Radio Universe
How to Explore Space Without Leaving Earth
Will be published approx. on 12. March 2026
Book
Hardback
352 pages
978-1-5293-9897-7 (ISBN)
Description
How do you explore distant stars, buried water on Mars or the first moments after the Big Bang - without leaving your back garden?
In The Radio Universe, award-winning astrophysicist Emma Chapman takes us on an electrifying voyage through the cosmos using one of the most powerful, yet overlooked, tools in science: the radio wave. With dazzling clarity and humour, Chapman reveals how these invisible messengers glide through space, bounce off planets, tunnel through clouds and slip past galactic dust - carrying secrets of the universe that no other kind of light can uncover.
We follow a single radio wave as it escapes Earth and travels outward - ricocheting off the Moon, tunnelling through Venus's furnace-thick atmosphere, tracing ancient ice hidden in Mercury's shadows and diving deep into the swirling arms of the Milky Way. Along the way, we meet black holes that roar louder than stars, pulsars more precise than atomic clocks and galaxies lit by the very first starlight. We explore volcanic pancake planets, death-defying neutron stars, the eerie possibility of alien broadcasts - and the fragile question of our own future in the cosmos.
A celebration of human ingenuity and cosmic curiosity, The Radio Universe reveals that the true frontier of space isn't 'out there' - it's humming quietly all around us, waiting to be heard.
In The Radio Universe, award-winning astrophysicist Emma Chapman takes us on an electrifying voyage through the cosmos using one of the most powerful, yet overlooked, tools in science: the radio wave. With dazzling clarity and humour, Chapman reveals how these invisible messengers glide through space, bounce off planets, tunnel through clouds and slip past galactic dust - carrying secrets of the universe that no other kind of light can uncover.
We follow a single radio wave as it escapes Earth and travels outward - ricocheting off the Moon, tunnelling through Venus's furnace-thick atmosphere, tracing ancient ice hidden in Mercury's shadows and diving deep into the swirling arms of the Milky Way. Along the way, we meet black holes that roar louder than stars, pulsars more precise than atomic clocks and galaxies lit by the very first starlight. We explore volcanic pancake planets, death-defying neutron stars, the eerie possibility of alien broadcasts - and the fragile question of our own future in the cosmos.
A celebration of human ingenuity and cosmic curiosity, The Radio Universe reveals that the true frontier of space isn't 'out there' - it's humming quietly all around us, waiting to be heard.
Reviews / Votes
PRAISE FOR FIRST LIGHT, BY EMMA CHAPMAN * : * A dispatch from the frontiers of science, from a brain fizzing with ideas and energy -- Chris Lintott, BBC Sky at Night An illuminating and entertaining look at the earliest stars of our cosmos. Chapman is a witty and straightforward guide, and her enthusiasm is infectious * Washington Post * Thoroughly engaging . . . allows us to see science in the making. Chapman serves as a wonderful guide, whose voice is reminiscent of Carl Sagan's, although with an extra and very welcome dollop of impish humor * Wall Street Journal *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
John Murray Press
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Trade binding
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 158 mm
Thickness: 38 mm
Weight
558 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5293-9897-7 (9781529398977)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
03/2026
John Murray
€16.99
Available for download
Person
Emma Chapman is an award-winning radio astronomer based at the University of Nottingham, and a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin research fellow. Her first book, First Light, was based on her groundbreaking research into the era of the first stars. She won the 2018 Royal Society Athena Prize for her work to end staff-student sexual harrassment in academia.