Book Review: Cosmic Queries by Neil Degrasse Tyson

Happy Thursday bookish people! Today I am bringing you a book review for Cosmic Queries: StarTalk’s Guide to Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We’re Going by Neil Degrasse Tyson with James Trefil. Thank you to Trisha Collins and TLC Book Tours and National Geographic for kindly sending me a copy of this book to review.

This book review is going to be a little different to how I usually do them because there are no plots or characters to rate so what I am going to do is write about the really great parts of the book, what some of the chapters are about and give an overall rating for the book.

I hope you enjoy this book review!

About Cosmic Queries

• Publisher: National Geographic (March 2, 2021)
• Hardcover: 312 pages

In this thought-provoking follow-up to his acclaimed StarTalk book, uber astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson tackles the world’s most important philosophical questions about the universe with wit, wisdom, and cutting-edge science.

For science geeks, space and physics nerds, and all who want to understand their place in the universe, this enlightening new book from Neil deGrasse Tyson offers a unique take on the mysteries and curiosities of the cosmos, building on rich material from his beloved StarTalk podcast.

In these illuminating pages, illustrated with dazzling photos and revealing graphics, Tyson and co-author James Trefil, a renowned physicist and science popularizer, take on the big questions that humanity has been posing for millennia–How did life begin? What is our place in the universe? Are we alone?–and provide answers based on the most current data, observations, and theories.

Populated with paradigm-shifting discoveries that help explain the building blocks of astrophysics, this relatable and entertaining book will engage and inspire readers of all ages, bring sophisticated concepts within reach, and offer a window into the complexities of the cosmos.

For all who loved National Geographic’s StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson, Cosmos: Possible Worlds, and Space Atlas, this new book will take them on more journeys into the wonders of the universe and beyond.

Social Media

Please use the hashtag #CosmicQueries, and tag @tlcbooktours and @startalkradio.

Purchase Links

Amazon | Waterstones

About Neil deGrasse Tyson

Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist with the American Museum of Natural History, host of the hit radio and Emmy-nominated TV show StarTalk, and the New York Times best-selling author of Astrophysics for People in a Hurry and Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military. He lives in New York City.

Follow him on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

The Review!

Okay, so I will start by saying that this is not my usual genre but I found this book incredibly interesting to read through. The author explains philosophical conundrums and other facts about the Universe in a natural, personable and easy to understand way.

One of the things I enjoyed about this book is that it includes various photographs and diagrams which break up the blocks of text and keep the pacing interesting and they also work really well for me because it gives me a visual for the facts that I am reading about. One of my favourite images in the book is of Alberta’s Abraham Lake at night with the Aurora Borealis.

Another thing that I really enjoyed about this book is that pictures of tweets by Neil deGrasse Tyson are spread throughout the book. For me this created a connection with the author, it gave him more of a personality which doesn’t always come through in the text itself. It helped me to understand his thinking a bit better.

In this book there is plenty of information covering lots of different topics such as: How big is the solar system?, Galaxies, naked eye astronomy, Galileo and the telescope, the radio universe, the big bang, planetary migration, the birth of chemistry and the edge of the map of time.

I couldn’t possibly pick a favourite topic or chapter from this book because there is so much information in the book and it was a very new genre to me and I enjoyed the learning experience I got from reading this book.

My overall rating of Cosmic Queries:

I would recommend this book to both those interested in the universe and those that aren’t as much because I feel there is something everyone can take from this book.

That’s it for this book review, I hope you enjoyed it!