Cosmos

You might have remembered my little literature based blog post in the middle of this year, where I asked the readers to recommend any titles of interest according to the subjects I tend to find interesting these days. Well, even after no one replied, I have read several books now, roughly about 3 per month. And it's such a great hobby that unfortunately the younger generations tend to avoid, unless it's their homework. There are always exceptions, of course.

I have read books by well known authors such as Richard Dawkins, Dan Brown and Friedrich Nietzsche, each of them specializing in very different topics, yet nonetheless had me profoundly intrigued. At other times I choose for a bit more obscure, religious based books, such as The Divine Comedy and The Satanic Bible. Admittedly, they left a dissapointing taste.

But this is just random rambling I am talking about now. Today, as my final blog of 2011, I would like to review one of the greatest modern scientific books, which is Cosmos, written by Carl Sagan.

Having seen the mini TV series a year ago already, I knew what kind of contents would be waiting inside. But the good man insured readers from the start that even though both media products are based on each other, they are different enough.

And after going through Cosmos a second time, now in literature form, I was once again astonished. It is one of those science books that gradually lets people open their minds about the entire cosmos we have dwelled in since the beginning.

The late Carl Sagan goes through various topics that focus on the universe, civilizations and science. Chapters about the enlightened city of Alexandria, the evolution of galaxies, cosmic explorations and great scientists such as Johannes Kepler, Christiaan Huygens and Isaac Newton make sure that Cosmos has a mixture of things to tell.

Perhaps the best parts about this book for me personally were about discovering each planet further; why Jupiter is so massive and enveloped with enormous amounts of hydrogen and helium, why Venus has such a dense atmosphere with it's thick clouds and why Mars has a red sky, a red surface and gigantic dust storms. Each planet unfolding bits of pieces, it's like opening up a present slowly, given by someone.

Comprehensing this information, especially when talking about how large the observable universe is, how stars, planets and life arise and how the laws of nature work can delightfully develop the mind. Sagan happens to be, one of the most charming scientists I have ever seen and read about. He is one of the key reasons I am inspired to learn as many reasonable things as I possibly can(as many others have done already) about science, astronomy, physics and other fields of knowledge.

My rating system for books is different than other forms of media. I use the star system, to see how it works out and to keep exchanging between the ways of reviewing.

Rating: ***(out of 4)

Finally, dear readers, I wish you all a very promising 2012, full of flourishing living moments.