YOUR PLACE in the UNIVERSE – Lisa Connors

If you know me, you know that I love to hike. One of the best parts is getting to the top of a mountain, looking all around and feeling small. Inconsequential. This feeling doesn’t bother me; it actually comforts me, though I cannot fully articulate why. I’m just a blip in time in the evolutionary history of the planet. I’m just one individual organism in the billions of inhabitants on the earth. There is something freeing about not taking oneself too seriously.

I know this is not a feeling that others may like, but if you do, or if you ponder our place in the world at times, then I recommend YOUR PLACE in the UNIVERSE by Jason Chin (Neil Porter Boos, 2020).

Chin takes the reader on an awe-inspiring journey of size and distance comparisons starting with the size of a typical 8-year-old who gets compared to an ostrich and then a giraffe before switching to trees and the tallest buildings man has built. Then there is a big leap from mountains to space. For a young reader there are a lot of numbers and mind-boggling vastness to contemplate, but with an eager adult reader to help, it’s manageable and can definitely get the point across of just how small planet Earth is in the Universe. For older readers there are four pages of back matter. and as with all of Chin’s books, it is beautifully illustrated.

Chin’s decision to start with a child and circle back at the end really helps with the perspective of this humbling vastness and yet still allows for us all to see that while we may be here just a short while, it is special that we ARE here at all and able to contemplate such questions and take care of this special place. I hope you’ll check out YOUR PLACE in the UNIVERSE.