The Universe in Verse By Maria Popova Introduction 1. The Singularity and Our Elemental Belonging "Singularity," by Marie Howe 2. Flowers and the Birth of Ecology [Bloom], by Emily Dickinson 3. Entropy and the Art of Alternative Endings "The More Loving One," by W. H. Auden 4. Henrietta Leavitt, Edwin Hubble, and Our Hunger to Know the Universe "My God, It's Full of Stars," by Tracy K. Smith 5.

Dark Matter and Our Yearning for Light "Let There Always Be Light" by Rebecca Elson 6. Emily Noether, Symmetry, and the Hidden Order of Things "Figures of Thought," by Howard Nemerov 7. Trees and the Optimism of Resilience "Optimism," by Jane Hirshfield 8. Pi and the Seductions of Infinity "Pi," by Wislawa Szymborska, translated by Clare Cavanagh and Stanislaw Baranczak 9. Euclid and the Dazzling Beauty of Universal Truth "Euclid Alone Has Looked on Beauty Bare," by Edna St. Vincent Millay 10. Radioactivity and the Mystery of Matter "Power," by Adrienne Rich 11. The Octopus and the Unknown "Octopus Blues," by Maria Popova 12.

This Mote of Matter "A Brave and Startling Truth," by Maya Angelou 13. The Search for Life "We Are Listening," by Diane Ackerman 14. Mushrooms and the Creative Spirit "Mushrooms," by Sylvia Plath 15. Singularity Squared "Singularity," by Marissa Davis.