StarTalk Radio

And if you read the book that I'm here partly to plug The Last Testament to Memoir by Guy, you'll learn that I have three children, Zach, Jesus and Kathy.

And they are my three children. Jesus is my middle child and this was a lot of what happened with Jesus because he had a middle child thing happening.

if you read the book that I'm here partly to plug, The Last Testament to memoir by Guy, you'll learn that I have three children, Zack, Jesus, and Kathy, and they are my three children.

And if you read the book that I'm here partly to plug The Last Testament to Memoir by Guy, you'll learn that I have three children, Zach, Jesus and Kathy.

and this was a lot of what happened with Jesus because he had a middle child thing happening.

and if you read the book that I'm here partly to plug, The Last Testament, a memoir by Guy, you'll learn that I have three children

it's available now with hardcover and paperback, this audio version

In fact, the name which Carl Sagan co-authored. Yeah, actually that's a translation of the original Russian book written by, how do you pronounce the name? Shklovsky. Shklovsky is very hard to say.

It's one of the first books of its kind to be published, probably a scientific, re-informed assessment of life in the universe.

Very, very precisely scientifically informed assessment of a topic that people always thought was so fluffy and science fictiony that serious scientists never paid attention to it.

And in preparation for that the assignment was to read the book Intelligent life in the universe.

Which Carl Sagan co-authored.

It's one of the first books of its kind to be published. Probably. A scientific, re-informed assessment of life in the universe.

In fact, the name which Carl Sagan co-authored. Yeah. Actually, that's a translation of the original Russian book written by, how do you pronounce the name? Shklovsky. Shklovsky is very hard to say.

The assignment was to read the book Intelligent life in the universe in preparation for that.

It's one of the first books of its kind to be published, probably a scientific re-informed assessment of life in the universe.

Very, very precisely scientifically informed assessment of a topic that people always thought was so fluffy and science fictiony that serious scientists never paid attention to it.

And in preparation for that the assignment was to read the book Intelligent life in the universe.

Which Carl Sagan co-authored.

It's one of the first books of its kind to be published. Probably. A scientific, re-informed assessment of life in the universe.

Series, precisely scientifically informed assessment of a topic that people always thought was so fluffy and science fiction-y that serious scientists never paid attention to it.

Our colleague Lawrence Kraus wrote a book, The Physics Of Star Trek, some years ago.

And what I recommend, there's a book called The Physics Of Star Trek written by my friend and colleague, Lawrence Krause. He's a former guest on Star Talk. He speaks at length about the Star Trek transporter.

Our colleague Lawrence Kraus wrote a book, The Physics Of Star Trek, some years ago. We've had him on Star Trek.

What I recommend, there's a book called The Physics Of Star Trek written by my friend and colleague, Lawrence Krause. He's a former guest on Star Talk. He speaks at length about the Star Trek transporter.

All right. 20 books and your latest one, How We Became Human. What was that? How did I get that right? The latest one published was called Masters of the Planet about how we became human.

And so you're like the right guy to come here and talk about Planet of the Apes. And so Andy, after he played Gollum, went on to play King Kong. There's an ape for you if there ever was one.

You've written 20 books on anthropology, and your latest is Masters of the Planet. Only 18 on anthropology, two were romance novels.

All right. 20 books and your latest one, How We Became Human. What was that? How did I get that right? The latest one published was called Masters of the Planet about how we became human.

And so you're like the right guy to come here and talk about Planet of the Apes. And so Andy, after he played Gollum, went on to play King Kong. There's an ape for you if there ever was one.

You wrote a book, what's the title of that book again? Urban Science Education for the Hip Hop Generation.

So that's for, I guess, other educators. It's for educators. It's for anybody who's intrigued about what connections are there between hip hop culture and science. Because they're gonna presume none up front.

Because you wrote a book, what's the title of that book again? Urban Science Education for the Hip Hop Generation.

So that's for, I guess, other educators. It's for educators. It's for anybody who's intrigued about what connections are there between hip hop culture and science.

Recently authored a book this... Why Calories Count? Why Calories Count from science to politics.

In fact, you have a book just was published. Why Calories Count from science to politics?

How about that? Awesome. Because calories do count. They do.

In fact, you've got a book out called Why Calories Count from Science to Politics.

Excellent title. Check it out.

In fact, you have a book just was published. Why Calories Count, From Science to Politics.

In fact, you've got a book out called Why Calories Count? From Science to Politics.

Recently authored a book, this... Why Calories Count. Why Calories Count from Science to Politics.

Why Calories Count, I'm all over that.

Recently authored a book this... Why Calories Count? Why Calories Count from science to politics.

The Biggest Ideas in the Universe.

The Biggest Ideas in the Universe, the second in a trilogy.

It was called Space Time in Motion, which is like publisher speak for classical physics.

Regular, ordinary, armchair physics.

Isaac Newton physics.

Um one right now during this episode. Yeah, I'm almost done Wait, you've got a book The Biggest Ideas in the Universe volume 1 and you're working on volume 2 That's right

This is a physics book where you you you got equations in there and you and you are You are not apologetic about it.

No, I mean we don't assume that you know any math We teach you the math. So I teach you calculus and what have you Just in case you missed calculus, you know in your school, it's in the first couple of pages, right a couple chapters but yes And then you move on and you learn tensors and differential geometry and Einstein's equation for general relativity

So we have a guest, a friend and a colleague who in fall 2022 published a book called The Biggest Ideas in the Universe, Space, Time and Motion.

So this is the first book of a trilogy, which as I like to say is a format that works well for the Lord of the Rings and other famous franchises.

So this is the fellowship of physics, and it's basically classical physics, right? It's the physics before quantum mechanics came along.

But that still takes us very far. By the end of the book, you've learned Einstein's equation of general relativity, and you look at the Schwarzschild metric for black holes, and you know why there are black holes.

Congratulations on this, your next book, published with Dutton, Dutton Press.

First he had a New York Times bestselling book in their year 2000 titled, Kitchen Confidential, Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, bestselling book.

Which I understand is a very accurate account.

first he had a New York Times best-selling book in their year 2000 titled Kitchen Confidential, Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly.

In fact, first he had a New York Times bestselling book in their year 2000 titled, Kitchen Confidential, Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, bestselling book.

I might rewrite Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations in terms of the formation of stars. The formation of life, death, and stars.

One of the founders of economic science Before Adam Smith Was the...

Adam Smith's great work The Wealth of Nations 1776

That's right

The real title of it is An inquiry into the nature

And causes of the wealth of nations

Adam Smith's great work The Wealth of Nations 1776

The real title of it is An inquiry into the nature And causes of the wealth of nations

In his blue gardens, men and girls came and went like moths amid the whispers, the champagne and the stars.

I can't, I read that and say, that's why I am not a novelist. Yes. And he is.

Yeah, in fact, he has one of the most brilliant sentences I've ever read in my life.

You ready? Go ahead. Okay, it's from The Great Gatsby.

All right. Okay, you remember it's a big party There's a lot of like, you know sex drugs and rock. Oh, yeah. Okay roaring 20s roaring 20s, right? Here it goes in his blue gardens men and girls Came and went like moths Amid the champagne the whispers and the stars

That's a great line.

I'm done. I can't that is it is not possible for that sentence to come out of me.

A sentence from The Great Gatsby This is a sentence where I knew I still have not become a great writer And maybe never will Oh, wow Okay, I have to hear this now In his blue gardens Men and girls came and went like moths Amid the whispers, the champagne and the stars That's a great sentence

That was, we're up to 1998 now. That comes from Keats.

Keats complained about Newton spoiling all the poetry of the rainbow by explaining it. My point was a point which you've made often enough, that actually there's far more poetry in really understanding the spectrum.

Richard Dawkins, one of his books, of as many books, highly readable and lucid books, Unweaving the Rainbow, science, delusion, and the appetite for wonder.

Keith thought that Newton was destroying the poetry of the rainbow by explaining the spectrum...Well, completely destroying the mystery of it. Disploring the mystery of it. And the message of my book is that you don't, by destroying the mystery, you increase the poetry. You don't decrease it.

Richard Dawkins, one of his books, of as many books, highly readable and lucid books, Unweaving the Rainbow, science, delusion, and the appetite for wonder.

And the message of my book is that you don't, by destroying the mystery, you increase the poetry. You don't decrease it.

The Greatest Show on Earth, 2009, subtitled The Evidence for Evolution.

Well, that had come before. I mean, this was... In a way, the blind watchmaker was the response to that.

But this was really to set out the evidence for evolution which I hadn't really done before. I just sort of assumed it.

You assumed that everyone knew it?

People think that an organism adapts to its environment and I say, no, it either survives or dies.

As a matter of fact, one of them is a senator. His name is Inhofe and he actually wrote a book called The Biggest Hoax Ever or something like that.

As a matter of fact, one of them is a senator. His name is Inhofe and he actually wrote a book called The Biggest Hoax Ever or something like that.

He actually wrote a book called The Biggest Hoax Ever or something like that.

And I was given a book by a dear friend, Greg Maranac, The Spirit of St. Louis.

He gave it to me to encourage me to finish my pilot's license.

So if you think about it, we are genetically bred to compete. We do it finding our spouse. So we drive... Society thrives on it. Thrives on it. And we evolved as humans to compete for food and everything. So can we in fact use what's called an incentive competition, very different from the Nobel Prize or the Pulitzer Prize, which rewards someone for work they did 10, 20, 30 years ago? Right? So it's like a cherry on top prize.

And I had just read this book and I'll mention a little bit more about in a second, about that Lindbergh in 1927 flew New York to Paris non-stop to win this $25,000 Orteg Prize. This guy, this Frenchman Raymond Orteg is born...

And he's talking about how much money the teams are all spending. This team is spending $100,000. This is spending $50,000. He spent $25,000. And Orteg doesn't pay any of the losers. And I think three of the nine teams died trying to make the flight.

So the Orteg Prize opened up aviation and really you can draw an inflection point for everything. And so as I'm reading this book, The Spirit of St. Louis, I am like, I have to do a prize like this for space flight because I'm not going to get a chance to be becoming a government astronaut or slim. And I don't get a chance to fly every time I want to fly.

And so there's a very long story, but over the course of the next five years, I ended up raising the $10 million prize.

And in the back of The Spirit of St. Louis that I'm reading that my friend Greg gave me to finish my pilot's license, which I did eventually do, at the end I wrote the words X Prize.

I had just read a book called The Spirit of St. Louis.

It was his autobiography and I had no idea that Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic to win a $25,000 prize.

I had just read a book called The Spirit of St. Louis.

It was his autobiography and I had no idea that Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic to win a $25,000 prize.

And a book a few years before that, back in 2018, Catching Stardust, Comets, Asteroids, and the Birth of the Solar System.

And Natalie, you've also written a book, Catching Stardust. Beautiful title. I love it.

It did, yeah. So my inspiration was the Stardust mission because I've always been fascinated by it. And it was the first mission to collect a comet sample, comet samples in space and bring them back to Earth.

Yeah, comets asteroids and the birth of the solar system.

One of his famous quotes, he says, in this country, poor Black men are locked up and poor Black women are locked out.

One of the things that he is also been saying quite a bit is the importance of the linkage between housing and criminal justice. And the fact that one of his famous quotes, he says, in this country, poor Black men are locked up and poor Black women are locked out.

One of his famous quotes, he says, in this country, poor Black men are locked up and poor Black women are locked out.

We read Hannah Arendt's Origins of Totalitarianism recently.

We read Hannah Arendt's Origins of Totalitarianism recently.

We read Hannah Arendt's Origins of Totalitarianism recently. Chuck just read that too.

She said that in totalitarian regimes, people tend to give up their everyday concerns for abstract concepts.

there's a group called Gravity Labs that's looking at making real a technology that's described in Hail Mary, Andy Weir's latest book.

The title of his book is Project Hail Mary, and it's about an exotic kind of life that's threatening all life on Earth, possibly rendering it extinct.

Basically the main problem that humanity is facing is there's a microbe, an extraterrestrial microbe called astrophage, or at least that's what humans name it.

It's only about, it's about the size of a bacteria. It's about 20 picometers across, and it lives on the surface of stars.

So it's kind of like an algae that lives on stars, and it collects energy through most of its life and then uses that energy, stores it as mass, and then uses that energy to propel itself to a planet so it can get the elements it needs to reproduce because there's really nothing to be found on a star except for hydrogen and helium.

And then the problem is this is breeding out of control in our star, and all the local stars by the way, and it's causing the sun to dim. And once the sun gets dim enough, the food chain on Earth will collapse and everything will die.

The title of his book is Project Hail Mary, and it's about an exotic kind of life that's threatening all life on Earth, possibly rendering it extinct.

Basically the main problem that humanity is facing is there's a microbe, an extraterrestrial microbe called astrophage, or at least that's what humans name it.

It's mentioned in the book that the damage we've done to the climate actually helps make us last longer because the Earth has stored up more heat energy than it normally would have as a result.

And so we actually, although it's not much, it's like a complete different scale when you're starting to mess with the solar luminance.

A librarian said here try one of these. The kid seemed to like these. And how old were you? On early teens. He handed me a Robert Heinlein book.

A great science fiction author. Great science fiction author, great thinker. First guy I ever read to describe a cell phone or a nuclear power plant or a rolling road or a number of other things. Brilliant imagination, great guy.

And it took me by storm right from the first one. This is an epiphany moment for you. Yeah, I read everything. Everything he's ever written I've read.

I've been interested and have loved science fiction for a really long time, fantasy as well, but science fiction included. And it started with a recommendation from my mom who said that I should read A Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein.

A librarian said here try one of these. The kid seemed to like these. And how old were you? On early teens. He handed me a Robert Heinlein book.

A great science fiction author. Great science fiction author, great thinker. First guy I ever read to describe a cell phone or a nuclear power plant or a rolling road or a number of other things. Brilliant imagination, great guy.

And it took me by storm right from the first one. This is an epiphany moment for you. Yeah, I read everything. Everything he's ever written I've read.