Coming of Age in the Milky Way

by Timothy Ferris

Book Overview

From the second-century celestial models of Ptolemy to modern-day research institutes and quantum theory, this classic book offers a breathtaking tour of astronomy and the brilliant, eccentric personalities who have shaped it. From the first time mankind had an inkling of the vast space that surrounds us, those who study the universe have had to struggle against political and religious preconceptions. They have included some of the most charismatic,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060535954
• ISBN13: 9780060535957
• Release Date: July 2003
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 512 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.4" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Could become one of the classics

Timothy Ferris is a well-known and unusually gifted non-fiction writer dealing in astronomy. This book, The Coming of Age in the Milky Way, is the book that earned him his famous name. The problem with so many non-fiction books dealing in the so-called "hard sciences" is that the fields change so rapidly that the works very quickly become obsolete. One need look no further than Cosmos by Carl Sagan and even A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking to realize how quickly cutting edge theory becomes yesterday's news. This book is different. Coming of Age is a classic that will withstand the obsolescence of many other books because, rather than promulgating unified theories and multi-universe dimensions, it instead takes an historical approach. It is quite literally the human race coming of age in the field of astronomy beginning with the ancient peoples and the first notions of a round earth, through the classic Greek and Arabian astronomers, through the dark ages to Galileo, Copernicus, and Newton; following through with Einstein and finally the quantum-state theories we have today. Rather than a boring litany of discoveries that one might find in an encyclopedia, Ferris makes his book a rousing discussion of scientists flailing at the unknown and chronicling in detail all the misunderstandings and missteps taken in the drunken, ambling path of cosmic discovery. It's that fallibility in understanding matched with the insatiable curiosity of the human race that makes the work so enlivening and so breathtaking. It becomes impossible not to become entranced with this brotherhood spanning so many ages seeking no more than a deeper understanding of the stars. For many, it will become an historical study in how people think and even why people reach to discover. For anyone who has never heard of Timothy Ferris, this is a terrific book in which to begin. More importantly, for the science-fiction fan who becomes impatient with non-fiction material, Coming of Age reads as quickly and as exciting as any well-written novel in the speculative fiction field. Even better, it provides a solid basis of understanding in physics, astronomy, cosmology, and even some philosophy by the end of the book. Because it's historical, it treats much more the mentality of discovery and tracing the paths of the human race than trying to commit to future theories and, as such, should earn a place in the historical annals many decades from today just as Herodotus and Thucydides are still read today as studies in classical history. It is the one non-fiction book that any strong adherent of science-fiction must read in order to bring new life to their own curiosity and imagination while grounding them firmly in reality. READ MORE AT INCHOATUS.COM

forget Hawking

When Timothy Ferris decided to write a history of Cosmology he very nearly ended up with a book the size of the Cosmos itself. But for the final product, the result of twelve years of work, he pared three volumes of material down to a more manageable 500 pages. In so doing he has given us what must surely be one of the best books of popular science ever written.Science writing, if it is to appeal to us unwashed masses, must achieve two very difficult things : it must render difficult concepts comprehensible to the laymen and it must be exciting enough to hold the reader's interest. Coming of Age... succeeds brilliantly on both grounds. Mr. Ferris tells his story as if it were an adventure tale, the adventure being man's continuing quest to understand the world around him, which has pushed the age of the Earth and the physical boundaries of the Universe back further and further, at the same time that the basic matter that makes up the Universe has been perceived to be smaller and smaller than we first believed. And yet, even as we've come to realize how much more complex things are than we first realized, we've nonetheless made extraordinary progress in understanding them.Meanwhile, Ferris goes beyond the mere theories and gives us a rich set of portraits of the often odd men who made the discoveries : Tycho Brahe with his lead nose; Newton practicing alchemy; Einstein with his various foibles; etc. Though there must surely be some temptation to demonstrate how remarkable these men's' discoveries were by presenting them in all their complexity, Ferris mercifully presents their ideas in terms that we can usually grasp. If things get a little dicey towards the end of the book, and the theories become increasingly obscure and difficult to understand, perhaps it is because they are so new that they have not been thoroughly tested yet. Perhaps their ugliness is an indicator that they are simply untrue. So many of the great physicists have intuitively believed that when it is finally given to us to understand everything about the universe, the answers will be so simple that we will wonder how we could have missed them for so long.At any rate, this is a terrific book, filled with the thrill of discovery and the often amusing stories of the discoverers. If you are one of the millions who gave up on Stephen Hawking's book, but want to know what was in it, try this much easier read. It's got all the same info, but it's actually geared towards those of us who may not already know it all.GRADE : A

Quantum Leap in a book

This is a wonderful book. A fine read, right from the start. Frankly, I am still slightly "giddy" from learning what a quantum leap really is, or at least thinking I have learned. I'm almost 50 but I think this is a wonderful book for younger readers. By younger, I mean older teens and twenty-somethings who will enjoy the entertaining approach to the universe Mr. Ferris provides. I don't currently have the book, it has been loaned to a young friend. I have a few more people in mind to whom I would like to loan the book. Mr Ferris deserves to make a good living (in my opinion), so maybe if you will take my humble word for it and buy this book, you will make up for the fact that I am going to spend the next few years loaning it out to people who won't or can't buy it. I personally read 50+ books a year including 'fatties' like the Ascent of Science by B.Silver. "Coming of Age" is one of my favorites. This book is fun, easy to read, has great stories, and it just kept getting more fun and more interesting right to the end. Buy it. Loan it to someone. Share the fun.

A good history of the sciences and Astronomy in particular.

This book is an excellent tour through history of astronomy and astronomers quest to uncover our place (and time) in the universe. Ferris goes into quite a bit of detail and does not treat his readers with kid gloves. There are many interesting anecdotes about various astronomers and Ferris sometimes gives mini biographies of the more interesting/eccentric of them. Ferris starts with the greek astonomers such has hypocratus, goes through copernicus, kepler, galileo, newton, and then onto the astronmers of the last 200 years. But in his final section, he also talks about how the geosciences, and the theory of evolution began to give us a better perspective of where we fit in the universe not just in space but in time. The last chapters are devoted to the cutting edge of science - quantum physics. Ferris reports discoveries up to the point practically that this book was published! All in all, a good read for anyone interested in science and particularly in Astronomy.

COSMOS on steroids.

This book is an excellent tour through history of astronomy and astronomers quest to uncover our place (and time) in the universe. Ferris goes into quite a bit of detail and does not treat his readers with kid gloves. There are many interesting anecdotes about various astronomers and Ferris sometimes gives mini biographies of the more interesting/eccentric of them. Ferris starts with the greek astonomers such has hypocratus, goes through copernicus, kepler, galileo, newton, and then onto the astronmers of the last 200 years. But in his final section, he also talks about how the geosciences, and the theory of evolution began to give us a better perspective of where we fit in the universe not just in space but in time. The last chapters are devoted to the cutting edge of science - quantum physics. Ferris reports discoveries up to the point practically that this book was published! All in all, a good read for anyone interested in science and particularly in Astronomy.