My Favorite Universe.  The Great Courses, DVD/Video educational series. What forces molded the universe? Are those forces still at work, removing, changing, or adding heavenly bodies even as we gaze upward? Will humanity, and Earth itself, one day be gone? Are we alone? In an era when science journalism is perhaps more thorough and ambitious than ever before, fascinating explorations of questions like these seem available to us almost every day—provided we have a working understanding of the scientific theories on which they’re based. In this lecture series, Professor Neil deGrasse Tyson, the astrophysicist who directs the nation’s most famous planetarium, makes that understanding available to anyone. My Favorite Universe is a spirited and intellectually engaging journey through the cosmos and its history, from before the big bang to the likely ways in which Earth, and perhaps the entire universe, might end. Created for a lay audience and readily accessible, in this course science always takes precedence over drama. Clear introductions to essential principles of physics support these lectures, including density, quantum theory, gravity, and the General Theory of Relativity. Professor Neil deGrasse Tyson also includes forays into disciplines such as chemistry and biology as needed to explain events in astronomy.