Astrophysics for People in a Hurry is an excellent introduction to the complexities of astrophysics, presented in an easily accessible way." This is a short book, and I will recommend the audio read by the author. He is very passionate and exuberant about his topics, and it still came across a bit sped up (which I felt it needed.) The different chapters are sometimes previous essays, compiled into this layman's overview of astrophysics - intentionally short, concepts boiled down to the core of where our understanding started, what we know now, and what we do not know. It's clear that the one thing we really have gained understanding of is all that we do not know! Now imagine a world in which everyone, but especially people with power and influence, holds an expanded view of our place in the cosmos. With that perspective, our problems would shrink—or never arise at all—and we could celebrate our earthly differences while shunning the behavior of our predecessors who slaughtered each other because of them. In 1781, British astronomer William Herschel discovered a new planet in our solar system. He wanted to name it after his King, in which case the planets would be called: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and George. More traditional heads prevailed, and planet was named Uranus. :)

CMB was first seen by two American physicists that worked for Bell Telephone Laboratories. They accidentally discovered CMB while trying to develop new channels of communication for AT&T.....and later won the Nobel Prize for this achievement (so that's a nice perk!). In terms of how our planet came to life, we know that it happened through a small dot that expanded at a huge rate. Still, it took 380,000 years to have light separate from matter. 14 billion years have passed by, and stars emerged in the process, one of which is our precious Sun. Lesson 2: Helium was discovered before it was found on Earth. I am always happy to see "normal" people like me interested in sciences instead of not caring or just accepting what they are told instead of questioning and discovering for themselves. Naturally, we can't all be scientists of the first grade, having deep knowledge of every aspect of the natural world (or technology or whatever). However, curiosity only killed the proverbial cat - in reality, it's vital and good.Written in a conversational style, this [ Astrophysics for People in a Hurry] provides an accessible and fascinating introduction to a mindbending subject." Carl Sagan – the man who made many people fall in love with science in the 1980s – had a habit of saying that astrophysics is the science of humility – in addition to science itself being a character-building endeavor.

People who believe they are ignorant of nothing have neither looked for, nor stumbled upon, the boundary between what is known and unknown in the universe." The book offers interesting perspectives on scientific phenomena and how they relate to the broader universe, making it an invaluable resource for anyone looking to better understand the cosmos."He says, “the vacuum of space, instead of being empty, actually seethes with particles and their antimatter counterparts. They pop in and out of existence in pairs, and don’t last long enough to be measured. Their transient existence is captured in their moniker: virtual particles.” (Pg. 110-111) About 13.8 billion years ago, when the universe started expanding from a very high-temperature and high-density state, creating space, time, physical laws and everything else. Which is why “Astrophysics for People in a Hurry” is not only a book about people who don’t have enough time to learn more about the universe but want to.