This book, which describes the descendants of a civilisation that has converted the material in its planets into a giant ringlike structure around its sun, was inspired by Freeman Dyson's idea that a truly technologically advanced species would endeavour to capture as much light as possible by building a spherical shell around its central star.

ECONOMIST: Is it time for a new approach to finding extraterrestrials?

"We're a bit shell-shocked right now, " he told the Toronto Star.

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