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A review by leona
Cosmic Impact: Understanding the Threat to Earth from Asteroids and Comets by Andrew May
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
4.0
I really rather enjoyed this book.
Cosmic Impacts are an area of astrophysics that particularly fascinates me. Maybe it's the lure of existential dread and the reminder of how feeble humanity is when presented with a threat as powerful and unavoidable as a huge rock hurtling straight towards the planet at unimaginable speeds, with unimaginable force.
I feel this book was written in a very approachable manner, taking things completely back to basics. It never felt 'dumbed down' or simplified, but the author was careful not to overwhelm its readers with too much technical jargon. It introduced some terms I wasn't aware of, such as the 'perihelion' and 'aphelion' of an orbit / asteroid, as well as the distance of an object from Earth (AU). I think a basic understanding of physics would help readers, however for the most part it was pretty 'no nonsense' and straight forward. The information was presented in a logical way, without assuming readers were already aware of things. There were also a few little sci-fi references that helped lighten the tone.
The section talking about the actual impact of a collision was particular fascinating, the sheer scale and force of a possible collision is so immense it is practically incomprehensible. But the opportunity's for mining or deflecting a comet are equally as incomprehensible.
Overall, I feel I learnt a decent amount from this book, or at least it gave me something to think about. I would recommend to anyone curious about threats from space, or someone looking to give themselves some existential dread, or really anyone wanting to learn a little more about asteroids and comets. I definitely see myself rereading sections of this book or reminding myself of some of the statistics in the future. I rate it 4 stars.
Cosmic Impacts are an area of astrophysics that particularly fascinates me. Maybe it's the lure of existential dread and the reminder of how feeble humanity is when presented with a threat as powerful and unavoidable as a huge rock hurtling straight towards the planet at unimaginable speeds, with unimaginable force.
I feel this book was written in a very approachable manner, taking things completely back to basics. It never felt 'dumbed down' or simplified, but the author was careful not to overwhelm its readers with too much technical jargon. It introduced some terms I wasn't aware of, such as the 'perihelion' and 'aphelion' of an orbit / asteroid, as well as the distance of an object from Earth (AU). I think a basic understanding of physics would help readers, however for the most part it was pretty 'no nonsense' and straight forward. The information was presented in a logical way, without assuming readers were already aware of things. There were also a few little sci-fi references that helped lighten the tone.
The section talking about the actual impact of a collision was particular fascinating, the sheer scale and force of a possible collision is so immense it is practically incomprehensible. But the opportunity's for mining or deflecting a comet are equally as incomprehensible.
Overall, I feel I learnt a decent amount from this book, or at least it gave me something to think about. I would recommend to anyone curious about threats from space, or someone looking to give themselves some existential dread, or really anyone wanting to learn a little more about asteroids and comets. I definitely see myself rereading sections of this book or reminding myself of some of the statistics in the future. I rate it 4 stars.