First Light: Switching on Stars at the Dawn of Time (2024)

Well, this was disappointing. Let's see if I can find my notes . . . Basically, read the publishers introduction first, always good practice. It's a very interesting topic. The bad news is, the author, Dr. Emma Chapman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Ch... missed out on Ernest Rutherford's advice that you should always stand ready to explain your research to the barmaid, in simple enough terms that they can understand it. I kept waiting for this Rutherford Moment. And waiting. And waiting. It never came, the book came due, and for me it was a failure. I'm a more sophisticated audience than the barkeep. I'm certainly not a professional astronomer, but I do keep up, at the SciAm level. So the chances that a general reader is going to understand how Dr. Chapman's remarkable telescope works appear to be slim. FAIL. Not recommended.

This book...

...was stellar.

I would apologize for the dad-level joke, but I don't feel like Emma Chapman would want me to do that. Please understand that it is the highest compliment when I say the humor in this book is all puns and dad jokes, and that I could not have possibly enjoyed it more.

But isn't this a science book?, I hear you asking.

Yes. Yes it is. And that's why it's perfect.

First Light is an exploration of the oldest stars in the universe, stars that burned only hydrogen and helium, never becoming the metal-producing lights in the sky that we're all so familiar with, even if we don't know that we're familiar with. First Light is a journey back in time and space to the origins of stellar bodies that, through their deaths, made our universe what it is today. If only we could find them (spoilers: we have not).

It also contains the most hilarious periodic table of all time.

I sincerely hope that Chapman's first book is not her only one, though I'm happy to say I was here at the beginning, able to find this very first star. Or... five. Five stars.

Exploring the first billion years of our Universe, First Light is a skillfully written popular astronomy book that is as wildly fascinating as its subtitle suggests. See my full review at https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2021...

I will confess right off that some of the science was a bit beyond me.
However, the general subject matter--the search for the earliest stars--was fascinating. The author had a cheerful, casual voice which helped hold my interest even when I felt swamped by some of the scientific technicalities.
I enjoy catching up on the latest advances our efforts to figure out how the universe works. This book was a good way for me to do that.

The key to this fascinating book is probably when author Emma Chapman reveals that her initial ambition was to be an archeologist, and compares that to her actual career researching the history of the universe. That is what this First Light is, a book of stellar archeology, a book about the techniques and discoveries of astronomers and cosmologists looking into the early (when measured in millions and billions of years) days of the universe.

One of the exciting things about this book is the originality of the subject. I’ve read any number of popular physics book and in the end so many tend to end up covering similar topics of particle physics, quantum mechanics, and relativity. While this starts with some necessary basics it took this reader at least into a completely new field. There was the Big Bang, and there is today’s universe (whatever that means), but between these there was the initial, hot universe, which cooled into the Dark Ages before gravity brought things together and ignited the cosmic dawn and essentially three generations of stars.

The core of Chapman’s story is the search for the first generation stars, and along the way we encounter, amongst other things, dark matter, supermassive black and the mistaken identification of a new element, coronium, in the sun’s atmosphere. As well as the discoveries being made, she also gives an insight in the technology being used to scan the ancient universe, from metal tables in the Australian desert, to a planned observatory on the far side of the moon.

While there is one piece of the science I still can’t quite get my head around - spin states of the particles in hydrogen atoms and 21cm radiation, overall Chapman illustrates an extremely complex subject in a way which provides admirable clarity for the lay reader. That is not least down to brilliant use of metaphor and analogy.

The other notable feature of her writing is the humour. When science writers try to make the reader laugh, the result is often wincingly embarrassing, but Chapman is a genuinely funny writer. She had me early on when she reproduces the Father Ted plastic cow gag when explaining eclipses - small, near, big, far away.

I can give First Light no higher praise than to say it is positively Reithian, it informs, educates and entertains.

Last book of 2020. Emma Chapman writes (and reads) a clear, lucid scientific prose. She covers a lot of astronomy, too, in an interesting, personal, and knowledgeable way.

Nigdy nie było mi po drodze z fizyką, jednak tematyka, którą prezentuje autorka w tej książce od zawsze mnie fascynowała. Uwielbiam patrzeć w letnie, bezchmurne niebo, szczególnie tam gdzie do miasta daleko i nic nie zakłóca pięknej czerni nieba. Niesamowite jest móc badać i przeszukiwać niebo, w poszukiwaniu innych planet, galaktyk. Chapman poszła krok dalej i postanowiła wykorzystać swoje archeologiczne zainteresowania w odkryciu i poznaniu historii wszechświata. Gwiezdna archeologia...

Cały czas dokonują się postępy w nauce, czasem nie ma odpowiednich środków, aby spojrzeć tak daleko wstecz, poznać całą prawdę o tym jak powstał wszechświat. Ta praca jest dla ludzi z ogromną cierpliwością i dla tych, którzy nauce oddają całe swoje życie. Podziwiam i chciałabym mieć tyle zapału, ciekawości i tak piękny i otwarty umysł jak autorka.

Ta książka zaskoczyła mnie intrygującym poczuciem humoru i ciekawymi założeniami na temat kosmologii. Nie brakowało w niej trudnych pojęć i zagadnień, ale wszystko było dobrze pogłębione i w przyjemny sposób napisane. Jako laik w tym temacie nie zrozumiałam wszystkiego, ale ciekawym doświadczeniem było czytanie o Wielkim Wybuchu, czarnych dziurach, gwiazdach, planetach, kometach i potencjalnym życiu, tam gdzie ludzkie oko nie dosięga. Nawet przez moment nie nudziłam się na niej, w żadnym stopniu nie była ona nużąca, jak niektóre książki popularnonaukowe, które miałam okazję czytać.

3.5

While there is a little bit of basic science in "First Light" that I already vaguely knew, Emma Chapman tells it with a refreshing approach that might actually make the science stick in my mind this time! The subject itself is a fascinating one, so I was obviously going to enjoy this book. What surprised me is just how much I enjoyed it. There is a whole heap of information I didn't know, and I now have a much better understanding. Do I dare say this book is "enlightening"?

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

Great subject but often difficult to understand.

Totally awesome astrophysics book!

Disclaimer: I would like to thank the author and publisher for providing an advanced review copy of this book.

Firstlight by Emma Chapman is a unique and valuable astrophysics book. It is unique in that the author introduces and discusses the technical material in a light-hearted fashion with anecdotes and humorous observations to make a typically dry field come alive as the reader understands the humans behind the research. It is valuable not only because of some of the excellent advice regarding black holes and spaghettification ("Do not fall into a black hole."), but the author also clearly describes the latest findings on humanity's understanding of the development of the cosmos from the Big Bang to the formation of complex galaxies. As this is a rapidly changing field, any reader interested in astronomy who is not an active astrophysicist will certainly learn from the author's descriptions of the latest research on dark matter, black holes and quasars, the historical temperature of the universe, massive radio telescope arrays, space based telescopes, the formation of the first stars and galaxies, and more.

An an amateur enthusiast interested in astronomy and a variety of fields of science, I was surprised at how out-of-date my understanding was regarding dark matter and the history of the universe. In addition to the theories on the development of the universe, it was interesting to read about the various tools that researchers use and will use to further our understanding. From algorithms to tease out information from existing radio telescope data, to the ongoing development of massive radio telescopes arrays on Earth, to ultra sensitive systems that measure gravity waves, to the James Webb Space Telescope to be placed in Lagrange Point L2, to plans for radio telescope arrays on the far side of the moon, etc, this book is full of details on how scientists directly learn about and explore the cosmos around us.

I definitely recommend this book to readers interested in learning the latest about our understanding of the formation of the cosmos. And, I would like to nominate this book for an award for the best use of the word supercalifragilisticexpialidocious in technical jargon.

First Light: Switching on Stars at the Dawn of Time by Emma Chapman.
Review by Galen Weitkamp.

The universe is 13.8 billion years old. At least that’s how far back it is to the Big Bang, an explosive uniform expansion of space, time matter and energy from out a singular point before which our models, our understanding and our confidence fails. At first there weren’t any stars. It was too hot for stars to form. It was too hot even for protons to capture electrons to form hydrogen atoms. There were so many free electrons flying around not even a photon could travel from one place to another without bumping into one. The universe was opaque. Not until 380 million years after the big bang were enough electrons captured that universe became as transparent as the night sky. It is thought that gravity pulled together the first stars during the ‘translucent’ phase, about 100 million years after the big bang. These first stars are known as population III stars. We think these were huge stars of almost pure hydrogen that fused quickly into helium before exploding.

To date, no one has ever seen a population III star. They were huge and they were short lived. Could any have survived to the present day? If not, can we still see them? Stars that have long since stopped shining can be seen today because the light they have sent to us has taken eons to reach our telescopes. The light we observe today from galaxy GN-z11 was sent to us just 400 million years after the Big Bang. Does GN-z11 still exist? How about the stars within it that sent us the light we now see?

Emma Chapman’s book is about the search for the first stars. She is a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellow at Imperial College London. Her research centers on population III stars and the time of their formation. First Stars is a delightful book, full of history, science, wit and enlightening metaphors. I’m hoping she keeps us up to date on her search and research.

I happened to see this one recently and decided to read it. I thought I know quite a bit of cosmology, but it turned out that this is an area I didn't know much. The book turned out to a pleasant surprise, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The store-telling is outstanding, in both the scientists and their work.

„Zawsze mogę spojrzeć w kosmos i się zachwycić, bez względu na to, co się dzieje”

Jak często sięgacie po literaturę faktu? Czy może w ogóle jej nie czytacie? Mnie ostatnio coraz częściej się zdarza, chociaż raczej są to pozycje o seryjnych mordercach, bardziej psychologiczne. Tym razem, zachęcona okładką i opisem sięgnęłam po książkę o kosmosie. No dobra! Skłoniły mnie też do tego pytania dzieciaków w żłobku.

„Jaką historię skrywa przed nami wszechświat? Jak narodziły się pierwsze ciała niebieskie? Kiedy ciemności zastąpiło światło? Jak powstały pierwsze gwiazdy? Jak formowały się w galaktyki? Czym są czarne dziury? I dlaczego właściwie niebo jest ciemne?”. Odpowiedzi na te pytania oraz wiele innych szukajcie w książce „Pierwsze światło. Jak Wszechświat wyszedł z mroku” Emmy Chapman.

Opis książki totalnie mnie skusił, więc z chęcią sięgnęłam po tę pozycję. Dodatkowo czytając zachęcające recenzje, tylko utwierdzałam się w tym przeświadczeniu. Muszę jednak przyznać, że ta książka mnie zmęczyła. Nie dlatego że była zła, co to, to nie. Książka jest znakomita. Jednak ilość wiedzy, jaka jest w niej przekazana, może powalić na kolana.

Po pierwszych 40/50 stronach musiałam ją odłożyć. Przesyt informacji sprawił, że rozbolał mnie mózg. Jednak z czasem było lepiej. Finalnie czytanie książki zajęło mi cztery dni. Na szczęście nie odpuściłam po tym początku i brnęłam w nią dalej. Co prawda wciąż musiałam dawkować tę książkę, przeplatałam ją dwoma innymi, ale ośmio- i dziewięciogodzinna podróż pociągiem skutecznie pomogła mi skończyć tę pozycję.

Ale wciąż Wam piszę o tym, jaka ta książka jest ciężka i trudna. A przecież nie chcę Was odstraszyć! Książka nie jest trudna pod względem językowym. Autorka zrobiła genialną robotę i wszystkie zawiłości opisała w przystępny sposób. Chociażby porównanie naszych naukowców do obcych z Andromedy! Albo historia z gołębiami. To było świetne. Autorka w żartobliwy sposób wyjaśniała wszystkie zawiłości, które mogły być nie do przeskoczenia dla zwykłego czytelnika. A pod pojęciem „zwykłego czytelnika” rozumiem osobę, która nie zajmuje się na co dzień fizyką.

Wszystkie rozdziały były opisane wyczerpująco, Autorka ma ogromną wiedzę, popiera się sporą ilością literatury. A co najważniejsze! Pisze to wszystko z taką pasją, że tę książkę aż chce się czytać. Chce się ją poznawać i szukać w niej odpowiedzi na pytania. Mimo że podczas lektury narasta ich coraz więcej i więcej, a na koniec okazuje się, że właściwie nic nie wiemy.

Bardzo podobał mi się także sposób prowadzenia narracji. Tam wszystko było ze sobą związane. Autorka świetnie przechodziła od wątku do wątku, robiąc to niezwykle płynnie. Nie mogę powiedzieć, że przez książkę się płynęło, bo ilość wiedzy mogła powalić, ale zdecydowanie czytało się ją przyjemnie.

Jeżeli więc chcecie się dowiedzieć, co to jest ciemna materia, co właściwie było po Wielkim Wybuchu i o co chodzi z pierwszymi gwiazdami, to koniecznie sięgnijcie po tę pozycję!

Published 2020
Author: Emma Chapman, British physicist and Royal Society Research Fellow.
Won the 2018 Royal Society Athena Prize.
Explaining everything about Light, it's magnificence in simplicity and what we take for granted and also it's complexity in relation to it's speed and how long it takes to see an object, say coming from our sun or from another Galaxy.
If ever a good time to read about Astrophysics, the Cosmos or just Physics, it is now. This and Light of the Stars: Alien Worlds and the Fate of the Earth by Adam Frank as well as Adam Frank's About Time: Cosmology and Culture at the Twilight of the Big Bang are excellent reads, reviewing theories on the Big Bang and what was there before and what has happened since.

Emma Chapman, has detailed illustrations in her book; great for explaining to teenagers as well as older persons. She discusses wavelengths of elements in our Periodic table), necessary to understand how the stars are moving expanding away from us on Earth. She explains Population I and Population II stars. There are young stars, old stars, common stars and rare ones. Astronomers have realised that the Big Bang could not synthesise all the elements we saw around us and that the stars must have a role. And, yes there are metal-free Population III stars formed from primordial metal-free gas. These are the first stars. She insists that we must care about thes first stars.

Do you have an interest in Astrophysics? This book can help -good teaching book as well. And, by the way treat pigeons with respect -some 400 million in the world, they are super intelligent.

Her writing flows into a beautiful narrative that you want to read.

"As I sit in my office on Earth, staring out at the sky, there is a reasonable question to ask -was there really a first ? The Universe around me looks orderly and unchanging, after all. Now and then we might enjoy a solar eclipse, and there will be days when Venus appears brighter and sometimes Halley's Comet comes back around to catch up on things. But over a human lifetime, the Universe will appear much the same at the start as at the end. It's a bit like that summer you had when you were 14. You know the one? Every day you had a bag of snacks, a book and money for sweets, and your friends had their bikes ready to go at the gate. You would toss bread to the pigeons and it was going to last forever. In a Universe full of unimaginable timescales, us wee humans are in our summer holiday once again. It's natural to believe that the Universe as it always was will be - a static, unevolving Universe. In that case there have always been stars and the question of when the first star came into existence is nonsensical."

Galaxies are too large for us to appreciate their movements but move they do.

-----------------------------------------------------------
Although she quotes Ralph Waldo Emerson, (American philosopher, essayist, and poet), I couldn't help but think of the poem, The Light of the Stars by Longfellow Henry Wadsworth :

The night is come, but not too soon;
And sinking silently,
All silently, the little moon
Drops down behind the sky.,

There is no light in earth or heaven
But the cold light of stars;
And the first watch of night is given
To the red planet Mars.

Is it the tender star of love?
The star of love and dreams?
O no! from that blue tent above,
A hero's armor gleams.

And earnest thoughts within me rise,
When I behold afar,
Suspended in the evening skies,
The shield of that red star.

O star of strength! I see thee stand
And smile upon my pain;
Thou beckonest with thy mailèd hand,
And I am strong again.

Within my breast there is no light
But the cold light of stars;
I give the first watch of the night
To the red planet Mars.

The star of the unconquered will,
He rises in my breast,
Serene, and resolute, and still,
And calm, and self-possessed.

And thou, too, whosoe'er thou art,
That readest this brief psalm,
As one by one thy hopes depart,
Be resolute and calm.

O fear not in a world like this,
And thou shalt know erelong,
Know how sublime a thing it is
To suffer and be strong.

Highly recommended.

Zaczynałam „Pierwsze światło” z taką myślą - ojej, znowu książka o kosmosie, czy będzie w niej coś jeszcze, o czym nie wiem? Przeczytałam dwie albo trzy pozycje od Neila deGrasse'a Tysona, jedną od Stephena Hawkinga, oglądam kosmiczne filmy science fiction i mam za sobą wszystkie sezony „Teorii Wielkiego Podrywu”, to chyba jestem ekspertem, c'nie?

Żartuję oczywiście, na szczęście okazało się, że kosmos ma jeszcze czym mnie zaskoczyć. W zasadzie jeszcze się nie spotkałam z tym, by ktoś tak dokładnie przyglądał się gwiazdom i o tym jest ta nowość wydawnictwa Muza SA. Tytuł jest znaczący, autorka bowiem opowiada o mitycznej pierwszej gwieździe, od której pochodzi m.in. nasze Słońce.

„Pierwszym człowiekiem, który zrozumiał, że światło składa się z różnych barw, był angielski fizyk Isaac Newton. W 1666 roku rzucił wiązkę promieni słonecznych na szklany pryzmat i zaobserwował, że z drugiej strony pryzmatu wydobywa się tęcza. Ponieważ brakuje mi tu miejsca na zamieszczanie diagramów, sugeruję, abyście spojrzeli na okładkę płyty Pink Floyd >Dark Side of the Moon<”.

Emma Chapman ma lekkie pióro, dobrze się czyta jej pracę pomimo trudnej tematyki, w treść wplata żarciki, ale bez przesady. Wydaje mi się, że jest nawet przystępniejsza dla laika niż sławniejszy od niej Tyson, a jednocześnie da się odczuć, że to osoba kompetentna. Przede wszystkim skupia się na historii i opowieści, a nie na skomplikowanych naukowych zawiłościach. Jeśli opisuje jakieś odkrycie, to więcej miejsca zajmie u niej charakterystyka badacza, analiza jaki efekt to wywołało w środowisku naukowym i wśród opinii publicznej, a samo odkrycie będzie opisane pokrótce, żebyśmy mniej więcej wiedzieli, o co chodziło. Dla mnie zaskoczeniem była wiadomość, jak wiele kobiet wpłynęło na rozwój astrofizyki, chociaż nieraz rzucano im kłody pod nogi.

Czy można przez 300 stron pisać ciekawie o gwiazdach? Jeśli ktoś jest tym zafascynowany, to pewnie, że tak, może o tym mówić godzinami. Autorka potrafi czytelnika tą swoją fascynacją porwać i to się ceni. Polecam lekturę dla ciekawych świata i kosmosu.

O gwiazdach pisano od zawsze. Sumerowie używali symbolu gwiazdy do oznaczenia króla lub boga na tabliczkach klinowych. Dla Dantego gwiazdy były tak bosko inspirujące, że wszystkie trzy części swojej niezrównanej „Komedii” zakończył słowem stelle, po włosku oznaczającym gwiazdy. Niezliczeni inni poeci, powieściopisarze, dramaturdzy i pamiętnikarze czerpali z nich inspiracje, tworzyli idee, lub po prostu wypowiadali do nich swoje życzenia. Jednak niewielu z tych skrybów mogło wyobrazić sobie gwiazdy, nad którymi Emma Chapman spędziła swoją karierę. I tę cząstkę gwiazd dziś przekazuje nam w swojej kosmicznej książce. Autorka oprowadza czytelnika po fascynujących informacjach, stworzyła fantastyczną książkę, która rzuca światło na pierwsze gwiazdy, znacznie większe niż nasze Słońce i milion razy jaśniejsze. Gwiazdy, które żyły szybko i umierały młodo w potężnych eksplozjach, które zasiały we Wszechświecie ciężkie pierwiastki, z których jesteśmy zbudowani. W tej książce jest wiele oszałamiających momentów, wiele, zaczynając od tego, jak atomy zachowywały się natychmiast po Wielkim Wybuchu, po różnicę między astronomią optyczną a radioastronomią, wytłumaczonych jest za pomocą przykładów z dnia codziennego. Ale ta książka, to nie tylko to co było, ona także wykonuje dobrą robotę, przygotowując nas na to, co możemy odkryć i dając nam kontekst do tego, jak daleko już zaszliśmy. Musimy także pogodzić się z nieco paradoksalną koncepcją, że im lepsze są nasze teleskopy kosmiczne, tym dalej cofamy się w czasie. Wszystko, czego się uczymy lub obserwujemy, jest oparte na wydarzeniach, które wydarzyły się miliony, a nawet miliardy lat temu.. Żyjemy w ciekawych i ekscytujących czasach i mam nadzieję, że ta książka pomoże zainspirować jeszcze więcej ludzi do spojrzenia w niebo, zwłaszcza w obliczu wszystkich potencjalnych nowych odkryć przed nami.

Emma Chapman's First Light: Switching on Stars at the Dawn of Time is a good attempt to write a reasonably understandable book about an impossibly complex scientific problem: How did the first stars emerge after the Big Bang?
Chapman proved an entertaining, knowledgeable guide to the issue, taking enough side trips into history and science to make it possible not to be too flummoxed by all sorts of chemistry, physics and mumbo-jumbo from the world of astronomy. She knows a whole lot more about all of this than most any of us and really tries to bring it home to those who try to comprehend.
It's an unfortunate reality, though, that it's still hard to grasp. I mean, it should be. I'm sure there are days Chapman must go, wow, this is complicated stuff. So I can't fault her that I occasionally just couldn't keep up as she dived deep. I'm not a total illiterate on this stuff. I took chemistry, physics and even astronomy, but I still found it hard to follow some of threads that Chapman endeavored to guide us along.
Still, at the end of the book, I found that I understood the early universe much, much better than I did when I started reading. And as so often the case with this subject, I found myself just overwhelmed at two things: (1) how utterly insignificant we are in the universe; and (2) how astonishing it is that this insignificant little species on this anthill of a planet is working so hard to understand the entire darn universe.
Thanks, Emma, for pushing the boundaries. Maybe it's meaningless. But we might as well work on the assumption that it's, well, everything.

Disclaimer: I would like to thank the author and publisher for providing an advanced review copy of this book.

Emma Chapman details the latest research in the study of the very first stars of the Universe that have been until recently hidden to us. From the first few minutes after the Big Bang to hundreds of millions of years, the Universe entered the Dark Ages as the first stars in the cosmos were formed and darkness finally gave way to light.
Since astronomy uses the light we receive from the corners of the Universe to study it, this period of darkness represents a challenge for the researchers to study, but it is of the utmost importance to cosmologists to breach this gap in knowledge paramount to the understanding of the stars and galaxies formed today.

This book is very unique and interesting, I would add a disclaimer though that there are a lot of physics concepts: cosmology, astronomy, astrophysics, and even some nuclear astrophysics knowledge are needed in order to fully explain this research.
As such, it is not an easy book for the general public, but the author's simple analogies and humour makes it so much easier to understand it all !

Appallingly sloppy for a supposed science book. Take for example page 112, "Andromeda galaxy appears as it was 250 million years ago." Andromeda is 2.5 million light years away, not 250 million. That is off by +2 orders of magnitude. A huge difference of 100x.
Another example is a footnote on page 163, "Even the Dutch have slowed down, after rapidly gaining a whopping 13cm (9in) in 100 years..." This mistake is even less forgivable given anyone can easily work out the conversation without any knowledge of astronomy. 13cm=5.118in or 9in=22.86cm. Not even close, off by a factor of 2.
A scientific paper submitted for publication with these kinds of errors would rightly be rejected. Why then does the author, editor and publisher then think that it is suitable for mainstream consumption? I won't ever buy another book by this author again.

Fabulous, just fabulous.
A science book that's enjoyable. What fun!
I really enjoyed my taster into astrology with this delightful and interesting adventure. Introducing to me an exploration of some of the most oldest stars within the universe, Emma Chapman, it also features some of the first stars after the Big Bang Theory, most interesting.

Not only was it something I could get into that's educational, I was also learning and not even realising it.

I really loved it, whole heartedly recommend

I received this ARC for free in exchange for an honest review, many thanks to Netgalley, publisher and the author, I immensely enjoyed this read and will look out for Emma Chapman in anything else she produces, all opinions are my own.

Z tą książką dosłownie odleciałam w kosmos. Penetrowałam wnętrza gwiazd, oglądałam odległe galaktyki i wsłuchiwałam się w kosmiczne sygnały. Choć momentami czułam się jakbym miała do czynienia z podręcznikiem do fizyki, to ostatecznie bawiłam się wyśmienicie. Autorka za pomocą codziennych sytuacji i banalnych przykładów, sprawnie wytłumaczyła wszelkie kosmiczne zawiłości. Uderzająca była ilość powtórzeń, które wcale nie były dla mnie takim złym zabiegiem. Dzięki nim, w trakcie lektury przypominałam sobie pewne treści z poprzednich rozdziałów, które gdzieś tam już mi zdążyły ulecieć. Wszystko złożyło się w ekscytującą całość, a podczas tej eksploracji niejednokrotnie towarzyszyły mi okrzyki zachwytu!

A young astronomer, Emma Chapman, details her search to find signals from the very first stars of the Universe, 13-billion years ago. Witty analogies and personal stories highlight her clear explanations of complex cosmology. Chapman’s enthusiasm for astronomy and her joy in the search is absolutely infectious. Make no mistake, there are some tough physics concepts to grapple with in this book. I had several pleasing “ah, ha” moments when she filled in some gaps in my understanding. (I’ll definitely be using it as a reference text.) But, the sheer happiness in the science and the search is the core message of this book.

Easy Read

I think the Big Bang TV show has caused a lot of new books to be written by physicists, who, rightfully so, don't like the portrait that was painted by that very funny look at humanity when all emotions are erased or pushed into the background from a persons life. I for one am happy for this reaction as I am hungry for any information I can get about the theories physicists are chasing in there quest for knowledge of the laws of and how God set our universe into motion. I just wish I had an avenue or some sort of communication link with these physicists to discuss what I am learning.

Wow, what a fascinating book! I really loved this audiobook, which was about astronomy. I was amazed by the amount of information in the book. Although I didn't understand all of it, as it is very scientific, I still enjoyed learning about the history of the Universe, such as the Big Bang, which led to the birth of the galaxies, black holes, stars, planets, comets, moons and life on these planets. It was all very interesting and I loved it! The narrator (and author) of the audiobook was fantastic and she had a voice that I could listen to all day.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Net Galley for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

In the beginning, there was the Big Bang. And then, silence.... until the first stars roared to life. But how? This book by Emma Chapman takes us on a journey to the era of the first lights in the Universe, born from the primordial soup of hydrogen for reasons yet unknown. These first stars helped shaped the Universe to the one we know today, but their existence are faded in time and are still waiting to be discovered. Similarly, the work of pioneering women astronomers, long buried under the limelight are highlighted in this book and are given due credit for their advancing of our knowledge of the early Universe.

I rarely DNF a book. In fact, I have only done so three times in the past 4 years. But unfortunately I can’t bring myself to finish this.

I can’t quite pinpoint what it is that is putting me off. I don’t find it difficult to understand, and it’s not particularly dense. I think the combination of the subject matter and drawn out analogies has just put me off. As soon as I pick it up, I’m wanting to put it back down.

If this is a subject you have a lot of background knowledge on, I would say go for it - it will probably be much easier to digest the style that way. But the combination, although it is written for the layman, just didn’t do it for me.

I read a lot of "popular" astrophysics books so I know what's out there and I have to be honest and say this one falls squarely in the middle. There is nothing wrong with that, of course. The subject is said to be early stellar evolution but there is a significant amount of context given on the rest of the universe (Big Bang to present) that the focus is much larger. I didn't see a lot of new ground being covered but I will give the author credit for trying to write with a friendly, chatty style. Good intro to the topic if you're new to it, probably not what you're looking for if you're not.

Це було нелегко... Але точно варте того!

Дійсно, у книзі багато матеріалу, який потребує деяких попередніх знань у галузі астрофізики. Однак я не вважаю, що це мінус. Навпаки, це плюс, оскільки хоч і потребує трохи більше часу на розуміння і осмислення, ніж інший легший наукпоп, але прокачає вас на кілька рівнів вперед.

Вас чекає неймовірна подорож на мільйони і мільярди років назад у часі. Ви дізнаєтесь, що сучасна наука знає про перші періоди існування нашого Всесвіту, якими були перші зорі, як вони утворювалися в тогочасних умовах і як їх намагаються знайти зараз за допомогою найрізноманітніших методів.

Якщо ви хочете поглибити свої знання про зорі, то ця книга точно для вас.