Have you ever gazed into the night sky and felt your imagination lift off like a rocket bound for the edge of the universe? Have you ever marveled at a meteor shower's amazing light show? Have you ever wondered what an alien invasion might really be like, or who gets to name new stars, or what happened before the Big Bang?

Astronomer Bob Berman has; he's curious on a cosmic scale, and with a blend of wit and wonderment he takes us on a guided tour of the universe, including our own Planet Earth. In this collection of twenty-six profound-to-outrageous essays, Berman gives us the universe in all its perplexity, mystery, and majesty - along with views of contemporary Earth life in all its lunacy.

He explores seldom-examined facets of the world around us and the universe beyond, from the ancient awe and terror of the night to the prospect of terraforming and colonizing Mars. Among other challenges, he probes the quirky nature of basic physical laws and addresses the link between contemporary ideas of cosmology and the limitations of the human brain's logic system.