Subtitled “15 portals to wonder through science and poetry”, The Universe in Verse is a lovely illustrated volume of poetry and science, which explores the sense of wonder in life and our experiences, and how these two different things, literature and scientific discovery, overlap. It features chapters that start with a short essay about a scientific theme, concept or person, and includes a beautiful illustration, and a poem that overlaps with that theme from well loved poets like Auden and Plath, amongst others.

Maria Popova is the Bulgarian born creator of The Marginalian, an ad free website that is a record of her “reading and reckoning with our search for meaning”, where she writes about things like science, philosophy, poetry and children’s books, all in the pursuit of making meaning of life and finding wonder. She has also worked as an editorial writer for places like Wired and The Atlantic, and is also the author of Figuring, The Snail with the Right Heart.

This is a short little book, but a lovely one. It’s cover has a beautiful texture and it’s dark tones are reminiscent of space, with it’s end papers featuring maps of constellations. The illustrations are by Ofra Amit, who is a slightly elusive artist whose works are vibrant, modern and slightly surreal. They’re used to great effect here to illustrate the imagery of the different chapters, with the style of scientific or botanical art meeting the dream like.

It’s always nice to be reminded to look around us, look deeper, look higher, and to seek wonder. I like how different subjects, though divided into -ology for study, really have permeable edges in the real world. Philosophy, science and psychology, and all the rest, can and do overlap and inform each other. I like that this book explores and plays with that. And I like the reminder to seek beauty and wonder in these things. This would make a lovely Christmas gift for someone in your life, or perhaps for yourself.

Read It If: you like books of poetry and musings, or are a fan of the author. This is such a beautiful book, it would grace any bibliophile or book collectors shelf.

Thank you to HBG Canada for the copy of this book for review.