Merlin’s Tour of the Universe, Revised and Updated for the Twenty-First Century: A Traveler’s Guide to Blue Moons and Black H

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars | 140 ratings

Price: 10.56

Last update: 12-23-2024


About this item

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Astrophysics for People in a Hurry takes listeners on an entertaining and edifying tour of the universe.

In Neil deGrasse Tyson’s delightful journey through the cosmos, his fictional character Merlin responds to popular questions asked by adults and children alike. Merlin, a timeless visitor from Planet Omniscia in the Andromeda Galaxy, has observed firsthand many of the major scientific events of Earth’s history. Merlin’s friends include the most important scientific figures and explorers of all time—da Vinci, Magellan, Newton, Einstein, and Hubble. While Merlin occasionally recounts playful conversations with these luminaries, all questions are answered with authentic science, infused with wit, wisdom, and an occasional rhyme. With the help of intermittent humorous cartoons, Merlin clarifies the details of familiar phenomena like gravity, light, space, and time, and travels to distant stars and galaxies to describe what makes them tick, rotate, explode, and collapse.

Merlin’s Tour of the Universe is perfect for anyone who harbors burning questions on how the cosmos works.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.


Top reviews from the United States

Richard J.
5.0 out of 5 stars Delighful reading for the science curious
Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2024
Neil deGrasse Tyson is the best science explainer of the universe since Carl Sagan. His answers to reader's questions are straightforward and often lyrical and humorous.
David E. Swenson
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2024
Very fun to read and the responses to questions were very clever.
no.more.shelf.control
4.0 out of 5 stars Informative and Accessible
Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2024
????????????????????????'???? ???????????????? ???????? ???????????? ????????????????????????????????, Revised and Updated for the Twenty-First Century: A Traveler's Guide to Blue Moons and Black Holes, Mars, Stars, and Everything Far by Neil deGrasse Tyson is the furthest escape I could muster for today, thankfully provided by @blackstonepublishing via @netgalley, available now for your escape as well!

I am utterly fascinated by the universe and its infinite beauty and mystery. The tiny nuggets that those supremely smarter than I, make accessible are invaluable and only add to the immense awe I have. I also have questions, in which apparently, I am not alone. I find this comforting. I am also comforted by knowing there are so many who are studying and learning things that make my brain hurt. I am not one who doesn’t accept simply because it is beyond my education, but I do appreciate those like deGrasse Tyson who make it palatable and easy to digest.

This is a collection of questions that were first published in 1989. Wow, so much has been seen since then! This is a revised edition and included a mix of more basic questions to those that exceeded my ponderings. I appreciated the audio version of this as there was a great cast to give each question a voice. I did have to laugh at a couple of one-word answers to some of the questions! I won’t deny that some of these answers left me with more questions, but isn’t that what is wonderful about learning?!

Now if Tyson and Dr. Who could get together and really help me visualize, I will be set! (seriously)

This is a review of the audiobook.
Bret McCurdy
5.0 out of 5 stars Love Tyson's books
Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2024
Entertaining, Educational and good reading.
Ken in KS
5.0 out of 5 stars Good Book
Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2024
Very good book in what is a Q & A format.
Max West
5.0 out of 5 stars Anything from Neai deGrasse Tyson is a good read
Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2024
If you want to enhance your scientific thought skills, read this. Interesting approach.
Meg
4.0 out of 5 stars Smattering of astrophysics facts organized and compiled with easy to digest answers
Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2024
Genre: science nonfiction
Narrated by: Jim Meskimen, André Santana, Bronson Pinchot, Pun Bandhu, Em Grosland, Lauren Fortgang, Luzma Ortiz, Kevin R. Free, Jaime Lincoln Smith, Neil deGrasse Tyson

First published in 1989, Neil deGrasse Tyson is back with an updated version of Merlin's Tour of the Universe, updated with new answers as astrophysics and discovery have evolved since 1989. Tyson invented a character named Merlin from a far away galaxy who ventures to earth to answer basic to complicated astrophysics questions that the everyday person may want to understand. It hearkens an era when Google wasn't around to answer questions, so to the listener in 2024 some of these feel like something you'd reach for your phone to look up today. But it demonstrates the range of curiosity with questions from people ranging from ages 5 to 90.

This works well as an audiobook, with different narrators reading the variety of questions and NDT responding to them. The tone stays light, because our narrator is meant to be extraterrestrial creature Merlin who has spent its life observing from afar. It references famous physicists, quotes philosophy, and elevates baseline knowledge of astrophysics. The updates to this new version include facts like Pluto's downgrade from planet to Kuiper Belt dwarf planet and that a probe launched in 2023 is the new fastest manmade object in the universe.

Merlin's Tour isn't an introduction to astrophysics, nor is it mean to be; it's a smattering of facts organized in an easy to digest manner. For a reader with ADHD like me, it's the sort of book I love to listen to, with bombardment of facts that I'll retain ~40% of, and then have a physical copy to refer to later when I want to know exactly how deep the craters are on the moon.
Donnie2012
5.0 out of 5 stars Great product
Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2024
This was a birthday gift for my 11 year old nephew and he loved it. He said he found answers to questions he’s had for years. He is autistic and spends a lot of time reading.

Highly recommend.

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