This Ordinary Stardust: A Scientist's Path from Grief to Wonder

ISBN: 1538741180

Author: Townsend PhD, Alan

Condition: Used

"[A] remarkable account of a shifting consciousness - Publishers Weekly, starred reviewAn extraordinary, powerful book - David Quammen, author of The Heartbeat of the Wild and BreathlessA compassionate exploration of scientific wonder that offers a fresh perspective on life, death, and the bittersweet consequences of impermanence, (Jon Krakauer) as illuminated through the tragic dual cancer diagnoses of author Dr. Alan Townsends wife and daughter.A decade ago, Dr. Alan Townsends family received two unthinkable, catastrophic diagnoses: his 4-year-old daughter and his brilliant scientist wife developed unrelated, life-threatening forms of brain cancer. As he witnessed his young daughter fight during the courageous final months of her mothers life, Townsend - a lifelong scientist - was indelibly altered. He began to see scientific inquiry as more than a source of answers to a given problem, but also as a lifeboat: a lens on the world that could help him find peace with the painful realities he could not change. Through scientific wonder, he found ways to bring meaning to his darkest period.At a time when societys relationship with science is increasingly polarized while threats to human life on earth continue to rise, Townsend offers a balanced, moving perspective on the common ground between science and religion through the spiritual fulfillment he found in his work. Awash in Townsend's electrifying and breathtaking prose, THIS ORDINARY STARDUST offers hope that life can carry on even in the face of near-certain annihilation.