Universe review: our starry night, seen from all angles

A new Phaidon photobook draws from the worlds of astronomy and art to create a complete, beautiful picture of how we see space and ourselves within it

" View a gallery of more images from Universe

Many poetic descriptions of the universe have found their way into print over the millennia that humankind has been fascinated with outer space. The starry vault, the firmament, the void, heaven - all express something of the awe and mystery we naturally feel when confronted with infinity.

Perhaps the most apparently incongruous, yet simultaneously most appropriate description is to be found in the works of William Herschel, the 18th-century astronomer who discovered the planet Uranus. He called the universe a "luxuriant garden".