Smallest Lights in the Universe (Seager)

The Smallest Lights in the Universe: A Memoir 
Sara Seager, 2020
Crown Publishing
320 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780525576259


Summary
An MIT astrophysicist searches for meaning in the wake of her husband's death, even as she scours the universe for an Earth-like exoplanet, in this powerful memoir of cutting edge science, unexpected discoveries, and new beginnings.

Sara Seager has made it her life's work to peer into the spaces around stars—looking for exoplanets outside our solar system, hoping to find the one-in-a-billion world enough like ours to sustain life.

But with the unexpected death of her husband, Seager's life became an empty, lightless space.

Suddenly she was a widow at forty and the single mother of two young boys, clinging to three crumpled pages of instructions her husband had written for things like grocery shopping—tasks he had done while she did pioneering work as a planetary scientist at MIT.

She became painfully conscious of her Asperger's, which before losing her husband had felt more like background noise. She felt, for the first time, alone in the universe.

In this probing, invigoratingly honest memoir, Seager tells the story of how, as she stumbled through the world of grief, she also kept looking for other worlds.

She continues to develop groundbreaking projects, such as the Starshade, a sunflower-shaped instrument that, when launched into space, unfurls itself to block planet-obscuring starlight, and she takes comfort in the alien beauty of exoplanets.

At the same time, she discovers what feels every bit as wondrous: other people, reaching out across the space of her grief. Among them are the Widows of Concord, a group of women offering consolation and advice; and her beloved sons, Max and Alex.

Most unexpected of all, there is another kind of one-in-a-billion match with an amateur astronomer, with whom she finds renewed hope and love.

Equally attuned to the wonders of deep space and human connection, The Smallest Lights in the Universe is a light in the dark for anyone seeking meaning and solace. (From the publisher.)

Author Bio
• Birth—July 21, 1971
• Where—Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• Education—B.S., University of Toronto; Ph.D., Harvard University
• Awards—Sackler International Prize in Physics
• Currently—lives in Concord, Massachusetts, USA


Sara Seager is an astrophysicist and a professor of physics and planetary science at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She currently chairs NASA's Probe Study Team for the Starshade project.

Seager's research is focused on exoplanets and the search for the first Earth-like twin, and she has introduced many new ideas to the field of exoplanet characterization, including work that led to the first detection of an exoplanet atmosphere.

Seager won the prestigious Sackler International Prize in Physics, as well as a MacArthur fellowship, and she was named by Time as "one of the twenty-five most influential people in space."

In 2011 Seager's husband Mike was diagnosed with colon cancer and died not long after, which is the subject of her 2020 memoir, The Smallest Lights in the Sky. She lives with her sons in Concord, Massachusetts. (Adapted from the publisher.)

Book Reviews
[S]tark, bewitching…. The merciless seesaw of [Seager's] grief makes for harrowing reading… [but also] gleams with insights into what it means to lose a partner in midlife…. [The book] beautifully dramatize[s] …the challenges of being female physical scientists in a male-dominated field, and convey[s] the struggle of operating in the vast scales of the universe at work, then commuting home to operate in the humbler scales of the domestic sphere…. [Seager] exemplifies the humanity of science.


(Starred review) [B]rilliant, emotionally wrought ... Seager’s openhearted prose is clean and exact, and her observations illuminate the human drive to connect with others. This wondrous tale of discovery, loss, and love is both expansive intimate.
Publishers Weekly

(Starred review) Seager… has intertwined her lifelong love of the stars with her personal story of love and loss and renewal.… This thoughtful and affecting memoir… reads like a comforting novel, inspiring others to follow their dreams and never give up on the possibilities of discovery and self-reflection. —Donna Marie Smith, Palm Beach Cty. Lib. Syst., FL
Library Journal


(Starred review) Seager’s writing is unfailingly accessible and compelling. Sometimes the chapters alternate between biographical and scientific developments, other times events are intertwined, but again, readers will remain fully engaged throughout.… Readers will cheer for the happy ending.
Booklist


(Starred review) For someone who has devoted so much of her life to exploring the possibility of life on other planets,… it was a more personal discovery—that she was autistic—that made her feel like "I’d been struck by something, a physical impact." … A singular scientist has written a singular account of her life and work.
Kirkus Reviews

Discussion Questions
1. The author opens the book by describing rogue planets; she uses them as a metaphor for her children, who she says have gone "halfway to rogue" following the death of their father. What else in her life appears "rogue"? Who or what in your life could be described as a "rogue planet," with no star to orbit?

2. Throughout the book, the author talks about the power of belief and of positive thought. Do you feel that belief is a type of magic? Why or why not?

3. The author is an extremely successful woman in a field dominated by men. Was there a point in the book when you thought this circumstance was especially affecting her? Do you think the fact that she’s a woman has had an impact on her career trajectory, for better or for worse? Why?

4. Is there anything in your life that you’ve pursued with blind faith despite opposition, in the way that the author is driven to find exoplanets in the face of backlash from her scientific community? What kept the author moving toward her goal? What keeps you moving toward your goal?

5. Later in her life, the author discovers something about herself that she had never considered before—she realized it only after she was featured in a major publication and a friend pointed out certain aspects of her personality that came through on the page. How might you have reacted to a surprise like this? Have you ever realized something about yourself only after seeing yourself from another person’s perspective?

6. The author relied on a dark sense of humor to cope when her husband was first diagnosed and throughout his illness. What do you make of this? Why is this her instinct? Does this form of humor appeal to you, or not?

7. When her husband passed away at home, unhindered by tubes and machines, the author says she felt she was able to help "build something beautiful." Do you agree that death can be beautiful? Why or why not?

8. What do you make of the use of metaphors throughout the book such as dark and light or the sun and stars? Was there a particular metaphor that was the most powerful to you?

9. The Widows of Concord become a supportive community for the author after her loss. Why do you think the author initially resisted their friendship? What did she ultimately gain from those relationships?

10. In her recurring dreams of her husband following his death, the author sees him return to her after long absences: he has been in a coma, missing, on long trips, and so on. What do you think is the meaning of this recurring dream?

11. Do you feel that the scene with the Green Flash is a moment of rebirth or closure for the author? Is it—or can it be—both?

12. The author has focused her life’s work on detecting life on other planets, only to find herself searching for new life after death. How are these pursuits related? How are they dissimilar?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)

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