First Earth. Epos

Raoul Schrott’s book is the result of an intensive exploration of today’s knowledge about the world: from the Big Bang to the formation of the planets all the way to humankind. What image of people does this lead us to? What does it mean for our existence?

First Earth ventures a great undertaking: to apply a literary form to our scientific knowledge and to illustrate it using individual figures and their life stories. In alternating poetic forms, the result is a reflection of our cosmos in a narrative panorama. In order to do this, Raoul Schrott went on several trips around the world: from the place where the oldest rocks ever were found, aged over four billions years old, all the way to the Atacama Desert, where the largest reflector telescope in the world is currently being built. In the second part, Schrott summarizes the current state of our world knowledge in nonfiction form. Linking poetry and knowledge, Raoul Schrott dares to put forward a modern-day counterpart to Humboldt’s Cosmos. The exploration of the world could hardly be more intriguing or beautiful.