Although I’ve had the best of intentions I haven’t studied science as an adult and currently sit firmly in science nerd wannabe territory. My wannabe status is probably what drew me to this book and its conversational tone and lack of complex mathematics equations makes it accessible to readers without prior knowledge of the scientific discoveries and theories it explains.

There’s a smorgasbord to enjoy within each of the seven parts:

• Biological Things
• Human Things
• Terrestrial Things
• Solar System Things
• Fundamental Things
• Extraterrestrial Things, and
• Cosmic Things.

Given the bite size chunks of information each contain, they provide a taste of some of the marvels the universe has to offer. While I learned enough about some topics to satisfy me I was able to narrow down some areas of interest to explore further. Each of the fifty chapters begins with a single sentence statement that may or may not give you a clue about what’s to come, followed by a quote and then several pages of explanation.

My favourite opening statements of the book were:

• “You are born 100 percent human but die 50 percent alien”
• “In the future, time might run backwards”
• “The universe may have at least ten dimensions”, and
• “Time travel is not ruled out by the laws of physics”.

My main problem with this book was its repetitiveness. If you are only reading single chapters over a significant length of time, this would not be a problem. However, if you’re reading from cover to cover, the multiple instances of repetition become tedious.

Thank you to NetGalley and Diversion Books for the opportunity to read this book. I’m rounding up from 3.5 stars.