A heart-pumping exploration of the biggest explosions in history, from the Big Bang to mysterious activity on Earth and everything in between The overwhelming majority of celestial space is inactive, and will remain forever unruffled. Similarly, more than 90% of the universe's 70 billion trillion suns had non-attention-getting births and are living out their existences in a steady predictable fashion. But when cosmic violence does unfold, it changes the very fabric of the universe with mega-explosions and ripple effects that reach the near limits of human comprehension. From exploding galaxies to supernovas and hypernovas to gamma ray bursts and space-and-time warping upheavals, these moments are rare yet powerful, often unseen but consequentially felt. In Cataclysms, Astronomy writer Bob Berman guides us through an epic, all-inclusive investigation into these instances of cosmic violence of the largest-magnitude. He will explore the sudden creation of dazzling "new stars," the furiously explosive birth of our own Moon, how every moment ultra-high energy cosmic rays continue to bombard us, despite the Earth's protective mechanisms, and even the ways in which humanity itself has harnessed cataclysmic energy for its own gain. It will lead us humans, seemingly hard wired to enjoy fireworks, to savor the all-time greatest pyrotechnic displays -- and the strange objects that arose from them, including the very materials Nature has used to fashion our brains.

"The overwhelming majority of celestial space is inactive and will remain forever unruffled. Similarly, more than 90 percent of the universe's 70 billion trillion suns had non-attention-getting births and are burning through their nuclear fuel in steady, predictable fashion. But when cosmic violence does unfold, it changes the very fabric of the universe, with mega-explosions and ripple effects that reach the near limits of human comprehension. From colliding galaxies to solar storms, and gamma ray bursts to space-and-time-warping upheavals, these moments are rare yet powerful, often unseen but consequentially felt. Likewise, here on Earth, existence as we know it is fragile, always vulnerable to hazards both natural and manufactured. As we've learned from textbooks and witnessed in Hollywood blockbusters, existential threats such as biological disasters, asteroid impacts, and climate upheavals have the all-too-real power to instantaneously transform our routine-centered lives into total chaos, or much worse. While we might be helpless to stop these catastrophes--whether they originate on our own planet or in the farthest reaches of space--the science behind such cataclysmic forces is as fascinating as their results can be devastating. In Earth-Shattering, astronomy writer Bob Berman guides us through an epic, all-inclusive investigation into these instances of violence both mammoth and microscopic. From the sudden creation of dazzling "new stars" to the furiously explosive birth of our moon, from the uncomfortable truth about ultra-high-energy cosmic rays bombarding us to the incredible ways in which humanity has harnessed cataclysmic energy for its gain, Berman masterfully synthesizes some of our worst fears into an astonishing portrait of the universe that promises to transform the way we look at the world(s) around us. In the spirit of Neil deGrasse Tyson and Carlo Rovelli, what emerges is a rollicking, profound, and even humbling exploration of all the things that can go bump in the night."--Dust jacket.

The overwhelming majority of celestial space is inactive, and will remain forever unruffled. But when cosmic violence does unfold, it changes the very fabric of the universe with mega-explosions and ripple effects that reach the near limits of human comprehension. Berman guides us through an all-inclusive investigation into these instances of cosmic violence of the largest-magnitude. He shows the ways humanity itself has harnessed cataclysmic energy for its own gain, and examines the strange objects that arose from this energy-- including the very materials Nature has used to fashion our brains. -- adapted from jacket