An astonishing tour of the key astronomical events of the past century and of all the accidents and human error involved in our pursuit of asteroids radio waves new stars and alien life. Now updated to include a new Afterword.A riveting reallife Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. TelegraphAn enjoyable tour of astronomical discoveries...His excellent book is a laymans guide to the surprises Daily MailLintotts boundless enthusiasm for everything cosmic makes it hard to put this book away once you start reading. BBC Sky at Night MagazineEntertaining and enlightening The Idler.....................................................................................................................................................................................................The BBC presenter of Sky at Night and Gresham Professor of Astronomy Chris Lintott takes us on an astonishing tour of bizarre accidents big characters and human error to tell the story of some of the most important astronomical events of the past hundred years. Our first views of the earliest galaxies were brought to us by the Hubble Space Telescope when it was pointed at absolutely nothing. The icecovered Enceladus one of Saturns nearly one hundred moons was revealed as a possible habitat for life after a bychance fly by of NASAs Cassini probe on a mission elsewhere. Pulsars the spectacular remnants of longdead massive stars were discovered as scruff in the data for measurements of the twinkling of possible radio stars.As new telescopes are built on mountaintops and in deserts around the world aiming to transform our view of the universe once more Chris Lintott shows us that keeping an open mind will benefit us all whatever might still be out there for us to find.........................................................................................................................Praise for Our Accidental UniverseA scientific tour de force. Dr Becky SmethurstHighly recommended. Tristan GooleyExtravaga