I was recently at the James Randi Educational Foundation for a meeting, and while I was there I was presented with a large box. Inside said box, and in fact stacked up next to it, were over 50 copies of my book, Death from the Skies! So, pen in hand, I signed each and every one of them.
|
| This is a photo from an older batch; the ones I just signed don’t have the sticker, just my name. Those are Randi’s hands, if you’re wondering. |
If you’re looking for an autographed copy of the book — because the holidays are right around the corner, and nothing says "Merry Christmas!" like reading about a giant asteroid impact — then head on over to the JREF store and grab yourself one (they’re $6 off cover price). Copies are limited! And so’s your time: in 1037 years, all the protons in the book will have decayed. So hurry!
November 21st, 2008 at 8:09 am
Randi’s hands, Randi’s signature, Randi’s face … Randi Randi Randi
November 21st, 2008 at 8:28 am
Please stop plugging your book all the time!
You are a millionaire, thats good enough. Now focus on space exploration. TY.
November 21st, 2008 at 8:34 am
>>And so’s your time: in 10(^)37 years, all the protons in the book will have decayed.
But Keith Richards and Mick Jagger will still be singing Satisfaction.
November 21st, 2008 at 8:39 am
You were here in Fort Lauderdale? I thought I sensed a disturbance in the Force.
November 21st, 2008 at 8:50 am
@Conic:
If I were to write a book, I’d promote the bejeebers out of it on my blog! [smile]
November 21st, 2008 at 9:04 am
Conic, if you know something about my bank account that I don’t, please tell me!
November 21st, 2008 at 9:11 am
Okay, Phil, you talked me into it.
I had been meaning to hit Amazon and buy a used copy (which I do with most books) but bought it from JREF instead…mainly because I support fully what you guys do over there.
By the way, over at the gossip site gawker.com there’s a recent “oh nos, it really could happen!” link to Discover’s article on an asteroid-caused tsumani washing over NYC 2,300 years ago. Noticeably absent from your mothership’s article — a quote from uber-blogger, relevant author and the-guy-the-president-would-call-if-he-needed-to-conference-with-the-”top-brains”-when-the-aliens-land-in-DC: Dr. Phil Plait.
BTW, the Discover article is irritating in that it seems to dismiss the possibility of a native American presence when the waves sloshed ashore.
Long before New York City was the Big Apple, or even New Amsterdam, a giant tsunami crashed ashore.
It was 2,300 years ago. The Palisades that frame the Hudson River were whisper-quiet, the sandy beaches of Long Island and New Jersey empty, and Manhattan was still just an unbroken sylvan carpet.
It’s very possible that Native Americans lived there prior to the Dutch India company showing up in 1609.
November 21st, 2008 at 9:12 am
“tsumani washing over NYC 2,300 years ago”
NYC = the area where modern NYC is located, BTW. Darn that lack of an edit function!
November 21st, 2008 at 9:12 am
(In best Monty Python French accent): I already got one!
November 21st, 2008 at 9:26 am
Woohoo! I’ve been waiting for some signed books to be put up, and I’ve just ordered one from the JREF store.
Sweet, I get my book signed by the BA himself! Totally worth every penny.
November 21st, 2008 at 9:54 am
I thought the point of getting a signed copies of books, CDs, mp3- files and mammaries was that you was in the presence of the author/musician when the item was signed?
November 21st, 2008 at 10:38 am
Can’t… resist… agressive… plugging… must… order. Arr, now you’ve done it!
Now I know something about MY Bank account I would rather nor. ;-(
November 21st, 2008 at 10:42 am
Actually, $6 off is a good deal. Signed copies usually cost more than a regular copy.
Toss in a free ticket to the next Amazing Meeting you got a deal.
Sorry, I’m a born haggler.
November 21st, 2008 at 10:47 am
Too bad the store doesn’t accept Bank of Montreal Mastercard.
November 21st, 2008 at 11:05 am
That’s a good sale, but book publicity is a neverending necessity. If a reporter at a 40,000 circulation newspaper writes you with plans to pick your head about asteroids and plug your book, you probably ought to write him back and get it going. *hint, hint*
November 21st, 2008 at 11:31 am
Ordered, yay!
November 21st, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Now how do I get my already purchased book autographed?! Oh what you say? Buy another? Ok…
November 21st, 2008 at 12:42 pm
How much extra to get Randi’s hands included?
I’m going to my room……
J/P=?
November 21st, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Alright, BA, you’ve finally worn me down and sold me a book. But only because you signed the actual book, and not a JREF sticker.
November 21st, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Pfffff, millionaire. As someone who is currently (failing at) writing a book, I’ve checked into what authors get paid. Let’s just say that under no circumstances will I ever be quiting my day job, whether I manage to get published or not.
November 21st, 2008 at 5:33 pm
I never understood the facination with autographs???
However, i gave into my curiousity after hearing phil talk about gammma ray bursts on secondlife. Mines in the post.
November 22nd, 2008 at 12:36 am
gopher65 Says: “As someone who is currently (failing at) writing a book, I’ve checked into what authors get paid. Let’s just say that under no circumstances will I ever be quiting my day job, whether I manage to get published or not.”
The most rational person I’ve seen here in a long time…
- Jack
November 22nd, 2008 at 12:39 am
LarianLeQuella Says: “(In best Monty Python French accent): I already got one!”
ROTFL!
I got mine today as well. Thanks, Phil
Naturally, I had to read chapter six first.
- Jack
November 22nd, 2008 at 9:08 am
I’m reading your book right now and enjoying it. It’s quite readable.
With all due respect I believe you may have made a mistake in the chapter I’m reading right now on black holes. On page 142 you wrote “Some people argue that because of this time stretching, you can never fall into a black hole, but that’s a misconception.”
I believe that when some people (including myself) say that you can’t fall into a black hole, what they mean is that you can’t fall in from the perspective of an outside observer. Because of time dilation at the event horizon, to the outside observer an object falling into a black hole is frozen in time at the event horizon. So from our perspective, in the history of the universe no object has ever passed through an event horizon.
Of course from the perspective of the hypothetical person falling into the black hole the event horizon is no barrier at all. Except that from the perpspective of the person crossing the event horizon an almost infinite amount of time has passed in the outside universe as he or she crossed the event horizon.
(And since given enough time black holes evaporate, it’s possible that as that person began to cross the event horizon that person might see an enormous amount of energy blasting upward and outward from the event horizon into “outside” space. The Hawkings radiation we would see in trillions of years as an outside observer, the person falling into the event horizon would see from his or her perspective as compressed into the tiniest fraction of time. Maybe it’s impossible for an object falling into a black hole to actually cross the event horizon because of the force of this radiation blasting out.)
Once again, I’m enjoying your book. Its a good read.
November 22nd, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Are there still autographed copies available? If so, I’ll order. If not, I’ll wait for the Kindle version.
November 22nd, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Are all Death from the Skies in the JREF store autographed?
I live in Sweden and looking to buy the book, I would buy it from JREF if only I knew it is autographed? Otherwise I could as well buy it over here, for less.
Appreciate an answer. Thanks.
November 22nd, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Mike from Sweden– yes, they are all autographed by me. Took me a few minutes, too.
November 22nd, 2008 at 5:32 pm
You left out how the planit is acktually gettin distroyed in your book. Here is the reel reeson for why we’ur havin so many so called globual warming problims.
http://img386.imageshack.us/my.php?image=globalwarmingqh3.jpg
so how do ya anser that sience guy? hmm?
November 22nd, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Sorry about that Phil. i can’t keep the conspeeracist_theoriser locked up some times. I just ran into something online that kinda unhinged my mind. Droughts caused by daylight savings time? thanks to Failblog.org for that one… and yes.. it got a science fail.
November 23rd, 2008 at 11:23 am
Just placed an order for my second Philip C. Plait book. I really enjoyed Bad Astronomy and have had to use some of the information in it to dispel some of the ignorance of my fellow employees. Thank you Phil!
November 25th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Rats. Looks like I missed out on getting a signed copy without the sticker from JREF. Just received this:
Thank you for ordering Phil Plait’s new book “Death From the Skies!”
Unfortunately we have sold out of our first two shipments and are awaiting
another delivery, scheduled for Dec. 3rd. The books will be shipped with a
signed sticker in the faceplate of the book. We apologize for the delay, and
will notify you again if we cannot ship by the end of next week.
December 1st, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Copy arrived today! Yay! Another signed first edition for the collection.
December 10th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
[...] Foundation recently got yet another passel of my books to sell on the JREF online store. Like before, these will have JREF stickers in them that I have signed, so it’s a chance to get an [...]