The Science of Last Things

by Ellen Wayland Smith
The Science of Last Things cover
Good Books rating 4.25
Essays / Essay Collections
Technical
  • ID: 2200
  • Added: 2025-10-13
  • Updated: 2025-10-13
  • ISBN: 9781639550975
  • Publisher: Milkweed Editions
  • Published: 2024-10-15
  • Reviews: 3

In The Science of Last Things, Ellen Wayland-Smith delves into the raw and transformative moments of human life, such as losing a parent, giving birth, and coping with illness, to explore the dissolution of the self and our connection to the broader cosmos. Through a rich tapestry of personal experiences and cultural references, she challenges the separation between human and animal existence, offering a profound meditation on transience and wonder. /n/n Wayland-Smith's essays weave together scientific inquiry, literary references, and personal narrative to create a luminous exploration of what it means to be human. From postpartum experiences to chemotherapy reflections, she examines the intersections of modern medicine, nature, and ancient myths, ultimately reframing our understanding of individuality and our place in the world.

Reviews
Watershed Notes · 2024-10-30
harrowing 4.00

The reviewer explores the author's personal struggles with OCD and her deep, introspective writing style. They appreciate the raw honesty and the way the book intertwines personal and geological time.

This review delves into the author's childhood experiences with OCD, highlighting how her personal struggles are woven into the fabric of the book. The reviewer is struck by the author's ability to merge her personal narrative with broader themes of geological time, creating a deeply introspective and thought-provoking read. They find the book's exploration of human fragility and the climate crisis particularly compelling, praising the author's clear-eyed approach and lyrical prose.

Quick quotes

    Wayland-Smith writes about her childhood OCD, when she becomes obsessed with the fact that she might go mad.

    The book offers a raw and honest look at the human condition during the climate crisis.

    Her writing is both harrowing and lyrically powerful.

Goodreads · 2024-10-15
harrowing 4.25

The reviewer praises the book for its clear-eyed examination of the human condition during the climate crisis. They find the essays both smart and harrowing.

This review highlights the book's smart and harrowing exploration of human time and geological time. The reviewer is impressed by the author's ability to engage with complex themes in a lyrically powerful way. They find the book to be a deeply necessary read, offering a clear-eyed look at our existence during the climate crisis. The essays are praised for their profound insights and the author's ability to merge personal narrative with broader themes.

Quick quotes

    Smart, harrowing, and lyrically powerful.

    Wayland-Smith deftly engages with both human time and geological time.

    This is a book that searches and finds profound truths.

The Writers Block · 2024-01-01
necessary 4.50

The reviewer finds the book to be a necessary and clear-eyed examination of our existence during the climate crisis. They admire the author's ability to search for and find profound truths.

This review emphasizes the book's importance in today's climate crisis, noting that it offers a deeply necessary and clear-eyed look at who we are as flesh-and-bone bodies. The reviewer appreciates the author's relentless search for truth and her ability to find profound insights amidst the chaos. They highlight the book's luminous quality, which makes it a standout in the genre of essays on deep time and the boundaries of the self.

Quick quotes

    Offering a deeply necessary, clear-eyed look at who we are as flesh-and-bone bodies during the climate crisis, this is a book that searches and finds.

    In this luminous collection of essays, Ellen Wayland-Smith probes the raw edges of human experience.

    The book is a profound exploration of deep time and the boundaries of the self.

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