Chris Lintott

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Our Accidental Universe

It's here! Browse the 2024 Penguin Christmas gift guide

A riveting real-life Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Highly approachable and elegantly explained ... a splendid book.

An enjoyable tour of astronomical discoveries&hellip;His excellent book is a layman&rsquo;s guide to the surprises.

Dense with information, Our Accidental Universe is also light-hearted and funny, thanks to Lintott&rsquo;s nerdy humour, especially in the many footnotes. But most of all, his boundless enthusiasm for everything cosmic makes it hard to put this book away once you start reading.

Chris Lintott has an eye for the most entertaining astronomical stories and the experience to take us behind the scenes. Highly recommended.

Chris Lintott’s extravagantly entertaining book is a real eye-opener for those who, like me, struggle to know the difference between a pulsar and a comet. Warmly informative, and underpinned with wry, self-deprecating humour and deep expertise, it’s an indispensable addition to any science-lover’s library.

I really enjoyed this. A fascinating book full of lively anecdotes and expert insight: Our Accidental Universe opens up a world of possibilities. As the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence continues, perhaps we are the ones who will be discovered first?

Professor Helene Courtois, astrophysicist and author of Finding Our Place in the Universe

Grab a front row seat! Chris Lintott’s Our Accidental Universe is wonderfully engaging, full to bursting with remarkable, celestial tales of the unexpected.

Ananyo Bhattacharya, science writer and author of The Man from the Future

A fascinating look at the strange and alien side of space from a wonderfully human astronomer.

A scientific tour de force of the weird and wonderful. Chris brings these discoveries to life by telling the stories of the people behind the research, diving into the science history, and by sprinkling in a few joyful personal anecdotes. An absolutely delightful read.

Dr Becky Smethurst, author of A Brief History of Black Holes

A delightful read, revealing the joy and benefits of being curious, all told with a personal touch.

Professor Lucie Green, author of 15 Million Degrees: A Journey to the Centre of the Sun

A book that glows with Chris's desire to infect the reader with the same passion for astronomical adventures as he has - from the beauty of the sky to the brilliance of the technological minds that allow  us to interrogate our galaxy in the most remarkable ways.  This book will inspire you.

Stories of Discovery from Asteroids to Aliens

Brought to you by Penguin. 
 
The BBC presenter of 'Sky at Night', and Gresham Professor of Astronomy, Chris Lintott, takes us on an astonishing tour of bizarre accidents, big characters, and human error to tell the story of some of the most important astronomical events of the past hundred years. 
 
- Our first views of the earliest galaxies were brought to us by the Hubble Space Telescope when it was pointed at absolutely nothing. 
 
- The ice-covered Enceladus, one of Saturn's nearly one hundred moons, was revealed as a possible habitat for life after a by-chance fly by of NASA's Cassini probe on a mission elsewhere. 
 
- Pulsars, the spectacular remnants of long-dead massive stars, were discovered as 'scruff' in the data for measurements of the twinkling of possible radio stars. 
 
As new telescopes are built on mountaintops and in deserts around the world, aiming to transform our view of the universe once more, Chris Lintott shows us that keeping an open mind will benefit us all - whatever might still be out there for us to find. 
 
Praise for Chris Lintott 
'Superbly written insights.' - Professor Brian Cox 
'Chris Lintott is a modest genius. He has quietly revolutionized modern astronomy.' Brian May 
'Lintott deftly interweaves personal experience and more philosophical ruminations.' Michael West, Nature 
 
©2024 Chris Lintott (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Chris Lintott is a Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford, where his research ranges from understanding how galaxies form and evolve, to predicting the properties of visiting interstellar asteroids. He is Principal Investigator of the Zooniverse citizen science platform, which provides opportunities for anyone to contribute to scientific research, and which was the topic of his first book, 'The Crowd and the Cosmos'. Lintott is best known as presenter of the BBC's long-running Sky at Night program, and as an accomplished lecturer and performer in venues from music festivals to planetaria. In 2023, he was appointed the 39th Gresham Professor of Astronomy, a post that dates back to the 16th century. Away from work, he cooks, plays real tennis and spends time with a rescued lurcher, Mr Max, with whom he presents the Dog Stars podcast.

Our view of the Universe is changing. The timeless heavens, turning ceaselessly above us, have been revealed to be dynamic and ever-changing, requiring a new kind of astronomy. On mountaintops and in deserts around the world, new telescopes are being built to show us this changing sky. But amongst all this technological development, the major astronomical events of the past century have largely come about by accident - found not by careful experiment but as surprises when we were looking for something else entirely. 
 
- The most promising habitat for life beyond Earth turns out to be Saturn's tiny moon Enceladus, whose oceans were revealed as NASA's Cassini probe happened to swing by. 
 
- Pulsars, the remnants of long-dead massive stars, were originally just 'scruff' in the data of radio astronomers looking at distant galaxies. 
 
- Telescopes around the world sprung into action to follow the visit of our first, unexpected, interstellar visitor, an asteroid from another system. 
 
- And we get the most from the Hubble Space Telescope by pointing it at nothing ... 
 
Chris Lintott takes us on an astonishing tour of accidents and human error in pursuit of asteroids, pulsars, radio waves, new stars and alien life. On the threshold of opening a new window on the cosmos through new surveys and instruments, his book is an urgent argument for how keeping an open mind can benefit us all - whatever might still be out there for us to find. 
 
....................... 
Praise for Chris Lintott 
'Superbly written insights.' - Professor Brian Cox 
'Chris Lintott is a modest genius. He has quietly revolutionized modern astronomy.' Brian May 
'Lintott deftly interweaves personal experience and more philosophical ruminations.' Michael West, Nature

Our Accidental Universe

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Chris Lintott

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