Eating the Sun: Small Musings on a Vast Universe

by Ella Frances Sanders

A beautifully illustrated exploration of the principles, laws, and wonders that rule our universe, our world, and our daily lives, from the New York Times bestselling creator of Lost in Translation

Have you ever found yourself wondering what we might have in common with stars, or why the Moon never leaves us? Thinking about the precise dancing of planets, the passing of time, or the nature of natural things?

Our world is full of unshakable mystery, and although we live in a civilization more complicated than ever, there is simplicity and reassurance to be found in knowing how and why.

From the New York Times bestselling creator of Lost in Translation, Eating the Sun is a delicately existential, beautifully illustrated, and welcoming exploration of the universe--one that examines and marvels at the astonishing principles, laws, and phenomena that we exist alongside, that we sit within.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Essays, Nature, Audiobook, Art, Poetry

158 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 16, 2019

About the author

Ella Frances Sanders is a New York Times and internationally-bestselling author and illustrator of five books about languages, science, and beauty. She is the designer for Orion Magazine, and also writes a column within its pages called 'Root Catalog'. She lives in the Highlands of Scotland and is currently preparing for the publication of her 6th book.

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eating the Sun is a delightful collection of illustrated essays covering every scientific field. Sanders' combines wonder, whimsy, and scientific facts, AND then draws and paints a beautiful image with every entry. This book was perfect to read over a few days - a few chapters here and there - musing and meditating on the words. Lyrical and accessible writing style, will pique curiosity in older children and teens as well as many adults!

Some essay titles to give you a little taste:
What Exactly Am I Breathing In?
The Sun is a Typical Star
What Is Heat?
Mitochondrial Eve
Periodically
Why Does It Always Rain on Me?

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will recommend this book to anyone in a heart beat. If you are keen to understand how magnificent and inconsequential the existence of almost anything (including the vain human race which turns out to behave no much better than plants) can be under the microscope and in the grander scheme of things, look no further. Presented with scientific facts that can be easily understood by a noob like me, these small musings change my perspectives that I dare say, for the better. I love how each chapter begins with a beautiful intriguing illustration and ends with a poetic contemplative and sometimes humorous note. I learn that petrichor is the word for the pleasant smell that accompanies rain after a dry spell, or simply as rain falling on dry soil, that if you are to name a color for the universe, it's not that mystic black but rather unexciting pale beige, also known as "cosmic latte", that blue in its natural color is extremely elusive as most of the things we think are blue (e.g. sky, sea) only appear so as a result of iridescence or selective reflection, that things that oscillate or move at about the same rate strangely synchronise their movement if they are close enough (e.g. school of fish, tidal rhythms). The last mind-blowing piece is also the reason why I was introduced to this book. I was listening to an episode from Radiolab touching on the question posed by a brilliant physicist Richard Feynman to his students - "If, in some cataclysm, all of scientific knowledge were to be destroyed, and only one sentence passed on to the next generation of creatures, what statement would contain the most information in the fewest words? I believe it is the atomic hypothesis that all things are made of atoms — little particles that move around in perpetual motion, attracting each other when they are a little distance apart, but repelling upon being squeezed into one another. In that one sentence, you will see, there is an enormous amount of information about the world, if just a little imagination and thinking are applied."

[Deepu Singh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Going to eat the sun now, ta-ta

[Freesiab BookishReview · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Scientific language isn’t designed to appeal to human ears, isn’t especially melodic; it lacks emotion and freedom of expression..” Combining science and emotion with freedom of expression is exactly what this book does perfectly! My degree is in science but I’m an imaginative person, so I enjoy a good science book but when you find the perfect science book for everyone you have to shout! From space, to earth to ourselves this book explains some pretty big things in simple and elegant ways that anyone could understand. It’s about 150 pages and beautifully illustrated. It’s whimsical, smart, thoughtful, funny and one of the best books I’ve read all year! It will fit with your more advanced science books or maybe you just want to learn more about why the air smells different during a thunderstorm storm (you definitely do, by the way) The authors previous book was Lost In Translation which has been in my library queue forever. I think I’ll bump that up. Thank you @penguinbooks for the opportunity to read it!

[Daniela · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a delight to spend a few evenings on this cosmic journey, accompanied by subtle poetry and authentic drawings.

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"Galaxies, like egos, come in varying sizes."

"But after dark, when the sun has slipped from view, Earth continues to put out heat and to cool down; its surface temperature drops, as does the temperature of the air around it, the air that makes you move closer to the person you’re walking beside as the streetlights come on."

"The sound of a heartbeat, something we sometimes take note of but seldom appreciate, is formed of two parts: the first part is the sound of the tricuspid and mitral valves closing, the second part the aortic and pulmonary valves shutting—these sounds are known as S1 and S2."

[- ̗̀ Riki Lopez ̖́- · Rating 2 out of 5]

It wasn’t my thing but the art was amazingggg

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the greatest read for a pandemic; human beings are both infinitesimal and colossal in the same breath.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book solidified another sense (see p. 123), and that is one of wholesome connectedness.

[Sandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compact little book on facts about humans and the world around us. Interesting facts, including some new and surprising ones.

[Caffers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book about the Earth, the Universe, Us!
Science... Quantum Physics in particular, has always seemed a little beyond my grasp. But this book made me feel a little smarter!
Although I won't say I understood it all, I delighted in the parts I did get! I felt like, OH, that's so COOL! the times when a light bulb suddenly went on and I understood something!
It's written in short essays, so easy to pick up and read here and there and not get too overwhelmed by it all. And there are fun drawings at the beginning of each chapter!

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where is the edge of the known universe, and what is it called? How does the Bergeron process differ from collision and coalescence? What is petrichor, and how does it smell? For the answers to these questions and many more, read Eating the Sun: Small Musings on a Vast Universe by Ella Frances Sanders and marvel at the wonders of science. When you’re finished and your brain is full, heed this directive found within: “Sleep is God. Go worship.”

[Georgia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute little book I read sporadically throughout the year. Did I really retain any of the things I learned? Nope! But it brought a quirky romance to these scientific concepts, and made me think a little about my relationship to the physical world. The book I most enjoyed reading after a little 🍃

[Andrew Bocker Olmedo · Rating 2 out of 5]

For someone who works in the science/engineering field, this book is similar to reading a collection of 9th grade creative writing papers.
It is however a whimsical look at facts of science that will keep some people well entertained. Not my thing though.

[Liên]

Calvin and Hobbes 1992.06.30: "When you look into infinity, you realize that there are more important things than what people do all day."

Very Radiolab-y (which in fact was where I learned about the book).

[John Kaufmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short musings (1-to-3 pages each) on various scientific topics. Most of the musings were interesting, and the author presented a lot of intersting factoids. However, it didn't really tie together as a "book" for me -- they remained mostly independent thoughts and musings without a conecting thesis.

[Giulia · Rating 4 out of 5]

"You are made of carbon"

This was such a lovely and informative read.
Precisely up my alley since it was a beautiful mixture of science, astronomy and literature :)

And the illustrations are incredibly cute and adorable.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ein leichtes Buch über verschiedene interessante Aspekte des Universums, der Erde und dem Leben auf ihr

[Jeremy Severin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poetic, scientific, and artistic all rolled into one. Short blurbs about life, biology, the stars, and other scientific topics each accompanied by a beautiful watercolored page relevant to the topic.

[Michael Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick, easy, and interesting read. I wish the book went a little more in-depth into each topic, because I really liked Sanders' imaginative, lyrical explanations. At times, it felt like these were getting cut short. Also, I'd love to get my hands on a print copy of this, because it sounds like the illustrations are amazing -- there are some things an audiobook just can't convey.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love these little musings about life in the universe. Little point of view snippets framed in science- food for thought.

[Ariel · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a sweet little book this was. Short, 1-2 page essays on topics related to science, nature, and the world at large. Initially, as I normally audiobook non-fiction, I listened to this - I was surprised by how short it was! Feeling I was missing out, I borrowed a copy from the library. The illustrations filling the book are charming and made me smile more than once. Truly, the art is half the content (explaining why the audio was so brief!).

I found a handful of the essays eye-opening or informative; others shared things around which I already had some familiarity. The problem with small essays like these? They're not quite enough and, if you're like me, you want more -- go deeper! They generally stay at the "isn't this an interesting fact?" level. I think Eating the Sun would make a lovely little gift or a sweet end-table book.

[Corinne Landy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the concept of this book, small bites of science delivered poetically, to be very exciting. Unfortunately, the book, to me, sits right on the fence where there isn't quite enough science to feel like I'm really learning, but also not enough poetry to make for uplifting reading. I like that each musing is short and consumable, and some are much better than others! Many were great, but a couple read like a quick science lesson with a semi-deep quote just thrown on at the end.

[donna_ehm · Rating 3 out of 5]

When the water vapour condenses around such nuclei cloud droplets are created. Put millions upon millions of these together and you have a cloud perhaps weighing, although hard to believe, the equivalent of one hundred large elephants. Although impossibly heavy the water in a cloud is incredibly spread out, for miles.

And the effect of gravity on something as minuscule as a single water droplet is barely felt at all. It is only when a droplet reaches a certain size that it weighs enough to fall as rain towards the two of us. Otherwise they stay up there and we paint them.

This quote perfectly encapsulates the balance between the scientific and the poetic in Sanders's writing. A Small Guide to the Universe is both an interesting and beautiful rumination on the natural world from someone who looks up, down, and all around with wide open eyes and a wide open heart.

The collection of short essays assembled cover a wide variety of topics and the lack of an overall organization or flow, criticized by some reviewers, struck me as mimicking the way our own mind jumps around how thoughts pop into and out of heads seemingly at random. But the book is never confusing nor does the reader struggle to grasp its message which, in the end, is basically, "Isn't this world amazing?" I daresay anyone reading A Small Guide to the Universe will be hard pressed to look at what's around them or think about what's inside them in quite the same way.

Narrator Imogen Church reads the text with great warmth, curiosity, and wonder. Her voice was a welcome accompaniment when listening to the book on long walks around my neighbourhood.

[Stefano · Rating 2 out of 5]

Carina l'idea di affiancare immagini delicate a riflessioni su particolari aspetti del nostro universo.
Quello che non mi è piaciuto per niente è la (personalmente) assoluta mancanza di definizione e di indirizzo negli scritti. Nel senso che, nonostante le immagini, non è certamente un libro specifico per bambini, perché alcune parole usate e alcune riflessioni sono troppo complesse per essere comprese da un bambino. All'opposto, nessuna di queste riflessioni è abbastanza approfondita per lasciare qualcosa ad una persona adulta, tranne forse un sorriso in alcuni casi particolarmente riusciti.
Se fosse stato un libro per avvicinare i bambini al nostro universo, lo avrei apprezzato molto. Se fosse stato un libro, anche estremamente divulgativo, per piccole riflessioni sensate, complete e simpatiche sul nostro universo, lo avrei apprezzato. Se fosse stato un libro ironico su alcuni aspetti anche controversi e poco compresi del nostro universo, per metterci di fronte agli apparenti controsensi tra cui viviamo, l'avrei apprezzato. Così, con tutto mischiato e solo abbozzato, non l'ho per niente apprezzato.

[J.D. Frailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Poetic yet scientifically illuminating,” says Publishers Weekly. Agreed! This little book of 1-2 page essays is fascinating, perfect for, ahem, bathroom reading, put it on your Christmas list for the slightly nerdy people in your life and they’ll thank you, and get one for yourself. Filled with insights and trivia both macro and micro on the universe and our human bio selves. Some examples of essay titles, pardon the lack of capital letters. I’m dictating 😉
- You will walk around earth five times
- It gets colder after sunrise
- The most luminous objects in the known universe
- I am made from carbon
- Eigengrau (The disorganized motions of gray seen by the eyes in perfect darkness)
- The smell of dying stars
- You are only remembering the last time you remembered

Also, I found the whimsical kitchy full page illustrations a nice add.

[Aileen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have tried to describe this book, but never achieved anything satisfactory. Simply put: I have loved it over several years, and I think that long length was an intentional delay to finish it to avoid this feeling, now, of having finished it. Even typing just that, I want to delete and try again. This book is lovely. And I intentionally savored that loveliness, teasing out its short chapters to last through the decades and centuries of these past years. I saved it for special moments. And though today I flipped the last page over in my first read, I suspect strongly and hope intentionally that I still reach for it in random moments to re-immerse myself in its immense musings. How lucky we are to live in a Universe that produces humans who can stroke colorful swathes of loveliness and forge compassion from the tenets of science. This book was fascinating. And lovely.

[Oanh Kiều · Rating 3 out of 5]

Đã đọc cuốn này từ rất lâu nhưng chưa bao giờ thực sự hoàn thành. Đối với mình đây là cuốn sách rất xinhh, có nhiều hình rất đẹp, phong cách viết nhẹ nhàng, nhiều hình ảnh so sánh thú vị.
Tuy nhiên đây lại là cuốn sách khiến mình cứ lật từng trang đọc (một cách hoàn toàn vật lý) mà không đọng lại được nhiều. Cuốn sách đề cập đến rất nhiều chủ đề trong thiên văn học, mặt trời, mặt trăng, các hành tinh,... Mỗi chương sẽ là một chủ đề khác nhau, Và độ dài mỗi chương đều không dài, kiến thức không sâu, từ ngữ lại hơi có phần bay bổng nên rất khó để nhớ (nếu không có kiến thức nền về lĩnh vực đó). Thực sự, chương duy nhất mình ấn tượng và ghi nhớ đấy là "Con người thiển cận hơn cỏ cây nhiều".
Dù vậy đây vẫn luôn là cuốn sách mình sẽ mang đi du lịch nếu không biết mang cuốn nào, vì nó nhỏ, gọn, xinh, các chương không có nhiều liên kết nên giở đại một chương ra cũng được.

[Aditya · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a proud science geek myself, I’m always looking for books that offer me either an opportunity to learn more about the universe, or a unique perspective on things I already know.

This charming book lands in the second category with impeccable flourish. Suffice it to say I have never read anything like it before! With its short lyrical ‘musings’ and quirky illustrations on everything from the stars to the moons to the human body to animals to plants, it takes the reader on an incomparable ride of the universe, making the journey an absolutely stress-free one.

It is not easy to write something simple and short on so many very complex topics, but this book mostly succeeds, and I would heartily recommend it to everyone who’s trying to understand the universe in a more accessible way.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a beautiful little book. I would recommend reading the actual book, and not a digital copy. It feels wonderful in your hands, the pages are of substations thickness and the illustrations would not be the same in a digital medium.

I read this collection of short musings over a number of weeks, dipping in once a week to read twenty pages or so, but you could definitely read this all in one sitting, or just one musing at a time. I would recommend savoring it over a period of time.

I love this type of format. The tiny essays are charming, wondrous, and quite informative and I found myself smiling a lot. I would highly recommend this, and it will be going onto my shelf as a keeper, because I know I will read it again (and again).

[Thomas Geyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the book is short, it provoked as much or more reflection as books two or three times its length. I think the subtitle of the book aptly set expectations. The 'chapters' are short as they are only small musings, but Frances touches on many aspects of our vast universe. I appreciated the contrast between the concise chapters and the enormity of the ideas. There were several details that left me with feelings of bewilderment, awe, and insignificance. I was particularly blown away by learning that I never actually touch anything, heat transfer is a matter of probability, time slows as gravity increases, we have over twenty senses, and there's a half-life to knowledge. The book may be best enjoyed by reading a chapter and seriously thinking about its contents before progressing. I found myself re-reading chapters to better understand the intricacies and implications of the information contained therein.