David Elbaz is an astrophysicist and head of the Cosmology and Evolution of Galaxies Laboratory at the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). He also writes documentaries and shows and has already published scientific novels and cosmology essays with Odile Jacob. His last book, La plus belle ruse de la lumière (2021) was a huge success.

The particles of light from the depths of the universe tell stories that are reminiscent of Scheherazade's tales, both in terms of what they say – about black holes or billion-year old pasts seen from today - and of the discovers’ adventures. 10,000 nights have passed since 1995, when the first planet was discovered orbiting another sun and an image was captured that reflects the entire history of the universe. These 10,000 nights are like the pages of a modern version of the classic Arabian Nights, a scientific and rational tale that surpasses Scheherazade’s wildest stories.
The book is structured in the same way as Scheherazade’s tales, to ensure that it is accessible to as many people as possible, and to hold the reader's attention: each short story is based on a recent discovery and tells the true tale of how we know what we know.
What do these stories reveal? That our understanding of the universe has undergone a revolution in the last 10,000 nights. We are living in a golden age of astrophysics. Over the last twenty years, an unprecedented series of discoveries has been made, revolutionising our knowledge. We have seen the shadow of a black hole for the first time, which previously just sounded like a mad idea dreamed up by researchers. We have detected the gravitational ripples caused by the merging of two black holes. There are too many discoveries to include in this book, which tells the new story of a hidden and infrared universe.

After discussing several dark components of the universe (black holes, dark matter and dark energy), David Elbaz explores the role of light, which shapes it. In this third book, the author reveals these latest discoveries in the form of fantastical stories. Stories in which we discover that we are the children of the galaxy, in a universe where stars and galaxies are fed by invisible cosmic rivers.