Dr Emma Chapman
Astrophysicist, Author, Science Communicator
‘A dispatch from the frontiers of science, from a brain fizzing with ideas and activity,’
Chris Lintott, The Sky at Night
‘A wonderful guide’
Wall Street Journal
Dr Emma Chapman is a Royal Society research fellow and lecturer in astrophysics, based at the University of Nottingham. She has been the recipient of multiple commendations and prizes, including the Royal Society Athena Medal. First Light, her much acclaimed first book on the earliest stars, has been translated into five languages. Radio Universe (US Title: Echoing Universe) will be available in Spring 2026 and has already been named Radio 4 Book of the Week.
First Light: Switching on Stars at the Dawn of Time
**New Revised Edition Available Now**
Also available in Italian, Japanese, Russian, Polish and Ukrainian.
Astronomers have mapped much of the Universe’s history — but the first billion years remain hidden in darkness. First Light reveals the story of the very first stars and galaxies, enormous and short-lived giants that transformed the Universe and set the stage for everything to come.
Radio Universe:
How to Explore Space Without Leaving Earth
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**RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK**
How do you explore distant stars, buried water on mars or the first moments after the big bang — without leaving the ground?
In Radio Universe, award-winning astrophysicist Emma Chapman takes us on an electrifying voyage through the cosmos using one of the most powerful, yet overlooked, tools in science: the radio wave. With dazzling clarity and humour, Chapman reveals how these invisible messengers glide through space, bounce off planets, tunnel through clouds and slip past galactic dust - carrying secrets of the universe that no other kind of light can uncover.
A celebration of human ingenuity and cosmic curiosity, The Radio Universe reveals that the true frontier of space isn't 'out there' - it's humming quietly all around us, waiting to be heard.
The Echoing Universe:
How Radio Astronomy Helps Us See the Invisible Universe
(US Version of the Radio Universe.)
Follow a single radio wave as it escapes Earth and travels outward - ricocheting off the Moon, tunnelling through Venus's furnace-thick atmosphere, tracing ancient ice hidden in Mercury's shadows and diving deep into the swirling arms of the Milky Way. Along the way, meet black holes that roar louder than stars, pulsars more precise than atomic clocks and galaxies lit by the very first starlight. Explore volcanic lava planets, death-defying neutron stars, the eerie possibility of alien broadcasts - and the fragile question of our own future in the cosmos.