Short Review of The Universe in Verse: 15 Portals to Wonder through Science and Poetry

I like to read poetry in the mornings. I always like poetry, but it's such a great way to start the day - bearing witness to writers being passionate, highlighting details worth paying attention to. 

I also love popular science books. This book blends both. The very idea of this book is brilliant, and the execution follows through. Maria Popova selects poetry and waxes lyrical about the wonders of the natural world, from octopuses to entropy. 

This book explores the gorgeous intersection of poetry and science. There's a chapter on how Milton coined the term “space” - yes, as in “outer” - in Paradise Lost. The phrase “Milky Way comes from Chaucer. 

It explores the Cretaceous era, when plants began producing flowers to streamline reproduction, and how the resulting fruit expanded the world's life. No wonder humans find them so beautiful and life-affirming. It discusses Emily Dickinson's flower-pressing project, which she created before the term ecology existed. I learned of a poet who worked with Carl Sagan, who created scientifically accurate poems about the natural world - Diane Ackerman.

“Portals to wonder” is a perfect way to describe this. It was everything I hoped it would be. I highly recommend it.

Check it out on Libby.

Buy it at Viewpoint Books.

Buy it on Amazon.

Popova is the creator of The Marginalian, a website where she contemplates the meaning of life through a variety of subjects and fascinations. I can only admire and aspire to such a creation.

"The Universe in Verse" is also the name of a yearly event celebrating science and wonder through poetry, music, and more.