Space at the Speed of Light: The History of 14 Billion Years for People Short on Time

Dr. Becky Smethurst

Jun 2020 · Sold by Ten Speed Press

About this ebook

From the big bang to black holes, this fast-paced illustrated tour of time and space for the astro-curious unlocks the science of the stars to reveal fascinating theories, surprising discoveries, and ongoing mysteries in modern astronomy and astrophysics.

Before the big bang, time, space, and matter didn't exist. In the 14 billion years since, scientists have pointed their telescopes upward, peering outward in space and backward in time, developing and refining theories to explain the weird and wonderful phenomena they observed. Through these observations, we now understand concepts like the size of the universe (still expanding), the distance to the next-nearest star from earth (Alpha Centauri, 26 trillion miles) and what drives the formation of elements (nuclear fusion), planets and galaxies (gravity), and black holes (gravitational collapse). But are these cosmological questions definitively answered or is there more to discover?

Oxford University astrophysicist and popular YouTube personality Dr. Becky Smethurst presents everything you need to know about the universe in ten accessible and engagingly illustrated lessons. In Space at the Speed of Light: The History of 14 Billion Years for People Short on Time, she guides you through fundamental questions, both answered and unanswered, posed by space scientists. Why does gravity matter? How do we know the big bang happened? What is dark matter? Do aliens exist? Why is the sky dark at night? If you have ever looked up at night and wondered how it all works, you will find answers--and many more questions--in this pocket-sized tour of the universe!

Ratings and reviews

love the part becky explained statistically the chance of finding earth like candidate in our universe. never thought of that! i’m excited. learnt something new again. this book is suitable for all readers including those started to develop interest in astronomy. A great leisure reading material with very easy to understand and interesting content. The reason of not rating it perfect was due to my own unrealistic expectation on the book actually. I was hoping to be told latest and new information that have not widely shared and discussed yet in astro community on almost every page of the book😅. Actually I’m a big fan to Becky’s youtube videos - can’t wait to watch her December update.

A good read. Most books on science end up filled with jargon that won't make sense to the majority of people but Becky keeps things simple while presenting information about some of the most complex things in the Universe. Glad to have bought and read it.

About the author

Dr. Becky Smethurst is an astrophysicist and research fellow at the University of Oxford. Her current research is focused on the question of how galaxies and black holes evolve together. Her weekly YouTube videos explain unsolved cosmological mysteries, weird objects found in space, and general space news. Dr. Smethurst also presents physics videos for the YouTube channel Sixty Symbols and astronomy videos for Deep Sky Videos. She was shortlisted for an Early Career Physics Communicator Award by the Institute of Physics and was named Audience Winner in the UK national finals of the FameLab competition.

Justin Van Genderen is an illustrator and artist whose work is inspired by science, space, and imagination.