Chris Impey Wins 2025 Cosmos Prize for "Worlds Without End"
Chris Impey is a University Distinguished Professor of Astronomy at the University of Arizona. Worlds Without End is his newest book in a lineup of highly reviewed popular science books including The Living Cosmos, How It Ends, Talking About Life, How It Began, Dreams of Other Worlds, Humble Before the Void, and Einstein’s Monsters: The Life and Times of Black Holes
Steward Observatory' Distinguished Professor of Astronomy Chris Impey has been awarded the 2025 Cosmos Prize for his book "Worlds Without End" (published by Apogeo, translated by Corrado Ghinamo). The prestigious award, dedicated to scientific knowledge and dissemination among young people, was presented during the Cosmos Festival in Reggio Calabria, Italy.
A Timely Exploration of Humanity's Future
"Worlds Without End" offers a compelling guided tour through one of astronomy's most exciting frontiers: the search for planets outside our Solar System that could host life. As Impey notes, Planet Earth may no longer be "the best of all possible worlds" in the not-too-distant future, given pressing challenges including the climate emergency, biological threats, and resource depletion. Yet human ingenuity has simultaneously expanded our vision of habitable worlds far beyond earlier dreams of Martian outposts.
Drawing on astronomy, planetary science, geology, chemistry, and biology, Impey provides a cutting-edge account of the accelerating progress in exoplanet research and what it might mean for humanity's future. With the popular style that has established him as one of the leading interpreters of astronomy and space science, he traces the dizzying advances bringing us ever closer to discovering life beyond Earth and the prospect of humans living on another planet.
Worlds without End is an expertly guided tour of the search for planets with the potential to host life.
A Celebration of Science and Education
The award ceremony took place at the Francesco Cilea Theater, with distinguished attendees including Filippo Romano, advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Anna Brancaccio from the Ministry of Education; Metropolitan Councilor Giuseppe Marino; Professor Angela Misiano, representing the Pythagoras Planetarium; and Professor Gianfranco Bertone, representing the Cosmos Scientific Committee.
The Cosmos Festival, promoted and organized by the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria in agreement with the Pythagoras Metropolitan Planetarium and with collaboration from the Ministries of Education and Merit, Foreign Affairs, and the Italian Astronomical Society, continues to grow in prominence. This year's festival attracted 32 schools with over 700 Italian and European students, demonstrating increasing interest in the scientific event.
Mayor Giuseppe Falcomatà emphasized the city's commitment to maintaining and strengthening the festival, which he considers "among the most important and prestigious internationally." He noted that Cosmos represents an event capable of bringing together scientists from around the world, making Reggio Calabria a cultural crossroads that sends "a strong message of unity and harmony, linked in this case to science." The mayor expressed particular pleasure in seeing scholars from Calabria and Reggio Calabria working at both regional universities and prestigious academies worldwide converge for the celebration.
Chris Impey received the 2025 Cosmos Prize onstage at the Cosmos Festival, promoted and organized in Reggio Calabria