Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I really enjoyed reading the science behind the formation of stars and the universe. Some of the science went a little bit over my head but Emma explains it really well and makes the subject really interesting. My 17 year olds son now wants to read it as I’ve told him so much about it!

A big thank you to Bloomsbury Sigma and Netgalley for this review copy!

This was such a thought-provoking read. It was fascinating to read about the Universe, and how stars were formed.

When I saw this title on Netgalley, I was immediately interested. I currently study astronomy so I thought this would be a rather good book to accompany it.

I was right. At times it was difficult to get through, but in the end I really enjoyed the journey through the stars and what made the universe it is today.

You can feel the authors passion on the page.

Have you ever looked up in the sky at night and wondered at the thousands of little bright lights we can see? How far they are, how big, what colours they have and what elements are actually burning? When did all start, is there a first star?

Emma Chapman did it for us in First Light.

Chapman is a British physicist and stars are her field. She’s spent years studying and searching the sky immediately outside our planet, our galaxy but the moved to the hunting of the first light, the first stars born in our universe – the so called Population III stars.

Scientists have come to the conclusion that there must be a specific point in time, the Cosmic Dawn, where the universe stopped being dark and a light was ignited by the burning of hydrogen. The fun part, like in many other discoveries, is that scientists were running experiments on completely different subjects, sometimes in different fields from astronomy. And yet, collecting and analysing data, everything pointed to this truth about our universe.

However, as Chapman says, “now what? Ever the question on an astronomer’s lips”. Scientists are talking about the very first stars, so far away from us in time that we simply do not have the means and tools to look that far back. Of course there’s potential to develop such technologies – how many things we take for granted now that were totally unthinkable a few decades ago? But the amount of work and research and analysis is colossal, overwhelming and it will certainly take years of studying.

As Chapman points out, you can start approaching this study now, spend your entire career working on it and yet at the end of your life you may not see any conclusions set in stone. Progress maybe, but not the end of it all. Science is a work in progress in itself, after all.

This is an incredibly fascinating subject, I wish I had the patience and the mind set to apply myself to these studies but truth is, I have a way less theoretical mind and I limit myself to reading about the subject and enjoying the marvels our universe hides in its depths.

I found every page extremely interesting but what caught my interest the most is the Ultra Deep Field. If you don’t know what I’m talking about – don’t feel bad, you most certainly won’t – then do some research, google it and it’ll blow your mind, I promise.

I was mentioning that I don’t have the right attitude to apply myself to this type of studies. I still come from a scientific background in high school, then moved to humanities at university, and that’s probably why most of the times I could follow Chapman’s explanations. In broad terms, this topic is somehow familiar to me. However, I would recommend reading First Light to anyone simply interested in the subject, even if you’ve never studied anything scientific but have just some general knowledge of what’s out there in the sky when you look up.
There are some technical concepts and words you simply cannot get around in any ways when talking about physics and astronomy, but Chapman makes an effort to write in a style as plain as possible, managing to keep the reader engaged by throwing in humorous elements and jokes to dilute the otherwise very dense scientific narrative. Highly recommended!

While there is a little bit of basic science in "First Light" that I already vaguely knew, Emma Chapman tells it with a refreshing approach that might actually make the science stick in my mind this time! The subject itself is a fascinating one, so I was obviously going to enjoy this book. What surprised me is just how much I enjoyed it. There is a whole heap of information I didn't know, and I now have a much better understanding. Do I dare say this book is "enlightening"?

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.