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There are currently 42 member reviews
for The Smallest Lights in the Universe
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Windsong
Reaching the unreachable star
I received The Smallest Lights in the Universe as an Advanced Reading Copy from BookBrowse. I was pleasantly surprised because my third least favorite genre is a memoir, and my least favorite genre is anything to do with science fiction or space travels. Seager changed my mind. Her persistence in the study of exoplanets, planets outside of our solar system, has led her to a tenured position at MIT, to the MacArthur Foundation $625,000 'genius" grants, and to work on NASA's Starshade project which is a telescope that allows scientists to see space differently than they could previously see with the Kepler and Hubble telescopes. What amazed me about the book is that her style of writing held my attention and made me understand the complicated aspects of space. Her story describes not only the life of a dedicated and intelligent woman in a field mostly made up of equally intelligent men but also the tragedies of her life. She survives a dismal childhood of separated parents, a feeling of loneness (later diagnosed as borderline autism) throughout her formative years, and the tragic death of her husband, Mike, at a young age. Their beautiful canoe trips through the lakes of Canada and the Grand Canyon, his willingness to move to Boston, and his belief in her career contributed to the sadness of his death. At the age just a few days shy of her 40th birthday, she becomes a widow with two small children. About three months before he dies and chemo ravages his body, he types her a guide to life without him. It includes everything from which grocery stores to hardware stores that he uses. On a particularly dreary day, she discovers a group of ladies who call themselves "The Widows Group." They become her anchors after his death. With help from many friends she is able to continue her work and required travels. During one of her presentations to an amateur astronomers convention, she meets her second husband. Although her sadness and grief throughout the story is apparent, the journey to what she is trying to find in her personal life is balanced with what she is trying to find in space Although she is highly respected in her field and has won many awards, she is a very humble person. I highly recommend the book.
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M K. (Minneapolis, MN)
Smallest Lights
The Smallest Lights in the Universe by Sara Seager is a wonderful book about navigation: navigating the dark places in the universe where there may be other planets, earth-like, that can support life, navigating the dark places in ourselves, navigating rivers in northern Canada and other wild places, navigating a marriage, being a parent, a mother of two boys, and then a widow, all the while pursuing life in the universe and excelling professionally. From the first few pages, so simply written and so engaging, I couldn't put it down. This memoir will open your heart as it did mine. I enjoyed immensely.
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Connie L. (Bartlesville, OK)
The Smallest Light in the Universe
I thoroughly enjoyed this memoir by a physicist, even though science has never been a favorite subject. Why? Seager is a darn good writer. She is highly skilled with words, and knows how to strike the right balance between telling us about her personal and professional lives. And there is drama and wonder in both. I learned more science from this book than I ever did in school, and enjoyed it in the process. And although we are different in may ways, I could relate to Seager in her struggles to deal with loss and to be a good mother and a great scientist.
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Lesley F. (San Diego, CA)
Small Lights Ringing Bells
OMG A memoir. Not another memoir. I wasn't crazy about the last one I read. But wait...
After discussing Elderhood by Louise Aaronson in another group, Ms. Seager's descriptions of the hospital and the doctor where Mike was treated, rang a bell. After losing family members to death recently and long ago, Ms. Seager's descriptions of sorrow and recovery hit bells that rang again but with some comfort. After a life-long love of astronomy with a zero tolerance for numbers and physics, Ms Seager's enthuisasm and plain talk about astrophysics rang clear enough that I got a copy of N. Tyson's book to finally read it with some confidence. That's a triple! When it was revealed that her home was my home, many bells rang, making me feel in-the-know about her background. Home-run! I am writing to three book groups right now, recommending her book to all of them. Her personal story reads like a novel, her insight is strengthening.
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Rebecca G. (Havertown, PA)
Memorable
I don't normally read memoirs. I find them self-serving and often times sensationalized to sell. So I'm not sure why I selected this book to read and review. I'm so glad I did. I fell in love with Sara and her story, her heartbreak and triumphs. I knew from the beginning she's Autistic; I'm high on the spectrum myself and I sympathized with her struggles in dealing with people, her feelings of loneliness, and her confusions in understanding the whys and what's of other people. I've never lost a husband but I've lost a sister and I cried when she met the Widows because I do know how important that connection is. I was fascinated by her career and discoveries. I definitely have a renewed interest in space and the possibilities of other planets that sustain life. I plan on following her career from her on out. She's by far my new hero
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Robin M. (Newark, DE)
The Biggest Lights in the Universe
This book, The Smallest Lights in the Universe, grabbed my attention from the middle of the second page. The author writes beautifully, not something I expected from an academic, but her writing holds the wonder of her first view of the stars. I enjoyed Seager's descriptions of the joys and challenges of her work and her personal life and hope she will write more non-academic work in the future.
I would whole-heartedly recommend this book to my in-person book club, but we don't read biographies or memoirs of living people, so I will recommend it to them as individuals and to everyone else in my reading universe.
I built a small telescope with my father (a NASA engineer) in 5th grade, and we endured the suburban sky together in our backyard looking at the moon and stars and took the telescope on vacations to state parks an national parks during my teenage years. I later gave it to my son.
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Samantha R. (Hanover Park, IL)
Haunting
After reading the Smallest lights in the Universe the reader is left feeling a bit haunted by the trials and tribulations of the authors life. We all have obstacles and challenges to overcome in life but when we compare our situations to the struggles of others it can really put things into perspective for us. I was moved by the way the author harnessed her personal life challenges and then turned around and became that much more motivated to achieve her career goals. Sometimes the things that challenge us the most are not the things that hold us back in life but keep us going.
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