--- product_id: 4460394 title: "Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries" price: "115.54 DT" currency: TND in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.tn/products/4460394-death-by-black-hole-and-other-cosmic-quandaries store_origin: TN region: Tunisia --- # Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries **Price:** 115.54 DT **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries - **How much does it cost?** 115.54 DT with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.tn](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/4460394-death-by-black-hole-and-other-cosmic-quandaries) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description "[Tyson] tackles a great range of subjects…with great humor, humility, and―most important―humanity." ― Entertainment Weekly Loyal readers of the monthly "Universe" essays in Natural History magazine have long recognized Neil deGrasse Tyson's talent for guiding them through the mysteries of the cosmos with clarity and enthusiasm. Bringing together more than forty of Tyson's favorite essays, Death by Black Hole explores a myriad of cosmic topics, from what it would be like to be inside a black hole to the movie industry's feeble efforts to get its night skies right. One of America's best-known astrophysicists, Tyson is a natural teacher who simplifies the complexities of astrophysics while sharing his infectious fascination for our universe. Review: smaismrmilmepoetaleumibunenugttauiras - The title of my review is an anagram for a Latin phrase that translates to "I have observed the most distant planet to have a triple form." Written by Galileo in 1610, its intended purpose was to establish priority for his discovery of Saturn's rings, while continuing his exploration of the planet until he was ready to make a formal announcement. This is just one of the hundreds of interesting facts scattered throughout "Death by Black Hole," a collection of 42 essays by Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, originally published over a twelve year period in Natural History Magazine. "Death by Black Hole" is part of the emerging trend of hard science books written by accredited scientists, which seek to convey complex subject matter to the average reader. You don't see too many of these books because the people who would be needed to write them are usually too busy writing papers with subjects like "Non-LTE Plasma Diffusion in Inhomogeneous Atmospheres." Those gifted with such knowledge mostly write for their peers. Even books written with a mass audience in mind, such as those by Stephen Hawking and Carl Sagan, can be difficult for the lay person to understand. Fortunately, the cosmos has gifted our tiny ocean planet with Tyson, who is quickly becoming the "Mr. Wizard" for a new generation. Although this book is a selection of previously-printed essays, it is edited together to form cohesive ideas about the nature of our universe. The seven sections of the book are divided as follows: 1. The Nature of Knowledge - How are scientists able to presume that the Big Bang occurred 13.7 billion years ago? How can we study the elemental components of a star that has long since died? Tyson looks at the physicality of laws and how science is exploring beyond our five senses. This section gives a good primer on many of the most basic questions those new to cosmology might have, and how our knowledge has expanded throughout history. 2. The Knowledge of Nature - This section is probably the most "scientific" of the book and goes a lot more into the nature of elements. It definitely helps to have a very basic understanding of atoms, matter, electrons, and photons. If you don't, Tyson still explains things fairly well, but you may have to read it a couple times. The next chapters discuss the exploration history of the planets and smaller non-planetary objects (I'm looking at you Pluto), quantum theory, and special relativity. 3. Ways and Means of Nature - Do you like pie? Of course you do, who doesn't? Do you also like pi? If so, chapter eleven is for you as Tyson looks at what makes this constant and others so interesting. And if there's one thing that's important to astrophysics, it's constants. An entire chapter is devoted to the most famous constant of all - the speed of light in a vacuum. Several other chapters are devoted to the important that density and mass have on objects in the universe, star light, radio waves, color, plasma, and heat. 4. The Meaning of Life - A look at how humans developed from all of this cosmic material, and explanation of how all of us are made of star dust. If any of this section is lost on you I encourage you to give it another read, as it's one of the most fascinating in the book when you take it all in. The possibility of life (intelligent or not) in the universe is also expounded on 5. When the Universe Turns Bad - Another fascinating chapter that discusses all the ways the universe "plans to kill us." Whether our sun runs out of hydrogen and envelopes us in a fiery death, or we are hit by an asteroid before we have time to send Bruce Willis into space to blow it up, it is clear that eventually our planet will cease to exist. 6. Science and Culture - How society reacts to cosmic discovery and how that reaction has changed over time. Tyson makes the following statement that I think sums up this section nicely and leads into section 7: "when people believe a tale that conflicts with self-checkable evidence it tells me that people undervalue the role of evidence in formulating an internal belief system." Tyson discusses several examples of this including why our society insists on removing the number 13 from buildings, exclaiming that Polaris (the North Star) is the brightest star in the sky, and why we keep portraying the sun as yellow when it is actually white. 7. Science and God - The presumed disconnect between science and religion, and how some scientists are able to allow their religious faith to coexist with the empirical evidence they know about the universe. As a subject I have often struggled with, I found this to be a very interesting section for Tyson to include, and a great way to end his book. He provides some interesting insight into religion without outright dismissing it as other scientific books have done, and even describes his own views on it (although you have to look for them). Given that it is a collection of self-contained essays, it can seem like some of the chapters don't flow as nicely into each other and seem a little disjointed. However I think the editing does a great job of covering that up and I didn't notice it too much while reading. Some readers may find a few of the chapters a bit too "sciency" for them and hard to grasp, but overall I think the book works very well for the reader who has an interest in the world around them and wants to know more. Neil deGrasse Tyson is probably the foremost expert for bringing difficult material to a general audience and "Death by Black Hole" is no exception. If you're still undecided about purchasing the book, you can read the first 134 pages of it at Publisher WR Norton's web site. Do a search for it by name, the click the "Inside the Book" link from the product page. Review: Gould for the Common Man? - Neil deGrasse Tyson is the current director of the hayden Planetarium and an astrophysicist with the American Museum of Natural History. His picture shows a portly African-American with a wry smile, wearing a vest with astonomical figures perhaps cut from a wizard's robe discarded by Hogwarts. Most likely half of America knows better what he looks and sounds like than I do, since he appears frequently on TV, on the Daily Show and various Fox blathergrounds. I heard him talking about comets for a few minutes on my car radio, and found him very quick, very amusing. A comparison with Stephen Jay Gould is almost inevitable. This book, like most of Gould's, is a selection of Tyson's columns for the magazine Natural History. Tyson has a lighter touch and will be easier going for people without much background in science. He is nowhere near as encyclopedic or allusive as Gould, which will come as a relief to many. Gould wrote, increasingly so over the years, as a Harvard Don, which all the rhetorical flourishes of a man who expects his readers to be very erudite. The danger of such writing is pomposity and condescension. Since I almost became a Harvard Don myself, I have a high tolerance for pomposity, but I find Tyson's writing style delightfully relaxed. Tyson's subject in Death by Black Hole is the astronomical zoo of gravitationally caged objects - stars, planets, comets, asteroids, and Anomalous Flying Objects - in what we still call the Universe, although the name seems less and less appropriate. Tyson back-fills as needed with tidbits of history but his central purpose is to make us acquainted with current observational astronomy. People who "already know all that" will enjoy his witty delivery, while the rest of us will learn quite a lot, quite painlessly. One of the Identified Flying Objects Tyson describes is the asteroid Apophis, which ought to be of maximum interest for anyone under 40 years old. Tyson writes: "On Friday the 13th of April, 2029, an asteroid large enough to fill the Rose Bowl as though it were an egg cup, will fly so close to Earth that it will dip below the altitude of our communication satellites ...If the trajectory of Apophis at close approach passes within a narrow range of altitudes called the Keyhole, the precise influence of Earth's gravity on its orbit will guarantee that seven years later in 2036...the asteroid will hit earth directly, slamming in the Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii." You knew that, didn't you, and you've already made reservations for the observation grandstand on Mt. Whitney? What a show! But Tyson continues: "The tsunami it creates will wipe out the entire west coast of North America, bury Hawaii, and devastate all the land masses of the Pacific Rim." Oops. I'd better warn my grandchildren to sell my house in SF before it's too late. Tyson doesn't mention it, but there's an upside to Apophis -- no need to worry about global warming after all. In fact, Tyson is not all levity about Apophis, or about the inevitable fate of civilization. Later in the book, he discusses what "we" should be doing about our self-preservation in a universe that is far from anthropically perfect for human life, or any kind of life at all. Read it and quake - from laughter as well as fear. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #41,824 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #30 in Astronomy (Books) #32 in Astrophysics & Space Science (Books) #34 in Cosmology (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.7 out of 5 stars 3,445 Reviews | ## Images ![Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61zmaZJyhHL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ smaismrmilmepoetaleumibunenugttauiras *by J***O on January 19, 2012* The title of my review is an anagram for a Latin phrase that translates to "I have observed the most distant planet to have a triple form." Written by Galileo in 1610, its intended purpose was to establish priority for his discovery of Saturn's rings, while continuing his exploration of the planet until he was ready to make a formal announcement. This is just one of the hundreds of interesting facts scattered throughout "Death by Black Hole," a collection of 42 essays by Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, originally published over a twelve year period in Natural History Magazine. "Death by Black Hole" is part of the emerging trend of hard science books written by accredited scientists, which seek to convey complex subject matter to the average reader. You don't see too many of these books because the people who would be needed to write them are usually too busy writing papers with subjects like "Non-LTE Plasma Diffusion in Inhomogeneous Atmospheres." Those gifted with such knowledge mostly write for their peers. Even books written with a mass audience in mind, such as those by Stephen Hawking and Carl Sagan, can be difficult for the lay person to understand. Fortunately, the cosmos has gifted our tiny ocean planet with Tyson, who is quickly becoming the "Mr. Wizard" for a new generation. Although this book is a selection of previously-printed essays, it is edited together to form cohesive ideas about the nature of our universe. The seven sections of the book are divided as follows: 1. The Nature of Knowledge - How are scientists able to presume that the Big Bang occurred 13.7 billion years ago? How can we study the elemental components of a star that has long since died? Tyson looks at the physicality of laws and how science is exploring beyond our five senses. This section gives a good primer on many of the most basic questions those new to cosmology might have, and how our knowledge has expanded throughout history. 2. The Knowledge of Nature - This section is probably the most "scientific" of the book and goes a lot more into the nature of elements. It definitely helps to have a very basic understanding of atoms, matter, electrons, and photons. If you don't, Tyson still explains things fairly well, but you may have to read it a couple times. The next chapters discuss the exploration history of the planets and smaller non-planetary objects (I'm looking at you Pluto), quantum theory, and special relativity. 3. Ways and Means of Nature - Do you like pie? Of course you do, who doesn't? Do you also like pi? If so, chapter eleven is for you as Tyson looks at what makes this constant and others so interesting. And if there's one thing that's important to astrophysics, it's constants. An entire chapter is devoted to the most famous constant of all - the speed of light in a vacuum. Several other chapters are devoted to the important that density and mass have on objects in the universe, star light, radio waves, color, plasma, and heat. 4. The Meaning of Life - A look at how humans developed from all of this cosmic material, and explanation of how all of us are made of star dust. If any of this section is lost on you I encourage you to give it another read, as it's one of the most fascinating in the book when you take it all in. The possibility of life (intelligent or not) in the universe is also expounded on 5. When the Universe Turns Bad - Another fascinating chapter that discusses all the ways the universe "plans to kill us." Whether our sun runs out of hydrogen and envelopes us in a fiery death, or we are hit by an asteroid before we have time to send Bruce Willis into space to blow it up, it is clear that eventually our planet will cease to exist. 6. Science and Culture - How society reacts to cosmic discovery and how that reaction has changed over time. Tyson makes the following statement that I think sums up this section nicely and leads into section 7: "when people believe a tale that conflicts with self-checkable evidence it tells me that people undervalue the role of evidence in formulating an internal belief system." Tyson discusses several examples of this including why our society insists on removing the number 13 from buildings, exclaiming that Polaris (the North Star) is the brightest star in the sky, and why we keep portraying the sun as yellow when it is actually white. 7. Science and God - The presumed disconnect between science and religion, and how some scientists are able to allow their religious faith to coexist with the empirical evidence they know about the universe. As a subject I have often struggled with, I found this to be a very interesting section for Tyson to include, and a great way to end his book. He provides some interesting insight into religion without outright dismissing it as other scientific books have done, and even describes his own views on it (although you have to look for them). Given that it is a collection of self-contained essays, it can seem like some of the chapters don't flow as nicely into each other and seem a little disjointed. However I think the editing does a great job of covering that up and I didn't notice it too much while reading. Some readers may find a few of the chapters a bit too "sciency" for them and hard to grasp, but overall I think the book works very well for the reader who has an interest in the world around them and wants to know more. Neil deGrasse Tyson is probably the foremost expert for bringing difficult material to a general audience and "Death by Black Hole" is no exception. If you're still undecided about purchasing the book, you can read the first 134 pages of it at Publisher WR Norton's web site. Do a search for it by name, the click the "Inside the Book" link from the product page. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Gould for the Common Man? *by G***O on May 17, 2008* Neil deGrasse Tyson is the current director of the hayden Planetarium and an astrophysicist with the American Museum of Natural History. His picture shows a portly African-American with a wry smile, wearing a vest with astonomical figures perhaps cut from a wizard's robe discarded by Hogwarts. Most likely half of America knows better what he looks and sounds like than I do, since he appears frequently on TV, on the Daily Show and various Fox blathergrounds. I heard him talking about comets for a few minutes on my car radio, and found him very quick, very amusing. A comparison with Stephen Jay Gould is almost inevitable. This book, like most of Gould's, is a selection of Tyson's columns for the magazine Natural History. Tyson has a lighter touch and will be easier going for people without much background in science. He is nowhere near as encyclopedic or allusive as Gould, which will come as a relief to many. Gould wrote, increasingly so over the years, as a Harvard Don, which all the rhetorical flourishes of a man who expects his readers to be very erudite. The danger of such writing is pomposity and condescension. Since I almost became a Harvard Don myself, I have a high tolerance for pomposity, but I find Tyson's writing style delightfully relaxed. Tyson's subject in Death by Black Hole is the astronomical zoo of gravitationally caged objects - stars, planets, comets, asteroids, and Anomalous Flying Objects - in what we still call the Universe, although the name seems less and less appropriate. Tyson back-fills as needed with tidbits of history but his central purpose is to make us acquainted with current observational astronomy. People who "already know all that" will enjoy his witty delivery, while the rest of us will learn quite a lot, quite painlessly. One of the Identified Flying Objects Tyson describes is the asteroid Apophis, which ought to be of maximum interest for anyone under 40 years old. Tyson writes: "On Friday the 13th of April, 2029, an asteroid large enough to fill the Rose Bowl as though it were an egg cup, will fly so close to Earth that it will dip below the altitude of our communication satellites ...If the trajectory of Apophis at close approach passes within a narrow range of altitudes called the Keyhole, the precise influence of Earth's gravity on its orbit will guarantee that seven years later in 2036...the asteroid will hit earth directly, slamming in the Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii." You knew that, didn't you, and you've already made reservations for the observation grandstand on Mt. Whitney? What a show! But Tyson continues: "The tsunami it creates will wipe out the entire west coast of North America, bury Hawaii, and devastate all the land masses of the Pacific Rim." Oops. I'd better warn my grandchildren to sell my house in SF before it's too late. Tyson doesn't mention it, but there's an upside to Apophis -- no need to worry about global warming after all. In fact, Tyson is not all levity about Apophis, or about the inevitable fate of civilization. Later in the book, he discusses what "we" should be doing about our self-preservation in a universe that is far from anthropically perfect for human life, or any kind of life at all. Read it and quake - from laughter as well as fear. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Blackhole, who knew? *by J***Y on November 14, 2012* Death by Blackhole, was better than expected. The way Mr. Tyson explains everything made me wish for a science teacher like him 30 years ago. There are more questions than answers after reading this book but this is a good thing. I want to learn more. I would love to go see Mr. Tyson give one of his seminars because he makes space fun for me. The book is detailed & factual but a little long in spots, a great read while in the bathroom, because by the time you get bored you are done. A great read, I recommend it to anyone interested in deep space. ## Frequently Bought Together - Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries - Astrophysics for People in a Hurry - Merlin's Tour of the Universe, Revised and Updated for the Twenty-First Century: A Traveler's Guide to Blue Moons and Black Holes, Mars, Stars, and Everything Far --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.tn/products/4460394-death-by-black-hole-and-other-cosmic-quandaries](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/4460394-death-by-black-hole-and-other-cosmic-quandaries) --- *Product available on Desertcart Tunisia* *Store origin: TN* *Last updated: 2026-06-08*