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Description edit
The fascinating science behind the eventual end to everything—from the individual to all existence. Although we may try to keep it tucked at the back of our minds, most of us are aware of our own mortality. But few among us know what science, with the help of insights yielded from... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Quotes edit
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“Imagine it's now the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve and the big bang took place at the same time last year. Planet Earth forms in mid-September, cells with nuclei first appear in mid-November, and animals begin colonizing the land on December 21. The first humans evolve just an hour and a half before midnight on December 31. The glory of the Renaissance, the Agricultural and Industrial revolutions, the Space Age, and the rise of computer technology all fit inside the last second of this cosmic year. A human life in this scale model is little more than a tenth of a second.”
- Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
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Earth has seen a half billion species in 4 billion years, and only 2 percent of those are alive now.
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Robert Heinlein—“Always listen to experts. They’ll tell you what can’t be done and why. Then do it.”
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There are five “mass” extinction events—435, 370, 250, 205, and 65 million years ago—plus a similar number of more modest extinctions.
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The liver, lungs and kidneys of a centenarian turtle are indistinguishable from the organs of its teenage counterpart. Turtles have the ability to control the pace of their metabolism.
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The Orionids that peak on October 21 are associated with Halley’s Comet, the Perseids that peak on August 12 are associated with Comet 1862 III, and the Geminids that peak on December 14 are associated with the comet called 3200 Phaethon.
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Human achievement is an occasionally noble, but ultimately futile, effort in the face of an inevitable outcome.
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Scientists steer toward the boundary between what they know and what they don’t know because that’s where the excitement is.
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Apparently, the sudden infusion of oxygen to cells in a shut-down state triggers the self-destruct mechanism that usually protects against cancer.
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Only lens cells inside the eye and the neurons of the cerebral cortex seem be inert and share the age of the person.
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Dalai Lama: “If you are not aware of death, you will fail to take advantage of this special human life.”
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First Sentence edit
Patti Reynolds has been a hairsbreadth from death yet lived to tell the tale.
Authors & Contributors edit
- Chris Impey (Author)
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
- Dewey: 523.19
Subjects edit
- Books › Professional & Technical › Professional Science › Astronomy › Cosmology
- Books › Professional & Technical › Professional Science › Astronomy › Astronomy
- Books › Science › Astronomy › Cosmology
- Books › Science › Physics › Cosmology
- Books › Science › Astronomy › Astronomy
- Books › Science › History & Philosophy
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