Wordfest Presents Katie Mack & Sara Seager

Wordfest Presents Katie Mack & Sara Seager

If you’ve ever stared at a night sky contemplating the meaning of the universe you won’t want to miss this very special iteration of Imagine On Air with astrophysicists Katie Mack and Sara Seager, as they discuss their new books The End of Everything and The Smallest Lights in the Universe.  

The hour-long conversation, hosted by Shelley Youngblut, Wordfest's CEO & Creative Ringleader, will start at 7:00 PM MT. The pre-show will begin at 6:50 PM MT. This live stream event is free but if you RSVP, we'll send you a reminder along with easy instructions to help you get set up, as well as our unique Digital Doggie Bag after the event with all the links, goodies and references from the conversation.

We would like to thank Simon and Schuster Canada and Penguin Random House Canada for making this exceptional conversation possible.

Get the Books

The End of Everything

Owl’s Nest Books / Shelf Life Books

The Smallest Lights in the Universe  

Owl’s Nest Books / Shelf Life Books

About The End of Everything

From one of the most dynamic rising stars in astrophysics, an accessible and eye-opening look at five ways the universe could end, and the mind-blowing lessons each scenario reveals about the most important concepts in cosmology.

We know the universe had a beginning. With the Big Bang, it expanded from a state of unimaginable density to an all-encompassing cosmic fireball to a simmering fluid of matter and energy, laying down the seeds for everything from black holes to one rocky planet orbiting a star near the edge of a spiral galaxy that happened to develop life as we know it. But what happens to the universe at the end of the story? And what does it mean for us now?

Dr. Katie Mack has been contemplating these questions since she was a young student, when her astronomy professor informed her the universe could end at any moment, in an instant. This revelation set her on the path toward theoretical astrophysics. Now, with lively wit and humor, she takes us on a mind-bending tour through five of the cosmos’s possible finales: the Big Crunch, Heat Death, the Big Rip, Vacuum Decay (the one that could happen at any moment!), and the Bounce. Guiding us through cutting-edge science and major concepts in quantum mechanics, cosmology, string theory, and much more, The End of Everything is a wildly fun, surprisingly upbeat ride to the farthest reaches of all that we know.

About Katie Mack

Dr. Katie Mack is a theoretical astrophysicist, exploring a range of questions in cosmology, the study of the universe from beginning to end. She is currently an assistant professor of physics at North Carolina State University, where she is also a member of the Leadership in Public Science Cluster. Dr. Mack has been published in a number of popular publications, such as Scientific American, Slate, Sky & Telescope, Time, and Cosmos magazine, where she is a columnist. 

Follow her on Twitter at @AstroKatie or on Instagram @astrokatiemack

About The Smallest Lights in the Universe  

In this luminous memoir, an MIT astrophysicist must reinvent herself in the wake of tragedy and discovers the power of connection on this planet, even as she searches our galaxy for another Earth.

Sara Seager has always been in love with the stars: so many lights in the sky, so much possibility. Now a pioneering planetary scientist, she searches for exoplanets—especially that distant, elusive world that sustains life. But with the unexpected death of Seager’s husband, the purpose of her own life becomes hard for her to see. Suddenly, at forty, she is a widow and the single mother of two young boys. For the first time, she feels alone in the universe.

As she struggles to navigate her life after loss, Seager takes solace in the alien beauty of exoplanets and the technical challenges of exploration. At the same time, she discovers earthbound connections that feel every bit as wondrous, when strangers and loved ones alike reach out to her across the space of her grief. Among them are the Widows of Concord, a group of women offering advice on everything from home maintenance to dating, and her beloved sons, Max and Alex. Most unexpected of all, there is another kind of one-in-a-billion match, not in the stars but here at home.

Probing and invigoratingly honest, The Smallest Lights in the Universe is its own kind of light in the dark.

About Sara Seager

Dr. Sara Seager is an astrophysicist and a professor of physics and planetary science at MIT. She currently chairs NASA’s Probe Study Team for the Starshade project. Her 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. She is from Toronto and now lives with her husband and sons in Concord, Massachusetts.

Follow her on Twitter @profsaraseager.

Curiouser?

Article:

• The Woman Who Might Find Us Another Earth – The New York Times Magazine

Interview:

• The Cosmologist Knows How It’s All Going to End – Quanta Magazine

Reviews:

• Review: This Is How It All Ends – New York Times Book Review
• The End of Everything Review: Do Be Afraid of the Dark - WSJ
• These Books Transport You to a Galaxy Far, Far Away – New York Times Book Review