Our Accidental Universe

Head into orbit without the danger (and the price tag) with Chris Lintott, as he leads an astonishing tour of the key astronomical events of the past century, and reveals how many of them have come about by accident. Lintott, presenter of the BBC's Sky at Night programme, takes us to space to look at how the Universe is ever-changing and how new technology is showing us this changing sky. But amongst all this technological development, he gives a rundown of the accidents and human error that have occurred in the pursuit of asteroids, pulsars, radio waves, new stars and alien life.

Lintott is a professor of astrophysics at the University of Oxford, where his research ranges from understanding how galaxies form and evolve, to predicting the properties of visiting interstellar asteroids. He is Principal Investigator of the Zooniverse citizen science platform, which provides opportunities for anyone to contribute to scientific research, and which was the topic of his first book, The Crowd and the Cosmos. In 2023, he was appointed the 39th Gresham Professor of Astronomy, a post that dates back to the 16th century.