The Quizzer’s Guide to the Cosmos 500 Questions About the Universe (with Answers)

Have you ever gazed up at the night sky and wondered how many stars you can see? Whether the universe is infinite? Or, more prosaically, what the chances are of you being hit by a rock from space? The Quizzer’s Guide to the Cosmos is here to satisfy your curiosity by offering an overview of the history of astronomy, from the earliest beginnings through to the most recent discoveries. This isn’t a typical astronomy book, however — it’s packed with a 500-question multiple-choice quiz that not only makes the book more interactive but also helps you retain information and lets you test your knowledge of some of the most captivating concepts in science.

The book will appeal to astronomy buffs and to general quiz afficianados alike.

Digital questions and answers also via app: Download the Springer Nature Flashcards app free of charge and test your knowledge.

A journey around our cosmic neighbourhood: the solar system and its secrets.- The birth, life, and secrets of stars: unravelling the mysteries of cosmic.- Cosmic peepholes: a timeline of astronomical tools and techniques.- The final frontier: the dramatic death of stars and the birth of black holes.- The search for exoplanets: alien worlds and the quest for life beyond Earth.- Exoplanets and the search for life.- Island universes: the marvels and wonders of galaxies.- Stretching the cosmos: a universal expansion.- Rewinding time: the big bang, inflation, and the birth of a universe.- The invisible universe: unveiling the enigmas of dark matter and dark energy.- New eyes on the universe: pioneering observatories and the future of astronomy.

Following a first-class honours degree in Physics from the University of Bristol and a PhD in Theoretical Physics from the University of Manchester Stephen Webb has worked at a number of UK universities. In addition to shorter works, he has published nine books – one of which won the SETI League award and was shortlisted for the Aventis Prize (now Royal Society Winton Prize) for best science book. He is active in outreach activities, having spoken at numerous international conferences, podcasts and radio shows, and his 2018 TED Talk has been viewed over 6 million times. He has published an undergraduate textbook Measuring the Universe (Springer, 1999) as well as several popular science books, among them New Eyes on the Universe (Springer, 2012) and the second edition of If the Universe Is Teeming with Aliens ... WHERE IS EVERYBODY? (Springer, 2015).