
The Meteorites
Encounters with Outer Space and Deep Time
Helen Gordon(Author)
Profile Books Ltd (Publisher)
Published on 6. February 2025
Book
Hardback
288 pages
978-1-80081-534-6 (ISBN)
Description
'The Meteorites conjures a small epiphany about our own place in the universe' The Sunday Times
'Stunning and riveting' Noreen Masud, author of A Flat Place
'Absolutely fascinating' Mark Haddon
'Dazzling' Financial Times
From your window you can see the stars and distant planets: light years away, it's easy to think that our existences and theirs will never intersect. Yet meteorites - mysterious, irregular rocks of sometimes immense value - connect us with the vastness of the universe. They may have brought the first life to our planet, and today they still reveal extraordinary scientific insights.
Helen Gordon reveals the fascinating stories of fallen meteorites and the lives they've touched - from collectors to kings, scientists to farmers. She meets amateur astronomers and gem dealers, goes meteorite hunting across rooftops and learns what objects moving through space can tell us about the fragility of life on Earth.
'Stunning and riveting' Noreen Masud, author of A Flat Place
'Absolutely fascinating' Mark Haddon
'Dazzling' Financial Times
From your window you can see the stars and distant planets: light years away, it's easy to think that our existences and theirs will never intersect. Yet meteorites - mysterious, irregular rocks of sometimes immense value - connect us with the vastness of the universe. They may have brought the first life to our planet, and today they still reveal extraordinary scientific insights.
Helen Gordon reveals the fascinating stories of fallen meteorites and the lives they've touched - from collectors to kings, scientists to farmers. She meets amateur astronomers and gem dealers, goes meteorite hunting across rooftops and learns what objects moving through space can tell us about the fragility of life on Earth.
Reviews / Votes
Performs a similar trick to Samantha Harvey's recent Booker-winning novel Orbital... The Meteorites conjures a small epiphany about our own place in the universe * The Sunday Times * An engrossing blend of the scientific and the human ... highly readable * Observer * Dazzling....Gordon's thinking about the subject develops its own kind of new fusion skin, putting forward a vision in which there is no barrier between our planet and our universe -- Natalie Whittle * Financial Times * A beautifully written and very human history of objects far older than human comprehension... By turns informative, funny and touching, this is a book not just about meteorites, but about art, history and humanity itself * BBC Sky at Night * Brimming with personal stories of witnessed meteorite impacts and expeditions to find the fallen revered. Gordon's curiosity about how meteorite enthusiasts gained their fascination shines through... Outer space enthusiasts will not be disappointed * Nature * [An] engaging account ... Meteorites offer clues on the formation of the solar system and the start of everything * Country Life * Gripping, deft and riveting. Gordon moves with total mastery from the human to the cosmic and back again -- Noreen Masud, author * A Flat Place * A brilliantly engaging tour of meteorites, a book that reminds us that while they might come from outer space they are part and parcel of our planet -- Travis Elborough, author * Atlas of Unexpected Places * Helen Gordon's ruminations on finds and falls, scientists and amateurs, craters and even thesuperannuated satellites that, increasingly, descend from the sky, show how meteorites help us to
understand our place in the universe. But the real strength of her book is the compelling case that
meteorites illuminate something else entirely, the human spirit * TLS * Engaging * Country Life * Praise for Notes from Deep Time: Astounding ... To call this a "history" does not do justice to Helen Gordon's ambition ... Sheer intellectual and poetical entertainment -- Simon Ings * Daily Telegraph * Profoundly considered and far-reaching ... Notes from Deep Time reaches into a place that, in a post-religious era, offers a glimpse of something close to eternity * FT * A marvel-rich masterclass of narrative non-fiction, one of those books that teaches its reader to see the world completely differently -- Max Porter Awe-inspiring * Mail on Sunday *
More details
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Product notice
Trade binding
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 32 mm
Weight
486 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-80081-534-6 (9781800815346)
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

Book
11/2025
Profile Books Ltd
€14.00
Available immediately

E-Book
02/2025
Profile Books Ltd
€11.49
Available for download
Person
Helen Gordon is a writer and natural historian. Her books include Being a Writer and the acclaimed Notes from Deep Time, as well as a novel, Landfall. She has written for 1843 magazine, the Guardian and Wired, edited for Granta, and teaches Creative Writing at the University of Hertfordshire.