Winner of the 2020 LA Times Book Prize for Science & Technology
A Real Simple Best Book of 2020

"[Seager's] prominence and how she achieved it would merit a book about her, but her personal struggles fitting in and finding a balance between her work and life are what make this memoir so compelling, even for readers who know little about science. . . . The interior journey she traces here is as extraordinary as her scientific career. A singular scientist has written a singular account of her life and work." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"In The Smallest Lights in the Universe, [Sara Seager] passionately describes her struggle to balance the job that had always been her identity with her new challenges at home. It's a beautifully written portrayal of life after loss—and the wonder that happens when you least expect it." —Real Simple

"In The Smallest Lights In the Universe, astrophysicist Sara Seager is revealed to be an astute practitioner of metaphor as both a form of reasoning and illustration as well as a source of artful emotional resonance. . . . Seager endows these experiences with emotion and poignancy using an idiosyncratic but accessible and resonant metaphorical language." —PopMatters

"It is the easiest thing in the world to resign yourself to what is, to curl around yourself and your circumstances. This is a book filled with hope and wonder, because falling in love after loss is a defiant act of optimism, much like searching the stars for life beyond our own little planet. You'll leave this book feeling possibility and inevitability, comforted by the knowledge that even in the dark, we are not alone." —Nora McInerny Purmont, author of It's Okay to Laugh
 
"Sara Seager's exploration of outer and inner space makes for a stunningly original memoir. Far from being dwarfed by the scale of exoplanets and galaxies, her most human tale of love, loss and redemption is illuminated and given meaning by this backdrop. A beautiful and compelling read." —Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone
 
"I absolutely loved this book. It presents both cutting edge science and the deeply human side of a MacArthur award-winning woman astrophysicist. While searching for other planets in the universe, she grieves for her husband who died of cancer." —Temple Grandin, author of Thinking in Pictures and The Autistic Brain

"The miracle of this breathtaking book is the way Sara Seager's search for life in the universe mirrors her search for a fitting life here on earth. Who knew that so much love and beauty and hope could come from so much confusion and fear and grief? Who knew that the macrocosm and the microcosm could end up being the very same thing?" —Margaret Renkl, author of Late Migrations

"Seager's beautifully written memoir strikes the perfect balance, weaving a richly told personal story with a clear and accessible tale of the birth and development of a new kind of astronomy—the search for other worlds like our own." —Katie Mack, author of The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking)