Acclaimed science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov displays his excellent understanding of the physics behind our Universe as he explains the forces that hold the Universe together--and may ultimately tear it apart. From an explanation of the most fundamental forces of nature and their effects, he builds upon the material presented previously to thoroughly explain all known major cosmological phenomena. Interspersed throughout are a bit of anecdotes about scientific history, including how the gravitational constant was determined, how the first quasars and pulsars were discovered, and an introduction to some of astronomy's inside jokes. Very little is left unclear or ignored, and most of what is is that way because it simply was not understood when the book was written (and, in some cases, still is not understood).

The only negative point about this book is that it is, in some ways, very dated. The idea of a closed (and possibly oscillating) Universe that is put forth in the final chapter of the book is no longer in favor in the scientific community, as recent observations (which are widely held to be conclusive) indicate that the expansion of the Universe is not slowing down and may in fact be accelerating. Less outstanding, but much more aggravating, is its use of the obsolete CGS (centimeters-grams-seconds) system of measurement rather than the now-standard MKS (meters-kilograms-seconds) system on which most familiar metric measurements (such as Newtons, Joules, and Watts) are based.

You won't find a better explanation of how the universe began and, using only space, hydrogen, & helium, built everything else from that, alone. This is the simplest, most straight-forward explanation of how gravity can attract enough mass (hydrogen atoms) until the force of gravity crushes those atoms and changes them into heavier atoms in a series of steps that can result in everything from the sequence our sun is undergoing to novas (that create brand-new, extra heavy atoms & blow them out into space to drift, aggregate, and form new stars with planets around them) and - finally - black holes. So simple even a high school student can understand it and then remember the rest of her life. Find this book. Read it. You'll be glad you did. It really is the best of them all.

The universe is a very strange place and to me, the most bizarre objects are black holes. They are things where the gravitational attraction is so strong that not even light can move fast enough to get away. While the complete definition of black holes requires a great deal of sophisticated mathematics, the fundamental principles are easy to understand. No one is better at explaining science and in this thorough, non-mathematical explanation of how black holes can exist, Asimov is at his best.

He starts with the basics of escape velocity and then increases the size of the objects until they are large enough to be black. The steps follow in logical order and all are well explained. If you are interested in the physics of black holes, Asimov will teach you.

Asimov handily explains the workings of the Universe to his point in time (roughly 1986). He organizes the book logically, beginning with basic concepts such as mass and the simple structures of matter, and finishing with the complete cycle of stellar evolution. He explains the birth and death of stars and includes exciting descriptions of the many different forms that stars can take: yellow suns, blue giants, red giants, white dwarves, novas, supernovas, neutron stars, pulsars, and finally black holes. The Collapsing Universe inspired and helped with several of my college compositions and is truly a model of unbeatable descriptions of science writing. A must for anyone interested in studying astronomy for the first time.