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Traversal
Traversal
by Maria Popova is a forthcoming title from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
608 pages, Hardcover
Published February 17, 2026
51 people are currently reading
2413 people want to read
About the author
Maria Popova
35 books1,789 followersMaria Popova is a reader and a writer, and writes about what she reads on Brain Pickings (brainpickings.org), which is included in the Library of Congress permanent digital archive of culturally valuable materials. She hosts The Universe in Verse—an annual charitable celebration of science through poetry—at the interdisciplinary cultural center Pioneer Works in Brooklyn.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 11, 2025
Rather than a collection of short stories, this book reads like a journey. Embark and follow the stream of thoughts, stories, scientific discoveries and relationships of historical figures from the XIXth and early XXth centuries.
Traversal should be read cover-to-cover. The titles of its 49 short chapters form an eerie "romantic" poem - a careful nod to Mary Shelley and Percy Shelley, whose lives are featured extensively in the book. Yes, you are signing up for more than 500 pages, but they are very easy to read. Short chapters follow each other with elegance. Each one focuses on a specific invention, a specific historical figure, or a specific event. It would be perfect for commuters: in 15 minutes, you can read a chapter and learn something interesting to talk about at the coffee machine.
I really liked that Maria Popova does not judge the people of the XIXth century with the logic and morality of our times. She captures the zeitgeist of the XIXth century and tries to convey the perspectives of each person, especially when their interests are not aligned. I really enjoyed reading through the extraordinary lives of Mary Shelley and her husband Percy Shelley. Despite trying to rebel against their families and their times, they were also a product of the period. What does it mean to be an innovator? How can one be a female intellectual in a time when women were considered as perpetual children, and when being beaten and raped by your husband was considered normal?
The powerful forces of scientifict innovation and art are often at odds with the sluggish evolution of morals. Traversal invites you to reflect on extraordinary times and influential people, but also on the daily lives of everyone who was just trying to survive through revolutions and famines.
Maria Propova provided me with a novel perspective on many big names of science (Lavoisier, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin, Humphry Davy...). It felt a lot like summer nights at my grandparent's summer house when I was a child. My grandfather was a physics researcher with an immense culture. My grandmother held a master's degree in geography and was also a voracious reader. They would tell a lot of stories, especially about the history of science. Reading this book is the closest I can get to spending a night with them - they are long dead.
Summary:
I truly liked Traversal. Probably not enough to give it 5 stars, but more like 4.5 rounded down. I learned a lot and definitely feel more grateful for being born at the end of the XXth century. As a woman and an engineer, my life would have been much more difficult just 100 years earlier. The odds are that I would not have had access to higher education at all.
Thank you NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for providing me with an ARC of this book. I will read anything that FSG is kind enough to send me. They are such a fantastic editor.
Thank you Maria Popova for all those stories, told with the generosity, critical thinking and passion that only true scholars possess. I love how you connect all those historical figures between each other and with modern times.
Traversal should be read cover-to-cover. The titles of its 49 short chapters form an eerie "romantic" poem - a careful nod to Mary Shelley and Percy Shelley, whose lives are featured extensively in the book. Yes, you are signing up for more than 500 pages, but they are very easy to read. Short chapters follow each other with elegance. Each one focuses on a specific invention, a specific historical figure, or a specific event. It would be perfect for commuters: in 15 minutes, you can read a chapter and learn something interesting to talk about at the coffee machine.
I really liked that Maria Popova does not judge the people of the XIXth century with the logic and morality of our times. She captures the zeitgeist of the XIXth century and tries to convey the perspectives of each person, especially when their interests are not aligned. I really enjoyed reading through the extraordinary lives of Mary Shelley and her husband Percy Shelley. Despite trying to rebel against their families and their times, they were also a product of the period. What does it mean to be an innovator? How can one be a female intellectual in a time when women were considered as perpetual children, and when being beaten and raped by your husband was considered normal?
The powerful forces of scientifict innovation and art are often at odds with the sluggish evolution of morals. Traversal invites you to reflect on extraordinary times and influential people, but also on the daily lives of everyone who was just trying to survive through revolutions and famines.
Maria Propova provided me with a novel perspective on many big names of science (Lavoisier, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin, Humphry Davy...). It felt a lot like summer nights at my grandparent's summer house when I was a child. My grandfather was a physics researcher with an immense culture. My grandmother held a master's degree in geography and was also a voracious reader. They would tell a lot of stories, especially about the history of science. Reading this book is the closest I can get to spending a night with them - they are long dead.
Summary:
I truly liked Traversal. Probably not enough to give it 5 stars, but more like 4.5 rounded down. I learned a lot and definitely feel more grateful for being born at the end of the XXth century. As a woman and an engineer, my life would have been much more difficult just 100 years earlier. The odds are that I would not have had access to higher education at all.
Thank you NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for providing me with an ARC of this book. I will read anything that FSG is kind enough to send me. They are such a fantastic editor.
Thank you Maria Popova for all those stories, told with the generosity, critical thinking and passion that only true scholars possess. I love how you connect all those historical figures between each other and with modern times.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
5 stars
I just really appreciate that Maria Popova exists. Her work always feels thoughtful, comprehensive, and novel, and this most recent mega effort is one of the best examples of what she can REALLY do.
About a decade ago, I had one of the most incredible experiences of my life so far: seeing Marina Abramovic speak at City Arts & Lectures in San Francisco. My small group of fellow travelers - a sibling included - and I treated this like we were coming home to the coven because, let's be real, Marina is the Grand High Witch. Guess who was hosting this incredible coversation? The ever inquisitive and in this case nearly sprightly Maria Popova. Watching Popova navigate Abramovic, along with the absolutely bonkers questions we fiends in the audience lobbed during the show and maniacally in the lobby after, gave me an appreciation for Popova that I hadn't fully realized just from what was at the time still Brain Pickings. Yes, I thought she was smart. I hadn't yet really realized the level on which she operates.
This book is an excellent reminder that Popova is operating in a lush, creative, parallel space where synthesis and meaning and emotional depth - along with a great appreciation for rationality - collide. The final effort is not a small investment for anyone. Popova mentions this book took seven years to complete. It's delivered to readers in 600 pages or 22 hours of fantastic audio (if we're getting a 22-hour audiobook, I'd like to acknowledge the gift of making the narrator Natasha McElhone, whose choices made me feel like I was immersed in a spirited conversation over tea. The time flew).
The content is exceptional and riveting for a very specific audience, and I very much enjoyed the experience of being fully engaged with these individuals, times and places, and impactful motifs. Most of all, I loved getting back in Popova's scope. It's a truly magical place. This book is special and memorable. I can't wait to see what Popova comes up with next, and I'll patiently wait another seven years or however long it takes.
*Special thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Farrar, Straus & Giroux for this alc and arc, which I received in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
I just really appreciate that Maria Popova exists. Her work always feels thoughtful, comprehensive, and novel, and this most recent mega effort is one of the best examples of what she can REALLY do.
About a decade ago, I had one of the most incredible experiences of my life so far: seeing Marina Abramovic speak at City Arts & Lectures in San Francisco. My small group of fellow travelers - a sibling included - and I treated this like we were coming home to the coven because, let's be real, Marina is the Grand High Witch. Guess who was hosting this incredible coversation? The ever inquisitive and in this case nearly sprightly Maria Popova. Watching Popova navigate Abramovic, along with the absolutely bonkers questions we fiends in the audience lobbed during the show and maniacally in the lobby after, gave me an appreciation for Popova that I hadn't fully realized just from what was at the time still Brain Pickings. Yes, I thought she was smart. I hadn't yet really realized the level on which she operates.
This book is an excellent reminder that Popova is operating in a lush, creative, parallel space where synthesis and meaning and emotional depth - along with a great appreciation for rationality - collide. The final effort is not a small investment for anyone. Popova mentions this book took seven years to complete. It's delivered to readers in 600 pages or 22 hours of fantastic audio (if we're getting a 22-hour audiobook, I'd like to acknowledge the gift of making the narrator Natasha McElhone, whose choices made me feel like I was immersed in a spirited conversation over tea. The time flew).
The content is exceptional and riveting for a very specific audience, and I very much enjoyed the experience of being fully engaged with these individuals, times and places, and impactful motifs. Most of all, I loved getting back in Popova's scope. It's a truly magical place. This book is special and memorable. I can't wait to see what Popova comes up with next, and I'll patiently wait another seven years or however long it takes.
*Special thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Farrar, Straus & Giroux for this alc and arc, which I received in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
A huge thank you to MacMillan audio and NetGalley for my audiobook!
Publishes 2.17. 2026
This is a massive massive non-fiction book filled with vignettes of different historical characters who are all intersected by the idea of what it means to be in the world and to live. We begin with Captain Cook (yes THE) and follow him, Marie Curie, the Shelleys', Byron, Whitman, Frederick Douglas, etc. It is really good- and I suggest this as easy listening. Low low stakes- there is so much information packed into this book so do not expect to remember every little fact or detail. I really loved how each person's lived experience creates the foundation for the next and how humanity altogether is rather really a miracle and more interconnected than we suppose.
The audiobook was lovely- the narrator was really easy to listen to and I enjoyed it!
This audiobook is definitely over 20 hours as the physical book is over 600 pages- expect to take time with this.
Publishes 2.17. 2026
This is a massive massive non-fiction book filled with vignettes of different historical characters who are all intersected by the idea of what it means to be in the world and to live. We begin with Captain Cook (yes THE) and follow him, Marie Curie, the Shelleys', Byron, Whitman, Frederick Douglas, etc. It is really good- and I suggest this as easy listening. Low low stakes- there is so much information packed into this book so do not expect to remember every little fact or detail. I really loved how each person's lived experience creates the foundation for the next and how humanity altogether is rather really a miracle and more interconnected than we suppose.
The audiobook was lovely- the narrator was really easy to listen to and I enjoyed it!
This audiobook is definitely over 20 hours as the physical book is over 600 pages- expect to take time with this.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews