 This book is significant for a couple of reasons. Number one, it was written by one of the most important scientists of the 20th century, an English astrophysicist who coined the term Big Bang, the theory he was opposed to by the way. Number two, his ideas about a living cloud of interstellar hydrogen are really well thought out and really interesting and that's the only thing that keeps you reading this book. Seriously, this book has all the excitement of a research paper. It's a significant work, but man is it not good reading.