocky terrestrials and low-density gas giants—to finally understand exactly why Pluto doesn't fit the planetary mold.

Welcome to the Universe

An Astrophysical Tour

Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michael A. Strauss & J. Richard Gott

★ 4.8 / 5(436 ratings)

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Science

If You're Curious About These Questions...

You should listen to this audiobook

💡Have you ever wondered what would happen to your body—and to time itself—if you were to take a plunge into the heart of a black hole?
💡What if the laws of physics actually allow for time travel, and what are the mind-bending requirements needed to build a machine that could take you to the past?
💡Did you know that the entire observable universe was once smaller than an atom, and are you curious about what triggered the explosive growth that created everything we see today?

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Key Takeaways from Welcome to the Universe

✓Grasp the immense scale of the universe by understanding that all of human history fits into the width of a single hair on a cosmic timeline spanning 13.8 billion years.
✓Discover why Earth's constant 23.5-degree tilt dictates everything from the constellations we see to the surprising fact that our planet is always exactly 50 percent illuminated.
✓Understand the counterintuitive relationship between a star's color and its lifespan, where cooler, red stars outlive their hotter, blue counterparts by billions of years.
✓Learn how the thermonuclear furnace at the center of our sun creates new elements, and why its eventual depletion will turn our star into an expanding red giant.
✓Explore the distinct families of our solar system—rocky terrestrials and low-density gas giants—to finally understand exactly why Pluto doesn't fit the planetary mold.

Learning Tools

Reinforce what you learned from Welcome to the Universe

Mind Map

Welcome to the Universe

Earth & Solar System+

Stars & Stellar Evolution+

Light, Distance & Nebulas+

Galaxies & Dark Matter+

Black Holes+

Universe Shape & Expansion+

Time Travel Theories+

Extraterrestrial Life+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 9

According to the text, what is true about the amount of sunlight covering Earth at any given time?

A. It varies significantly depending on the summer or winter solstice.
B. It fluctuates slightly due to Earth's 23.5-degree tilt.
C. It is always exactly 50 percent sunlight and 50 percent darkness.
D. It is greater overall during the Southern Hemisphere's summer.

Question 2 of 9

How does the temperature of a star relate to its overall lifespan?

A. Hotter stars burn through their hydrogen faster and have significantly shorter lifespans than cooler stars.
B. Cooler stars struggle to maintain thermonuclear fusion and die much quicker than hotter stars.
C. The temperature of a star has no significant impact on its lifespan; only its initial mass matters.
D. Hotter stars generate more fuel through fusion, allowing them to live billions of years longer than cooler stars.

Question 3 of 9

Based on the text, why is Pluto no longer considered a proper fit with the other major planets in our solar system?

A. It is made entirely of gas rather than solid rock or ice.
B. It does not have enough mass to maintain a spherical shape.
C. It is slowly drifting out of our solar system and into interstellar space.
D. Its orbit crosses Neptune's and sits at an angle relative to the plane of the other planets.

Question 4 of 9

What is the practical implication of measuring stellar distances in light-years?

A. It means that whenever we observe distant stars, we are actually looking backward in time.
B. It proves that the universe is currently expanding at the speed of light.
C. It shows that light from hotter stars travels faster than light from cooler stars.
D. It allows astronomers to calculate the exact mass of distant galaxies based on light decay.

Question 5 of 9

What primary observation led scientists to postulate the existence of dark matter in the Milky Way?

A. The discovery of supermassive black holes at the center of the galaxy.
B. The sudden disappearance of light from the Orion Nebula.
C. The observation that the galaxy's visible stars do not account for its total calculated mass.
D. The detection of invisible particles blocking the light from distant quasars.

Question 6 of 9

What happens once an object crosses a black hole's Schwarzschild radius (event horizon)?

A. The object is immediately expelled into another galaxy via a theoretical wormhole.
B. The escape velocity exceeds the speed of light, making it impossible for anything, even light, to leave.
C. The object begins to orbit the black hole indefinitely without ever falling into the center.
D. The object experiences a sudden decrease in gravity and freezes in time from an outside perspective.

Question 7 of 9

In the "raisin bread" analogy used to describe the expanding universe, what do the expanding dough and the raisins represent?

A. The dough represents dark matter, and the raisins represent stars.
B. The dough represents time, and the raisins represent black holes.
C. The dough represents expanding galaxies, and the raisins represent the planets within them.
D. The dough represents the space between galaxies, and the raisins represent the galaxies themselves.

Question 8 of 9

According to the text, how might time travel to the past theoretically be achieved without breaking the laws of physics?

A. By traveling in a specialized spaceship that greatly exceeds the speed of light.
B. By entering the center of a supermassive black hole and surviving the spaghettification process.
C. By taking a shortcut through spacetime using a traversable wormhole or a cosmic string.
D. By reversing the expansion of the universe to trigger a localized "big crunch."

Question 9 of 9

What is the primary purpose of the Drake equation as discussed in the text?

A. To estimate the number of intelligent, communicating civilizations in our galaxy.
B. To calculate the exact distance between Earth and the nearest habitable exoplanet.
C. To determine the total lifespan of a star based on its initial mass and core temperature.
D. To measure the probability of liquid water being present on planets like Kepler 62e.

Welcome to the Universe — Full Chapter Overview

1Recommendation
2Finding our place.
3The Sun.
4Inside our solar system.
5Light and cosmic distance.
6Nebulas, galaxies, and dark matter.
7Black holes.
8The universe’s shape.
9Time travel and wormholes.
10Life beyond our solar system.
11Final Summary

Welcome to the Universe Summary & Overview

Welcome to the Universe (2016) is a mind-blowing and breathtaking introduction to astrophysics, based on the popular course the three authors cotaught at Princeton University. It takes everyone –⁠ even the nonscience-minded –⁠ on a trip through the known universe, stopping to examine stars, galaxies, black holes, and more, all while presenting fascinating theories regarding time travel, the big bang, and the prospect of life in other galaxies.

Who Should Listen to Welcome to the Universe?

Star-gazers who want to explore the far reaches of the universe
Budding astrophysicists and astronomers
Anyone curious about space, physics, and time

About the Author: Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michael A. Strauss & J. Richard Gott

Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist, director of the Hayden Planetarium, and host of the podcast StarTalk. He also hosted the popular PBS television show NOVA ScienceNow and received the US National Academy of Sciences Public Welfare Medal in 2015 for his contributions to popular science.

Michael A. Strauss is a professor of astrophysics at Princeton University. He’s known for his expertise on star evolution, discoveries of distant quasars, and work in mapping galaxy distribution.

Richard Gott is a professor of astrophysics at Princeton University. He’s proposed several theories of time travel and made notable contributions to cosmology, general relativity, and Doomsday theory.

Welcome to the Universe

If You're Curious About These Questions...

Listen to Welcome to the Universe — Free Audiobook

Key Takeaways from Welcome to the Universe

Learning Tools

Mind Map

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Welcome to the Universe — Full Chapter Overview

Welcome to the Universe Summary & Overview

Who Should Listen to Welcome to the Universe?

About the Author: Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michael A. Strauss & J. Richard Gott

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