The Copernicus Complex by Caleb Scharf review – mind-blowing stuff

From the microscopic to the macroscopic, this is an original and gripping look at the universe and our place in it

Those who remember Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy will recall the Total Perspective Vortex, a device that shows the entire universe (cleverly extrapolated from a piece of fairy cake) to anyone placed inside it. The resulting feeling of complete insignificance is enough to shatter the victim's mind permanently.

I am pleased to report that this book, which aims to show us our place in the grand scheme of things, will not make you lose your marbles. However it may, to use the parlance of a bygone era, blow your mind a bit. In one four-page period, my marginal notes went from "!" to "!!" to "!!!"