Lost in Space

Neil deGrasse Tyson, one of the best-known astrophysicists working today, takes readers on a tour of the universe that starts on Earth and ends at the far edge of what we can observe. Lost in Space is built around 5,000 facts, and it treats them as a travel guide: moving outward through the solar system, past the stars, and on to the galaxies beyond.

The book covers how people have explored space, including telescopes and space missions, along with planets, moons, exoplanets, stars, and galaxies. Tyson pairs his scientific authority with a steady stream of jokes, so the learning comes with plenty of laughs. The scale of the cosmos gets some striking numbers. About 100 trillion neutrinos pass through your body every second. A person who weighs 150 pounds on Earth would weigh roughly 380 pounds on Jupiter. Astronomers estimate that the observable universe holds around two trillion galaxies.

The design is as busy as the subject. More than 300 charts, maps, photographs, and infographics fill the pages, including moon maps, archival images, and plenty of nods to pop culture. It is made for dipping into at random or reading straight through, and it suits anyone who likes their astronomy bold, visual, and funny.