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Timothy Ferris

Autor(a) de Coming of Age in the Milky Way

25+ Works 6,154 Membros 63 Críticas 14 Favorited

About the Author

Timothy Ferris was born on August 29, 1944, in Miami, Florida. He graduated from Northwestern University with a B.A. in 1966 and did graduate work from 1966-1967. Ferris is the author of Coming of Age in the Milky Way, for which he was awarded the American Institute of Physics Prize and nominated mostrar mais for a Pulitzer Prize; The Red Limit; The Whole Shebang: A State of the Universe(s) Report; Galaxies; The Mind's Sky; The Science of Liberty: Democracy, Reason, and the Laws of Nature, and other popular books on astronomy and physics. He has received the American Institute of Physics Prize, the American Association for the Advancement of Science Prize, the Klumpke-Roberts Prize, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Books by Ferris have been nominated for the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. His PBS special, The Creation of the Universe, won an Emmy nomination in 1986. In addition to his books, Ferris is a former editor of Rolling Stone magazine and has authored more than 100 articles, essays, and reviews in such publications as Esquire, Nature, The New Republic, The New York Times Book Review, and Reader's Digest. He is a regular contributor to The New Yorker, writes a column for Scientific American, has served as an essayist for The MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour, and is a commentator for National Public Radio's All Things Considered. Ferris produced the Voyager phonograph record, an artifact of human civilization containing music, the sounds of Earth, and encoded photographs, that was launched aboard the Voyager spacecraft. He serves as a consultant to NASA on long-term space exploration policy. A polymath scholar, Ferris has taught in five disciplines at four universities including City University of New York and University of Southern California. Professor Ferris lives with his wife and family in San Francisco and teaches at the University of California, Berkeley, in the departments of journalism and astronomy, where he is an emeritus professor. (Bowker Author Biography) Timothy Ferris, author of seven books on astronomy, regularly contributes to such publications as The New Yorker, Life, Nature, Esquire, & The New York Times Magazine. He wrote & narrated the award-winning PBS television special "The Creation of the Universe." He lives in San Francisco, California. (Bowker Author Biography) mostrar menos
Disambiguation Notice:

(eng) Timothy Ferris, the author of The Whole Shebang and Red Limit, is not the same person as the Tim Ferriss, author of The Four Hour Work Week (note the second "s").

Obras por Timothy Ferris

Coming of Age in the Milky Way (1988) 1,536 exemplares
Seeing in the dark (2003) 448 exemplares
The Future of Spacetime (2002) — Contribuidor — 270 exemplares
Galaxies (1980) 246 exemplares
The Best American Science Writing 2001 (2001) — Editor — 132 exemplares
Life Beyond Earth (1999) 54 exemplares
The Universe and Eye (1993) 41 exemplares
The Creation of the Universe (1985) 3 exemplares

Associated Works

Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track: The Letters of Richard P. Feynman (2005) — Prefácio, algumas edições1,036 exemplares
Gonzo: The Life of Hunter S. Thompson (2007) — Contribuidor — 596 exemplares
NightWatch : A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe, 3rd ed. (1998) — Prefácio, algumas edições368 exemplares
The Second Creation: Makers of the Revolution in Twentieth-Century Physics (1986) — Prefácio, algumas edições187 exemplares
The Best American Science Writing 2000 (2000) — Contribuidor — 165 exemplares
The Big Idea: How Breakthroughs of the Past Shape the Future (2011) — Prefácio — 55 exemplares
Celestial Nights: Visions of an Ancient Land (2001) — Introdução — 21 exemplares
100 Scientific Discoveries that Changed the World (2012) — Prefácio — 19 exemplares
National Geographic Magazine 2015 v227 #1 January (2015) — Contribuidor — 16 exemplares
Night: A Literary Companion (2009) — Contribuidor — 8 exemplares
Galileo Magazine of Science & Fiction September 1979 (1979) — Contribuidor — 8 exemplares

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Membros

Críticas

Although this would seem on the surface to be a book targeted at someone exactly like me, I came away rather disappointed with it. I think, however, that my beef will be one of the things others will see as a strength: Ferris focuses on "backyard stargazers" who have truly substantial resources at their fingertips ... these are not humble stories of people "like you and me," but for the most part very impressive descriptions of "amateur" astronomy at the highest level, fueled by large amounts of money. Thus, it didn't really hit me -- I'm not poor but I'm nowhere near this level -- as I hoped it might.

Your mileage will probably vary. Ferris is a good writer.
… (mais)
½
 
Assinalado
tungsten_peerts | 10 outras críticas | Jan 4, 2024 |
If knowledge is divine, than science is religion. This is the premise behind Ferris' "Science of Liberty," an epic journey beyond how science informs liberalism as a political ideology.

Wildly entertaining, profound and poignant at times, "The Science of Liberty" charts the roots of science to the humanism of Western Enlightenment. It details how rationalists refuted the conventional discourses of Fideism, challenged contemporary interpretations of God or altogether discarded them in their pursuit of comprehending nature.

While entertaining, it is lucid and informative. Indeed, if rationalism is your Creed than "The Science of Liberty" should be your scripture.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
Amarj33t_5ingh | 8 outras críticas | Jul 8, 2022 |
This ambitious work chronicles the history of how humans have come to understand the size, age, and origin of the universe. Given that this book was originally published in 1988, I'm sure that some of the data in the later chapters has since been disproven by more recent research; however, since it is primarily a history, it is not nearly as dated as most 1980's books on astrophysics probably are, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to modern readers with an interest in the history of astronomy and physics.

Coming of Age in the Milky Way is in many ways a formative book for me. I first read it as a teen, and it helped to encourage my love for astronomy and physics (and later, to major in physics at university). The first two sections, which are a history of pre-20th century physics, are the most interesting to me personally. Ferris does an excellent job both of capturing the personalities involved (especially of figures like Galileo, Kepler, and Newton) and of describing the science in a succinct and understandable way. He covers a lot of ground, touching on geology and evolution as well as astronomy. The final section is less interesting to me, as quantum mechanics and the various theories associated with the Big Bang tend to make my head spin, and I kept wondering which 1980's theories are no longer valid today. Still, Coming of Age in the Milky Way is a well-written book that will likely always have a place on my bookshelf.
… (mais)
½
1 vote
Assinalado
Heather39 | 12 outras críticas | Jun 14, 2021 |

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Estatísticas

Obras
25
Also by
11
Membros
6,154
Popularidade
#3,995
Avaliação
4.0
Críticas
63
ISBN
136
Línguas
14
Marcado como favorito
14

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