# Looking for a book that will tell me about the universe



## columbo1977 (Dec 21, 2014)

Hey all

I am building a Universe in which to write a trilogy and shorts and I am after a book that explains the types of planet, stars, other stellar objects, asteriod fields etc

Just to give me a better base to build on when building my systems and races.

Anyone got any ideas?

Thanks

Graham


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## InstituteMan (Dec 21, 2014)

The original version is a bit dated, but Cosmos​, by Carl Sagan, is a great resource, one of my favorite science books of all time. It should help you out here.


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## Morkonan (Dec 21, 2014)

columbo1977 said:


> Hey all
> 
> I am building a Universe in which to write a trilogy and shorts and I am after a book that explains the types of planet, stars, other stellar objects, asteriod fields etc
> 
> ...



You can get a pretty general education of astronomy, planetology, cosmology, online, just so long as you pick good source material.

http://www.scyc-nj.org/astro_textbook/Chaisson/NAV/FRAMESET/IDC_P100.HTM

The above appears to be a pretty decent explanation of "the basics."

I would also recommend visiting sites like http://www.nasa.gov/ and looking at some of their outreach/education material.

A self-teaching guide in Astronomy would likely give you a pretty good picture of our own solar system and similar systems. This is a pretty well-regarded book for beginners on the subject   Chaison  & McMillan -"Astronomy - A Beginner's Guide to the Universe."  You also might want to look for used textbooks for Astronomy, Planetology, Geology and an introduction to basic physics, to sort of round out your knowledge.

There are also some pretty good free documentaries on sites like Youtube and Hulu. They'd be worth checking out, from time to time.


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## columbo1977 (Dec 22, 2014)

Excellent thanks, I will start on some of this. 

Graham


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## Schrody (Dec 23, 2014)

I know only books about theoretical physics. :-k Like someone mentioned, "Cosmos"


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## Sakurako (Dec 23, 2014)

Michio Kaku (加來紀雄) tends to write a lot regarding the Universe (and Multiverses). You might want to check him out.


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## Schrody (Dec 24, 2014)

Sakurako said:


> Michio Kaku (加來紀雄) tends to write a lot regarding the Universe (and Multiverses). You might want to check him out.



Good recommendation, but I wouldn't say it's for "beginners"


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## aj47 (Dec 24, 2014)

Your mention of asteroid fields reminds me of a book I read by Isaac Asimov.  He wrote kick-butt non-fiction and some of it is the basics.  Hope this helps a little.


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## Morkonan (Dec 25, 2014)

astroannie said:


> Your mention of asteroid fields reminds me of a book I read by Isaac Asimov.  He wrote kick-butt non-fiction and some of it is the basics.  Hope this helps a little.



Absolutely!

IIRC, "Atom" was a brilliant piece of non-fiction work. Recommended reading for anyone, IMO.


I'd also like to note for general discussion that learning about planets and asteroids and moons is somewhat different than "cosmology." Cosmology does sometimes talk about these things, but its focus is not usually on individual celestial objects and systems. To the best of my knowledge, authors like Kaku and even Brian Greene do not go much into such "mundane" subject matter. Instead, they focus on the underlying principles and evolution of "The Universe" and how it is structured and, perhaps, how it evolved. Within such exploration, discussions of black-holes, certain sorts of stars, and even certain types of planets _do_ occur. But, that is because these sorts of objects are extreme examples and, within these examples, clues as to how the Universe is structured may be discovered. It is not because the black-hole exists that cosmology examines it. It's because these represent such an extreme deviation from the norm and their environment is such that the forces there could act to magnify otherwise unknowable properties of the Universe.

That being said, even "astronomy" books don't always go beyond our solar system in their revelation of knowledge. Many primers just cover our system and things one can easily observe using common telescopes. They'll usually talk about other forms of astronomy, true, using non-visible portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. (Even gravitational waves are open for discussion, though our tools and methods to observe those are primitive.) They may talk about observable distant artifacts, like occlusion or gravitational lensing, but many won't even go deeply into why asteroid "belts" form or how one can discover evidence of a solar system being perturbed by the momentary invasion of a stellar object, even if "captured" satellites are discussed.

Frankly, it's "weird."  There's so much source material out there that could serve a writer in crafting a setting for a hard science-fiction story, but the necessary specifics for such a writer are often scattered amongst several subjects. Does one look for books on planetology, cosmology or physics? We haven't even discussed the relatively new science of "Astrobiology!" /boggle Astrobiology, a scientific discipline with only one example to study... Pity the astrobiologist. 

In my opinion, there's no "one" book out there that will give a hard science-fiction writer every bit of knowledge they'd love to have, but don't currently possess. Instead, one has to take a sort of holistic approach, trying to incorporate many different pieces of knowledge about the physical world. So, one would probably be best served by selecting several books, each covering specific areas of knowledge of the natural world. Among these would likely be pop-science books on:

Astronomy
Planetology
Cosmology
Newtonian Physics (For the basics)
Introduction to General and Special Relativity (If one's characters are going to travel anywhere or become involved with certain known properties/effects of gravity/mass/velocity and high energy. Oh, and the weird idea of "time." Can't forget "time," can we? (Even though nobody really knows what it is...))
Astrobiology/Organic Chemistry (IF one is _particularly_ adventurous.  )

So, anyone have a good idea where that book is? If so, I will rush out and buy it! So far, I don't think anyone has written a "Book About Everything." That'd be a cool book to write... Pity I don't know enough.


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## Schrody (Dec 25, 2014)

Well, you could read Bill Bryson's "Short History of Nearly Everything"  

"Black Holes, Baby Universes and Other Essays", "The Grand Design", and some Michio Kaku books start, among with other things, with basics. That includes Newton, Faraday, Maxwell, Bohr, some Schrodinger, Einstein.... some even mention "modern" scientists like Hawking, Tegmark, and so. It's not a complete history of those people, but addressing how it all started. You can't talk about gravity without mentioning Newton, or electromagnetism without Faraday and Maxwell. de Grasse Tyson also has a good read for beginners. 

If you like biology, you could read Dawkins - considering you can get past his snarky and prepotent voice. I believe he is a good scientist, but he shouldn't write his own books 

That's pretty much it. Depending about your preference, you'll never read just one book about the particular theme. And why should you? There's so much great books that could inspire your imagination


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## Morkonan (Dec 26, 2014)

Schrody said:


> Well, you could read Bill Bryson's "Short History of Nearly Everything"



I love that book. 

Somewhat along those lines, for those interested in the general history and evolution of science: "Science: A Four Thousand Year History" by Fara (Outstanding book! Full of info's.), "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" by Kuhn (Wonderfully rendered fictionalized account of the study of consciousness, told through the eyes of Galileo as he meets notable scientists and researchers throughout history. A wonderfully produced and printed book, in its own right, as well.), and, a current favorite of mine, "The Swerve" by Greenblatt. (Pulitzer Prize winner, 'nuff said.)

I'm headed off to the bookstore this weekend for my weekly adventure into the unknown. I will pay special attention to looking for books on general astronomy that serve as a good introduction to system mechanics that sort of thing. Maybe I'll find truly on-target recommendation for the OP. (Or, maybe just something juicy for myself. I'm greedy when it comes down to books...  )


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## InstituteMan (Dec 26, 2014)

Yep, Bryson's brilliant. That's a great read.


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## Schrody (Dec 27, 2014)

Morkonan said:


> I love that book.
> 
> Somewhat along those lines, for those interested in the general history and evolution of science: "Science: A Four Thousand Year History" by Fara (Outstanding book! Full of info's.), "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" by Kuhn (Wonderfully rendered fictionalized account of the study of consciousness, told through the eyes of Galileo as he meets notable scientists and researchers throughout history. A wonderfully produced and printed book, in its own right, as well.), and, a current favorite of mine, "The Swerve" by Greenblatt. (Pulitzer Prize winner, 'nuff said.)
> 
> I'm headed off to the bookstore this weekend for my weekly adventure into the unknown. I will pay special attention to looking for books on general astronomy that serve as a good introduction to system mechanics that sort of thing. Maybe I'll find truly on-target recommendation for the OP. (Or, maybe just something juicy for myself. I'm greedy when it comes down to books...  )



There's a de Grasse Tyson's "Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution"


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## Pidgeon84 (Dec 27, 2014)

The Cosmos is a good start. Michio Kaku is good read. If you want to get a little more advanced read Stephen Hawking.


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## Bruno Spatola (Dec 27, 2014)

Pidgeon84 said:


> Michio Kaka is good read.



Don't call him that to his face!


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## Pidgeon84 (Dec 27, 2014)

Bruno Spatola said:


> Don't call him that to his face!



Yeah, I said it! Come at me brah!


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## SwitchBack (Jan 4, 2015)

columbo1977 said:


> Hey all
> 
> I am building a Universe in which to write a trilogy and shorts and I am after a book that explains the types of planet, stars, other stellar objects, asteriod fields etc
> 
> ...




How much detail are you putting into this world. Cause the universe isn't as simple as stardust. 

Like with ours, each galaxy & star system is absolutely utterly _*different *_from the one beside it. It's the reason why scientists are saying only a couple dozen [maybe a hundred now] planets could be potentially habitable for us. 

Star system A for example could have a gaseous planet, a solid one and a liquid one. 

Star system B - its neighbor - could have twice the amount of planets but only one could be habitable because the rest are either too far from the sun or too close. 



Forget asking for books - go to your local library / college \ university and browse the Cosmology area. Ask the librarian.


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