DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR ASTROPHYSICS FOR PEOPLE IN A HURRY, BY NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON

1. What is your level of scienfic educaon: have you ever had a physics class, for instance? How much do you know, as a non-scienst, of the cosmos — it's history, its present state, and it's possible future, as well as how it works? What have you learned from reading Neil deGrasse Tyson's book?

2. How accessible is Tyson's book to a non-scienst? How much of the informaon are you able to grasp? Consider the slenderness of the book — and the fact that there are only about 200 words on each page. Does the physical slightness of book detract from or enhance your reading experience? Is the book dumbed down?

3. Do you find Astrophysics for People in a Hurry interesng? Has it inspired you to want to learn more about the subject? Or does this book sasfy your level of curiosity?

4. Is there a parcular chapter or topic that you find more interesng than others? Or perhaps find easier — or maybe more difficult — to grasp than others? Consider dark maer or Einstein's General Theory of Relavity? What about the chapter on exoplanets?

5. What does Tyson mean by "cosmic perspecve"? Does his view resonate with you or not? Do you have a different sense of the universe than Tyson?

6. Tyson has a gi for picturesque facts and analogies like the fact that two cubic feet of iridium has the same weight as a Buick … or the fact that a pulsar has about as much density as 100 elephants crammed into a ChapSck case. Are there others that struck you as parcularly helpful or clever?

7. Talk about some of the areas of astrophysics for which we've amassed a fair amount of knowledge …as well as the many mysteries that we sll don't have answers for.

8. How familiar were you with Neil deGrasse Tyson before reading this latest book of his. Have you read any of his other books or arcles? Have you watched any of his television shows, his 2014 sequel to Carl Sagan's Cosmos , for instance. Or perhaps you've seen his Great Courses lectures or listened to StarTalk, his podcast?

Quesons by LitLovers.

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