Over the years, millions of school children must have written out their address in the same way - their house number and street, their town, their country, their continent, planet Earth, the universe...

Following this simplest of patterns, taking each line of the address as a starting point, Tim Radford explores our place in the scheme of things - why we are attached to a particular geographical place and what significance do we have when faced with the realms of astronomy and astrophysics.

Fascinating, entertaining and completely original, The Address Book tackles some of the most fundamental questions facing us, and allows us see ourselves completely afresh.