We live on a blue ball floating in space, among satellites, black holes, planets, meteorites, and billions of galaxies... And most of us know very little about what surrounds us. Perhaps because the universe seems extremely complex.

With scientific knowledge, simple language, and humor, Dr. Eleni Vardoulaki takes us by the hand on a journey through time and space: from the Big Bang, to black holes and the mystery that surrounds them, to humanity's next step with the colonization of Mars.

The 28 standalone stories in the book transform astrophysics from complex and inaccessible to an exciting, useful, and deeply existential science. And when we discover that wifi, ceramic stovetops, and selfies are "children" of astrophysics, then we will realize that it concerns us more than we think and we will love it a little bit more.

Astrophysics provides answers to the past and solutions to the present. And when all this knowledge is in our pocket, we can only have hope for the future.