The Human Cosmos

Civilization and the Stars

By: Jo Marchant

Narrated by: Jo Marchant

A Best Book of 2020 NPR
A Best Book of 2020 The Economist
A Top 10 Best Science Book of 2020 Smithsonian
A Best Science & Technology Book of 2020 Library Journal
A Must-Read Book to Escape the Chaos of 2020 Newsweek
Starred review Booklist
Starred review Publishers Weekly

A historically unprecedented disconnect between humanity and the heavens has opened. Jo Marchant's book can begin to heal it.

For at least 20,000 years, we have led not just an earthly existence, but a cosmic one. Celestial cycles drove every aspect of our daily lives. Our innate relationship with the stars shaped who we are - our art, religious beliefs, social status, scientific advances, and even our biology. But over the last few centuries we have separated ourselves from the universe that surrounds us. It's a disconnect with a dire cost.

Our relationship to the stars and planets has moved from one of awe, wonder, and superstition to one where technology is king - the cosmos is now explored through data on our screens, not by the naked eye observing the natural world. Indeed, in most countries modern light pollution obscures much of the night sky from view. Jo Marchant's spellbinding parade of the ways different cultures celebrated the majesty and mysteries of the night sky is a journey to the most awe inspiring view you can ever see - looking up on a clear dark night. That experience and the thoughts it has engendered have radically shaped human civilization across millennia. The cosmos is the source of our greatest creativity in art, in science, in life.

To show us how, Jo Marchant takes us to the Hall of the Bulls in the caves at Lascaux in France, and to the summer solstice at a 5,000-year-old tomb at New Grange in Ireland. We discover Chumash cosmology and visit medieval monks grappling with the nature of time and Tahitian sailors navigating by the stars. We discover how light reveals the chemical composition of the sun, and we are with Einstein as he works out that space and time are one and the same. A four-billion-year-old meteor inspires a search for extraterrestrial life. The cosmically liberating, summary revelation is that star-gazing made us human.

©2020 Jo Marchant (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Marchant charts the history of humanity’s fascination with the night sky and explores the way the stars have shaped art, faith, science and society, and what our modern disconnect from the stars has cost us.” (USA Today, “5 Books Not to Miss”)

"A tour of the heavens that centers not so much on outer space as what it does to our inner beings...Readers interested in the cognitive aspects of cosmology will enjoy Marchant’s explorations." (Kirkus)

"This thematic, engaging overview of our stars and skies has something for all readers of geography, exploration, religion, philosophy, and politics" (Library Journal)

Entertaining and most informative

An entertaining walk through mankind’s fascination with the heavens from ancient times to the present. Jo Marchant writes and narrates with knowledge and enthusiasm.

Unique and thought provoking

Takes a different view of humanity’s interaction with the stars over thousands of years. Most people don’t even look up anymore from their screens to see the majesty and terror in the universe that surrounds them.

Fantastic book and narration

Very unique and erudite. What an adventure. Well worth the time. It’s rare to find such good writing and narration from an author.

Feels Right

Wow! A short but very well done history of the Cosmos and much more. Heartfelt but pleasant reading. She articulates facts and possibilities that feel so right, important for every one of us right now. High recommendation for thinkers and dreamers.

So much more than I thought it was going to be

I'm really glad I picked this one up. It was way more than what I was expecting and I found it and enthralling.

Will definitely be listening to it more than once ☺️

What a wonderful listen!

A unique, superb, and holistic perspective. I love this book and will listen again. Narrator was excellent.

Without Awe What Are?

This book is incredible. Such a delight to listen to. If you consider yourself a polymath or a person just as comfortable and interested in the Buddha Mind and Newton’s law of gravity or Gnosticism and Astro-biology then this book is for you. As a collection of facts, I have to admit knowing a good deal of them, but there is something amazing and absolutely enlightening about the way the book is written and arranged. I feel as though I crossed over some bridge of pessimism and that this book has given me strength that I had forgotten or lost. Can’t say enough. Ending is superb.

Excellent Book

Love books like this one! We’ll written and very informative. I Highly recommended this book. Outstanding job by the author. I’ll be looking into reading other books by Jo Merchant.

Beautiful

A book worthy of science, philosophy, and love for the magnificent cosmos. It reminded me of the awe I found when I read and watched a video of the Power of Ten.

A compelling and expansive book

This book serves to provide an expansive review of the nature of human interpretations of the cosmos, addressing philosophical, scientific, artistic and psychological perspectives. It describes the changing concepts of the luminaries in these fields, dating back to the shamans, Plato and up to the modernists and post-modernists/abstract expressionists. The narration by the author herself is well done and keeps one engaged.