Review: "Astrophysics for People in a Hurry" from the point of view of an ordinary human

There is absolutely no need to introduce Neil deGrasse Tyson.

He is an American astrophysicist, Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space in New York City and a huge science popularizer. He also has a great sense of humour. Combine all of these together and you can get a sense of how this book is written. Lots of facts, funny stories and knowledge, packed in a book that's so small you can take it literally anywhere. No more excuses!

The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.
Neil deGrasse Tyson

No matter who you are and what you do for a living, this book is for you. It's beautifully written and you can learn something new in the process of reading.

There's almost no week without some kind of a discovery nowadays. Space, science, tech - you name it. But it's also true to some extent that it's not easy to understand all of the details, because generally these are really technical and it's simply not possible to be acquainted with every branch of science, even when you're a scientist. And Tyson clearly understands that! That's why this book contains knowledge in a form that's pleasant to any reader. There are no equations, algorithms, formulas. They seem to scare lot of people and his goal is different - to spread science.

But there's not only raw science inside that matters. Did I mention the humour?

(An artist coworker of mine once asked whether alien life forms from Europa would be called Europeans. The absence of any other plausible answer forced me to say yes.)
Neil deGrasse Tyson

I know there are many people that would love to understand space better, but they either think it's too complicated or too time-consuming. Worry no more, these 200 pages are all you need to get a grasp of the basics, but not only. Tyson writes about gravity, space, time, forces and many more. It's not too complicated, but please note that it's not the easiest book you'll ever read. It makes you think about life, cosmos, nature and other things - and that's super cool, but I'm not going to promise you won't need to use Google to understand some aspects of the book. Or some concepts at least.

We are stardust brought to life, then empowered by the universe to figure itself out — and we have only just begun.
Neil deGrasse Tyson

There will also be moments when you simply stop reading and say (or think) "wow!". I can guarantee that. And I certainly wish you more of these "wow, I didn't know that" moments than the other. This way you'll quickly understand that science can really be fun and not just all about complicated formulas.

Apart from all the aspects of the book that I deeply enjoyed, I can think of just one disadvantage: pictures. Or the complete lack thereof. Don't get me wrong, I like the way it looks; just a text on a clear page - it makes you use your imagination really hard. But I think that it would be awesome to attach some pictures to better describe everything. Of course, this is not an essential drawback, but if you're a sucker for breathtaking pictures - sadly you won't find any (apart from the cover photo, which is beautiful indeed).

If you're into space or science - this book is definitely worth checking out. You can buy it on Amazon here.

Yes, Einstein was a badass.
Neil deGrasse Tyson