Guest: James B. Kaler, Ph.D.

We may feel isolated from the universe on a planet so small. But, says astronomer James Kaler, we are more connected to our corner of existence than we think. Today on Focus, he joins us to talk about his new book Heaven's Touch, in which he explores the variety of ways that the universe affects events on our own planet, from the gravitational effects of Jupiter to solar flares to deep-space cosmic rays.

Guests: Joel R. Primack and Nancy Ellen Abrams.

Today on Focus, cosmologist Joel R. Primack and his wife, author Nancy Ellen Abrams, join the show to discuss their new book, The View from the Center of the Universe: Discovering our Extraordinary Place in the Cosmos. The book claims to reveal an astonishing truth: humans really are central to the universe. 

Guest: Neil deGrasse Tyson.

How did the universe begin? It's a question that plagued scientists for centuries, and one that astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson explores in his recent book Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution. He joins us on Focus today to discuss the formation of the universe, as well as its galaxies, planets... and inhabitants.

Guest: Janna Levin.

Is the universe infinite or just really big? In her new book How the Universe Got its Spots, cosmologist Janna Levin synthesizes areas of science from geometry to string theory to explain how the patterns left in the universe by the Big Bang may one day be used by scientists to reveal the exact size and shape of the universe. She joins us today on Focus to discuss her book and her day-to-day life as a physicist exploring this area of her field.

Guest: Neil Comins.

One of the biggest paradoxes of modern science is that the more we discover about the natural world, the more we come to understand that our everyday perceptions of it are incorrect. Physicist Neil Comins joins Focus today to talk about his new book Heavenly Errors, in which he identifies numerous misconceptions about the universe and addresses the errors in these lines of thought.