The Smallest Lights in the Universe

By Sara Seager,

Book cover of The Smallest Lights in the Universe: A Memoir

Book description

Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Science and Technology in 2020

'A stunningly original memoir ... her most human tale of love, loss and redemption is illuminated and given meaning by this backdrop. A beautiful and compelling read' Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone

In The…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked The Smallest Lights in the Universe as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Written by a MacArthur "genius", it reveals the human side of scientific research and some life practicalities that have to be solved before we can literally reach for the stars.

There can be no question greater than “Is there life outside the Earth?”. Sara Seager places her own search for planets outside the Earth - almost 5000 planets in other solar systems have been discovered in the past three decades, including Earth-like bodies - against her own life story and struggles as a scientist weathering the unexpected loss of a spouse and the raising of her two young sons. Astronomers estimate there are billions of undiscovered planets just in our Galaxy. Seager paints our very own Earth as a bright point of community and connection in the vastness of space…

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