Published in 2025
288 pages
Helen Gordon‘s books include Notes from Deep Time (Profile), Landfall (Penguin) and, with Travis Elborough, Being a Writer (Frances Lincoln). She has written about nature, science, clothes and books for various newspapers and magazines including the Economist’s 1843 magazine, the Guardian and Wired UK, and is a former Granta magazine editor. She lives in south London with her husband and daughter.
What is this book about?
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.
