What is the nature of the material world? How does it work? What is the
universe and how was it formed? What is life? Where do we come from and
how did we evolve? How and why do we think? What does it mean to be
human? How do we know? There are many different versions of our creation
story. This book tells the version according to modern science. It is a
unique account, starting at the Big Bang and travelling right up to the
emergence of humans as conscious intelligent beings, 13.8 billion years
later. Chapter by chapter, it sets out the current state of scientific
knowledge: the origins of space and time; energy, mass, and light;
galaxies, stars, and our sun; the habitable earth, and complex life
itself. Drawing together the physical and biological sciences, Baggott
recounts what we currently know of our history, highlighting the
questions science has yet to answer.