[VC8]⇒ PDF Free Accessory to War The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military Neil deGrasse Tyson Avis Lang 9780393064445 Books

Accessory to War The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military Neil deGrasse Tyson Avis Lang 9780393064445 Books

Download As PDF : Accessory to War The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military Neil deGrasse Tyson Avis Lang 9780393064445 Books

Accessory to War The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military Neil deGrasse Tyson Avis Lang 9780393064445 Books

This is fantastic look at the history of astrophysics and its intersection with warming, much more thorough and well-sourced than most of Dr. Tyson's writing. It's aimed at an audience that wants to get into the weeds, so not those in a hurry.

The first few chapters were interesting, but mostly in the realm of things I had heard before. The message came across as: "Psst, some technologies developed for war are also useful in science and vice versa". Not exactly earth-shattering. The technologies are telescopes/optics, navigation aids and calendars, and development of technologies using the electromagnetic spectrum. It gives context to the discussion but isn't worth a book in and of itself.

The second half of the book is much more eye-opening. From a detailed look at 20th century technology (the world wars) to present-day issues, it examines the space force we have, its tasks and background, and how the line between military and civilian work is very thin indeed. There are places where I can feel the authors pushing a thesis about how astrophysical work benefits civilization as a whole and national security in general. There is an aspect of addressing some scientists disdain of human space exploration (you can do so much more science on a lower budget with robots) and arguing that humans in space benefits science as a whole. There are warnings about the dangers, as yet unrealized but not unimaginable, of space-based warfare. There are reviews of the space programs of Russia and China, as well as our allies in Europe and elsewhere, and a case for collaboration in science leading to peace in politics. This book is roomy enough for several large messages. I'm particularly interested in the intersection of science (specifically physics) and will recommend this to my students. To borrow a phrase from another book from a few years ago, this could be called Astrophysics for Future Presidents. Or maybe So You Think You Can Space Force.

There are a few faults. A few of the chapters get very weedy and lose the conversational tone that the book begins and ends with. He tries valiantly to separate astrophysicists and physicists, treating them as from entirely different fields with entirely different motivations and foci, and I have trouble buying that -- it comes off as a little strange. But it's a great read and I'll be recommending it for a long time.

I got a copy to review from the publisher through Edelweiss.


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Accessory to War The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military Neil deGrasse Tyson Avis Lang 9780393064445 Books Reviews

A friendlier vision of space exploration a few decades ago was the largely benign journeys by Captain James T. Kirk and crew on the USS Enterprise with its “warp drive”, though armed with phasers, photon torpedoes, shields and sensor systems for largely defensive purposes.

Today’s prospects for the role and uses of space, especially around Earth, are quite different according to Neil deGrasse Tyson and Avis Lang’s 2018 collaboration, “Accessory to War the Unspoken Alliance between Astrophysics and the Military”.

As the authors report, at the core of the debate is the complicated entangled relationship between astrophysicists exploring the visible and invisible aspects of our universe for general learning and the military organizations developing tools of offense and defense at the direction of their political leadership.

The national priorities are clearly expressed in their estimated current global funding astrophysics less than $3 billion while military spending over $1.7 trillion. The point is regardless of who initiates the research, at some point the learning is likely to be repurposed into military use and possibly weaponized. Could be GPS systems, could be thermonuclear bombs. They mention the entire US Department of Defense 2019 proposed funding would equal the entire NASA funding for its history.

This relationship between astrophysics and the military is complicated not only currently but also historically. With that in mind, the book is divided into two sections

• Situational Awareness four chapters covering primarily the earlier advances in science and technology underpinning the current state of affairs
• Ultimate High Ground five lengthy chapters going through more recent development and its applications for use in space as well as very helpful definitions for terms like radar, laser, maser, CCDs (pixel), ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance), NEOs (ear Earth objects) and PHOs (potentially hazardous objects)

The amount of detail is overwhelming and probably sufficient for anyone who wants to find support for whatever his or her particular view about national priorities is. Some facts cannot be ignored

• Some 20,000 pieces of space junk are orbiting Earth, like our own rings of Saturn, with destructive potential.
• Accuracy of using weapons from space on Earth surface targets is simply not feasible now for a variety of reasons.
• The recently touted Space Force as a concept is probably original to Donald Rumsfeld and possibly even before him.
• US has been relying on Russian rockets and Soyuz capsules for space missions for some time now at a cost of over $80 million per trip.
• US efforts to exclude China from the International Space Station (ISS) have probably pushed China to create and launch its own orbiting space station.
• In 2011 China apparently became the top country for satellite launches followed by Russia, then, the US.

The real current situation assessment can be found in Chapter 8, “Space Power.” There is a very informative summary of the major countries’ current space programs, including China, Russia, India, Japan and Canada as benchmarks. There is also indication the US may be pulling back on some of its previous lofty goals.

One eerie detail is mention of the US Air Force’s description of self-defense, “the 5 D’s of deception, disruption, denial, degradation and destruction.” Seem familiar?

Discussion of cyberwarfare and its potential to disrupt satellite communications and weapons programs is cursory. A more detailed review is available in David E. Sanger’s 2018 book, “The Perfect Weapon” (if it helps, here’s the link to my review https//www./review/R1JI3Q6OMI76VN/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8 )

The first section of “Accessory to War” has a conversational popular history tone somewhat like Frederick Lewis Allen’s 1931 work, “Only Yesterday” about the 1920s. The second section shifts to straight ahead chronicling of information but more summary analysis could have helped the points and flow.

The book title seems ambivalent about what the authors think the relationship between astrophysics and the military should be, especially regarding the use of space. Is it a good thing or bad? Worth the investment? What and whose motives are prevailing? For that reason reading the book may be a different experience than what one might expect from the cover.

Beam me back, Scotty.
I would consider myself to be a fan of Neil's work and stance on many issues. As such I find myself somewhat disappointed by this primer. Paragraph after paragraph, anecdote after anecdote, story after story, chapter after chapter this books turns into a homogeneous litany of sameness. After several chapters I kept asking myself what exactly was Neil trying to accomplish here that hasn't already been established. Except for a few interesting historical accounts/stories, for me at least, there wasn't anything novel or particularly revealing. Sad to say, but I feel this subject/narrative should perhaps been much more effective as a podcast miniseries rather than a 500-plus page book.

It's not a badly written book, or poorly researched. On the contrary, but good penmanship and thorough journalistic rigor cannot make up for the lack weight of the thesis behind the book.
This is fantastic look at the history of astrophysics and its intersection with warming, much more thorough and well-sourced than most of Dr. Tyson's writing. It's aimed at an audience that wants to get into the weeds, so not those in a hurry.

The first few chapters were interesting, but mostly in the realm of things I had heard before. The message came across as "Psst, some technologies developed for war are also useful in science and vice versa". Not exactly earth-shattering. The technologies are telescopes/optics, navigation aids and calendars, and development of technologies using the electromagnetic spectrum. It gives context to the discussion but isn't worth a book in and of itself.

The second half of the book is much more eye-opening. From a detailed look at 20th century technology (the world wars) to present-day issues, it examines the space force we have, its tasks and background, and how the line between military and civilian work is very thin indeed. There are places where I can feel the authors pushing a thesis about how astrophysical work benefits civilization as a whole and national security in general. There is an aspect of addressing some scientists disdain of human space exploration (you can do so much more science on a lower budget with robots) and arguing that humans in space benefits science as a whole. There are warnings about the dangers, as yet unrealized but not unimaginable, of space-based warfare. There are reviews of the space programs of Russia and China, as well as our allies in Europe and elsewhere, and a case for collaboration in science leading to peace in politics. This book is roomy enough for several large messages. I'm particularly interested in the intersection of science (specifically physics) and will recommend this to my students. To borrow a phrase from another book from a few years ago, this could be called Astrophysics for Future Presidents. Or maybe So You Think You Can Space Force.

There are a few faults. A few of the chapters get very weedy and lose the conversational tone that the book begins and ends with. He tries valiantly to separate astrophysicists and physicists, treating them as from entirely different fields with entirely different motivations and foci, and I have trouble buying that -- it comes off as a little strange. But it's a great read and I'll be recommending it for a long time.

I got a copy to review from the publisher through Edelweiss.