This enlightening, engaging look at the universe, the scientists who explore it, and the far-reaching implications of recent discoveries presents an "enjoyable and useful book, a heroic synthesis of cosmic knowledge today" ("The Wall Street Journal").

This enlightening, engaging look at the universe, the scientists who explore it, and the far-reaching implications of recent discoveries presents an "enjoyable and useful book, a heroic synthesis of cosmic knowledge today" ("The Wall Street Journal").

From the prizewinning author who has been called "the greatest science writer in the world" comes this delightfully comprehensive and comprehensible report on how science today envisions the universe as a whole.

Timothy Ferris provides a clear, elegantly written overview of current research and a forecast of where cosmological theory is likely to go in the twenty-first century. He explores the questions that have occurred to even casual readers -- who are curious about nature on the largest scales: What does it mean to say that the universe is "expanding," or that space is "curved"? -- and sheds light on the possibility that our universe is only one among many universes, each with its own physical laws and prospects for the emergence of life.