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Death from the Skies!: The Science Behind the End of the World Paperback – August 25, 2009

by Philip Plait Ph.D. (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 289 ratings
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With wit, humor, and an infectious love of astronomy that could win over even the science-phobic, this fun and fascinating book reminds us that outer space is anything but remote. The scientist behind the popular website badastronomy.com, Philip Plait presents some of the most fearsome end-of-the-world calamities (for instance, incoming asteroids and planet-swallowing black holes), demystifies the scientific principles at work behind them, and gives us the odds that any of them will step out of the realm of sci-fi to disrupt our quiet corner of the cosmos. The result is a book that is both terrifying and entertaining?a tour of the violent universe we live in, written with an enthusiasm that every stargazer will appreciate.
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  1. Print length
    336 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    August 25, 2009
  4. Dimensions
    7.99 x 5.31 x 0.7 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    0143116045
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0143116042
  7. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"[Plait] describes each doomsday scenario with glee. . . . Yet for all that, his book is strangely comforting."
-The Washington Post Book World

" A surprisingly upbeat look at all the ways the universe can destroy us . . . Eminently readable."
-Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"The enthusiasm Plait has for his subject is not any morbid fascination with the upcoming bang or whimper, but with how much we know now about the universe around us, and he conveys this enthusiasm with pages full of wonder."
-The Commercial Dispatch

About the Author

Phil Plait, Ph.D. is a NASA-funded research astronomer with more than ten years of professional experience. He has written astronomy articles for magazines such as Astronomy, Muse, and Space Illustrated, and has been published in the Boston Globe. Plait has appeared on national radio and TV programs, including the Sci-Fi Channel’s “Countdown to Doomsday” documentary.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Publishing Group; Reprint edition (August 25, 2009)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0143116045
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0143116042
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.7 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.99 x 5.31 x 0.7 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 289 ratings

About the author

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Philip C. Plait

Philip C. Plait

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I'm an astronomer, author, writer, and science communicator - even an evangelizer, if I may! I love science in general and astronomy in particular, and my goal is to get people as excited and passionate about them as I am. I try to write my books to be informative, interesting, and most of all fun. Yes, even the one ("Death from the Skies!") about cosmic apocalyses.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
289 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Book Shark
5.0 out of 5 stars Astronomy can be Explosive Fun
Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2012
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Death From The Skies by Philip Plait, Ph.D.

"Death From The Skies" is the entertaining book about how the universe is trying to kill you. Astronomer Dr. Philip Plait, using the latest in astronomical knowledge, takes us on exciting journey through our universe and enlightens us on the various cosmological hazards that are present. This 336-page book is composed of the following nine chapters: 1. Target Earth: Asteroid and Comet Impacts, 2. Sunburn, 3. The Stellar Fury of Supernovae, 4. Cosmic Blowtorches: Gamma-Ray Bursts, 5. The Bottomless Pits of Black Holes, 6. Alien Attack!, 7. The Death of the Sun, 8. Bright Lights, Big Galaxy, and 9. The End of Everything.

Positives:
1. A well-written, well-researched book that is accessible to the masses.
2. A truly fun way to learn about astronomy and the dangers lurking in our universe.
3. Engaging and humorous tone used.
4. Great format. Each chapter begins with a vignette that is chapter appropriate.
5. Great use of illustrations.
6. Thought-provoking quotes, "Nothing feeds engineering progress like fear".
7. So many fascinating facts that will "blow" you away. I learned so much from this book.
8. The danger of asteroids, and an interesting discussion about the asteroid that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs.
9. An education on the sun. Magnetic fields, flares, solar winds, and coronal mass ejections (CMEs).
10. Supernovas. The different ways stars blow up and the various features of it.
11. The various dangers resulting from novas, supernovas and hypernovas: X-rays, gamma rays and last but not least cosmic rays (CRs).
12. The topical neutrinos and other forms of light.
13. One of the great things about this book is the author's ability to tease the readers with how discoveries came about. As an example, the discovery of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs).
14. Neutron stars the heavy enlightening facts (you see what I did there, oh never mind).
15. An enlightening chapter about black holes. Absolutely mesmerizing.
16. What would a book about astronomy be without the great contributions from the one and only Albert Einstein?
17. A comprehensive look at gravity.
18. For horror fans...the process of spaghettification.
19. Educational brief history of our solar system.
20. Interesting look at the possibility of alien life. Are we alone?
21. The life and inevitable death of our sun. Enlightening indeed. The author does a wonderful job of breaking the life cycle of the sun by stages.
22. An education on galaxies. Our milky way and our neighbors.
23. Supermassive black holes (SMBHs)...oh yeah and every large galaxy has one.
24. The end of everything by stages.
25. The author does a wonderful job of summarizing the wisdom provided in the book. A table was provided that gives the odds of potential damage and our ability to prevent them.
26. An appendix about our nearby stars (less than 1,000 light-years) that will go supernova and all that entails.

Negatives:
1. The book should have had the illustrations in color. Astronomy is a topic that lends itself perfectly for it.
2. No bibliography but the author does make light of other books in particular is inspired by the "Five Ages of the Universe" by Adams and Laughlin.

In summary, who knew that astronomy could be so much fun? Dr. Plait has an engaging style that makes education fun. Astronomy is a fascinating topic and I learned quite a bit from of it. Science writing at its best don't hesitate to get this one. Highly recommended!
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Leo K
4.0 out of 5 stars Great, condense, book for the going-ons of objects in space
Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2016
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I like Phill Plait, and usually find this talks quite informative and entertaining, but this book was a bit of a slog. Despite its interesting topics, the material within it is quite technical and specific, but sadly not original. This is not the fault Phill Plait at all, it's just an observation from someone whose followed read and researched a fair amount on the subject presented within the book.

If you're looking for a comprehensive, yet easy to follow, explanation as to how supernovae, black holes, meteoroids, and the such can destroy the earth, this it a great book to buy. If you're looking for the cliff-note versions of these same topics, watch Phill Plaits PBS Crash Course videos on YouTube. He covers most of these topics and more, plus his videos have pretty graphics.

I gave it 4 stars not because I found the book lacking, but because it was a bit of a chore to read.
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Jon Hilbert
5.0 out of 5 stars Mortality: It's Inevitable
Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2008
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Finished Phil Plait's Death from the Skies. It is customary to drop the negatives later, but first for the negatives, to be be overwhelmed later by the positives and there are many positives: How many? Gobs!

Negative Number One: I showed the cover of the book to my wife and asked her what she thought. Her reaction was "...sleazy, something out of the 1950's. You would expect to see something like that in a grocery store and I would walk right by it." My feelings are, with that cover, instead of the sun, it should have shown a scantily-clad girl with her left hand held up in horror as she saw this giant asteroid coming to destroy the earth. My wife asked who the publisher was. When I told her Penguin (Viking) she was dumbfounded. You would expect a dreadful (ghastly?) cover like this from El Schloko Press. But from Viking? Is the editor still working in journalism? If so, why?

Negative Number Two: Phil Plait, Ph.D. Ph.D. in what? An earned doctorate? Why the Ph.D. on the cover and directly under the title inside. Credential and C.V.'s are usually placed on the book jacket or on a separate page titled "About the Author". Then his experience and education could have been spelled out. Those of us who know his background don't need the resume, but if I were picking up the book, I would wonder about the expertise of this guy.

Negative Number Three: Dr. Plait writes smoothly and cleverly with a great deal of whimsy. But sometimes his cuteness belies the importance of what he is saying. Sometimes his excessive use of humor wipes away the seriousness of what he is saying.

Negative Number Four: How about a glossary and bibliography? It would enhance the quality of this book.

All these negatives? They pale in comparison to the quality of the writing and the facts. I love to catch Ph.D.'s making errors in math and facts. No bonehead errors here. This book is dead on. Just the facts ma'am. He covers the material thoroughly, yet neither dumbs it down nor makes it a grueling slog through a gauntlet of arcane facts shoveled in to make his case. This guy knows how to write. Science writers, astronomers, physicists take note and read how it should be done. I am really not surprised at the quality of his prose as I am a big fan of his "bad astronomy" website.
I would strongly recommend this book in spite of its garish cover. It is fun to read and with Dr. Plait (he has a Ph.D.!) I always learn something new. I thank him for that.
I have simultaneously been reading and highly recommend a book by Fred Adams and Greg Laughlin, The Five Ages of the Universe. Plait references the authors of that tome in Chapter 9 of his book. He acknowledges their fine book as he brings to a close his look at the future of the universe.

Buy this book and throw away the dust jacket as you leave the store.
8 people found this helpful
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Bill Klee
5.0 out of 5 stars If you want to know how it all ends, read this
Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2023
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I haven't technically read this book yet, but I also have the audiobook, which I listened to at least twice a month for a couple of years.
The author lays out several end-times scenarios, ranging from "unlikely at best" to "this will happen, given time", with guidelines of how to prevent it (except for meteor/comet impact and solar flare/coronal mass ejection, the answer is "not much").
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Top reviews from other countries

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David
4.0 out of 5 stars Good writer
Reviewed in Australia on December 31, 2020
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enjoyed
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PiccoSquare
5.0 out of 5 stars Duck!
Reviewed in Canada on February 5, 2016
Verified Purchase
Been a big Phil fan for years. So, ease up, ignore the asteroid. You'll never know anyway.
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Pablo
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
Reviewed in Brazil on December 21, 2014
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This book is simply marvelous. I've learned so many things I thought I already knew. Even if you are an astronomy geek, I believe you have a lot to learn from this book too.
The only problem with this book is one that looks silly, but really gets annoying with time, which is the usage of imperial units almost every time there is the chance. If you're not used to imperial units, you'll feel as lost as me when trying to grasp the numbers shown (as if light-years and parsecs aren't puzzling enough :) ).
But that's that. I'm recommending it to everyone I know and awaiting for a portuguese version!
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J. Lippmann
5.0 out of 5 stars Äußerst informativ, witzig und gruselig
Reviewed in Germany on July 19, 2010
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Eines der besten populärwissenschaftlichen Bücher, das ich je gelesen habe. Phil Plait schreibt mitreißend. Wenn man seine begeisterte Sprechweise kennt, hört man seine Faszination bei jedem Satz förmlich im Kopf. Ich habe öfters beim Lesen lauf aufgelacht (was mir sonst sehr selten passiert). Gleichzeitig scheut er sich nicht, sehr tief ins Detail zu gehen. Er vertraut seinen Lesern, dass sie ihm folgen können, weil er weiß, dass es gerade die Details sind, die die Faszination des Themas ausmachen. Und wenn man meint, vor lauter Ehrfurcht vor der Wissenschaft und dem Horror des gerade geschilderten Untergangsszenarios der Kopf platzt, setzt er einem im nächsten Kapitel ein noch abgedrehteres Armageddon vor. Schön sarkastisch garniert mit einem kleinen Prosa-Abschnitt, um einem das ganze begreifbar zu machen. Und das alles hart wissenschaftlich untermauert.

Das letzte Kapitel über das Ende des Universums spielt mit Zeitskalen, deren Nullen allein einen schon fertigmachen. Es ist das abgedrehteste, was ich je in einem Sachbuch gelesen habe, die Unausweichlichkeit, mit der alles, was wir kennen, einmal hoffnungslos den Kältetod sterben wird, ist profund, deprimierend, aber gleichzeitig auch erhebend.
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A. Drakou
5.0 out of 5 stars Death comes from the skies, but.... no need to worry
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 27, 2009
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I am not sure how many of you know (not personally) Philip Plait. Philip is an astronomer, more specific he is the Bad Astronomer. He is one of my favourite bloggers. I even follow his tweets. He knows a lot about astronomy; his website is a vast source of information, written in a plain, high intellectually and funny way. Seriously, even if you and astronomy don't get along very well, Phil can make you love it.

That's exactly he is doing with his new book "Death From the Skies: These Are the Ways the World Will End". You maybe think that the title is intriguing. It is, but the book is much more intriguing, full of strange astronomical things and events that will spell the doom of Earth.

Asteroids, black holes, solar activity, the Sun becoming a red giant, supernovae and gamma-ray bursts, Alien Attack, Galactic collisions. Well that's it.... the end of world.

There is a huge amount of science in this book. Everything you need to know, to be prepared for the end of the planet and probably the end of cosmos. Which, by the way, is not going to affect you, unless you are planning to be around the next .....1000000 years. Then, you may discover how the dinosaurs felt when the asteroid hit the Earth.

Did I say that the book is also funny? Well, it is. It is a great joy to read. Every chapter stars with a small story. Some of them are excellent science fiction stories of their own. I really loved the Attack of the Aliens; I think it could make a fantastic disaster movie.

Even if you know nothing about astronomy, you will find this book very readable and interesting. Phil, explains everything very well and clearly, and he uses the correct analogies to describe scientific concepts that some may find difficult to understand. Nevertheless, as Phil writes, "Be prepared to stretch your mind a bit".

Talking about stretching, I particularly liked the description of the spaghettification process, when you are falling into a black hole. Maybe it is not the best way to be killed, but as Phil says "the journey there is half the fun".

Actually, the chapter about black holes is my favourite. All these details about the how black holes could destroy Earth, are so .... ouaouou!!! You will be dead by then, of course, unless we manage to build that powerful rocket to produce a thrust for us to escape the gravity of the black hole. Fascinating?

If you haven't yet read this book, do it. It is beautiful, enjoyable and very informative. You are not going to avoid the doom, but that is something you don't need to worry about.

[]
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