Reviews

The Story of the Universe in 100 Stars by Florian Freistetter

kukazashi's review against another edition

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informative lighthearted reflective fast-paced

4.0

vessel's review against another edition

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informative inspiring lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

3.5

It's collection of little chapteroids are made to introduce basic astronomical concepts to readers with very little understanding of the topic, which are completely disconnected from one another to enable skipping around. According to his introduction, the author is a highly popular pop-sci writer and podcaster in the German-speaking sphere, and his talents as a science communicator, along with his blogger's spirit really shine through in the concise, snappy chapters.

The self-contained nature of the stories are sometimes to the detriment of the cohesive whole: the content gets quite repetitive after a while when you're being introduced to "new" concepts you already learned multiple times. I was really disappointed by the complete lack of a references section in this book. Maybe the thought process was that a hefty reference section would scare off a more casual science appreciator, but there were certain bold claims that I'd never heard before and immediately wanted to go fact check.
Also, to those who care about this kind of thing as much as I do: not every chapter is literally talking about just one star and it's properties. The titles are mostly jumping off points to discuss one aspect or another of astronomy or history. Some of the titles are not even stars, but other kinds of objects or events.

I picked this book up as a sleep aid, since astronomy and reading in bed tend to make me sleepy, and it did well for that job. Sometimes it made me angry by being redundant or repetitive, but I would say the sleepier I was at the time of reading, the more I enjoyed it. It also made me way more annoying to my niece and nephew whom I can now terrorize better with space based fun facts. I found a handful of mistakes, but overall the translation is clear and good quality. Fine book to go to sleep to. If you are fully awake and more than a little familiar with space stuff, probably read something else.

catastrojb's review against another edition

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informative mysterious fast-paced

4.0

trauermaerchen's review against another edition

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funny informative

4.5

peristasis547's review against another edition

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slow-paced

4.0

goofymango's review against another edition

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informative inspiring reflective relaxing fast-paced

3.75

albastf's review against another edition

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funny informative inspiring reflective relaxing slow-paced

4.0

kittymamers's review against another edition

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4.0

pole täpselt aru saada, mis otstarbeks need kenad lühikesed jutukesed originaalis kirjutatud on - selle kohta, et kohe ühte raamatusse plaanitud olla, sisaldavad nad liiga palju kordusi. aga teema on selline, et mul isiklikult ei jooksnudki külgi mööda alla mitu korda üle lugeda, kuidas tähed tekivad, elavad või surevad, misasi on must auk või pruun kääbus, mitu tähtkuju on ametlikult olemas (88, pole tänu väärt) või kuidas see kosmose uurimine üldiselt käib (gravitatsiooniläätse kontseptsioon on üsna pead plahvatama panev ja spektraalanalüüs pole ka mingi lihtsate killast teema, näiteks).

formaat on valitud nii, et igal peatükil on mõne tähe nimi/number/tähistus pealkirjaks, aga tegelikult tähenärija (hihii) kindlasti kurdaks, et nende pealkirjade all tehakse juttu tihtipeale hoopis muudest asjadest, nt planeetidest või müütidest või kosmose uurimise ja avastamise ajaloost. nii et põhiosas ei ole need konkreetsed 100 tähte ise eriti olulised. eriti kuna mõnda neist pole, tuleb välja, üldse olemas (näiteks Petlemma täht).

raamatu suurim ja erutavam uudis mu jaoks oli aga see, et keset meie galaktikat on rämesuur must auk! see avastati umbes kümme aastat pärast seda, kui ma gümnaasiumis mustadest aukudest füüsika referaadi tegin, ja mitte keegi ei ole suvatsenud mulle helistada ja mu teadmisi värskendada! praeguseks on neil sellest isegi foto olemas. vähemalt võin kinnitada, et TÄPSELT nii olen ma eluaeg musta auku ette kujutanud ka.

cazxxx's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced

4.0

novabarbarossa's review against another edition

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informative reflective medium-paced

3.75