Imagine applying the old chicken and egg problem to the universe. Ready? Here goes. Which came first the universe or the laws of physics? In A Universe from Nothing, professor Lawrence Krauss attempts to answer that very question. Since science solved the chicken and egg problem1, it stands to reason that science can solve the universe and physics problem. Krauss makes a compelling argument for the answer he believes our current understanding of science gives. Ultimately, the answer is a philosophical one because we cannot know for sure at this moment, but Krauss’s answer is extrapolated from existing evidence. He’s grounded his answer to that question in everything we now know about the universe, which lends credibility to his answer. While this book requires careful attention during reading, it explains at a layperson’s level complex, cutting edge physics. This book is for anyone curious about the cosmos as we understand it today.
TL;DR: Highly recommended book on cosmology that brings cutting edge physics to a broadly understandable level.
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From the publisher:
Bestselling author and acclaimed physicist Lawrence Krauss offers a paradigm-shifting view of how everything that exists came to be in the first place.
“Where did the universe come from? What was there before it? What will the future bring? And finally, why is there something rather than nothing?”
One of the few prominent scientists today to have crossed the chasm between science and popular culture, Krauss describes the staggeringly beautiful experimental observations and mind-bending new theories that demonstrate not only can something arise from nothing, something will always arise from nothing. With a new preface about the significance of the discovery of the Higgs particle, A Universe from Nothing uses Krauss’s characteristic wry humor and wonderfully clear explanations to take us back to the beginning of the beginning, presenting the most recent evidence for how our universe evolved—and the implications for how it’s going to end.
Provocative, challenging, and delightfully readable, this is a game-changing look at the most basic underpinning of existence and a powerful antidote to outmoded philosophical, religious, and scientific thinking.
The subtitle of this book is Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing. Talk about setting your sights high. The goal of this book is build an argument from a purely scientific viewpoint for how the universe came into being. Piece by piece, Dr. Krauss builds his argument using the tools of a cosmologist. From gravity to dark matter to the big bang to dark energy, Dr. Krauss meticulously educates the reader while also laying the foundations for the universe’s origins. By the end of A Universe From Nothing, the reader has taken a survey of contemporary astrophysics and some of the problems that challenge modern and near future scientists.
While Krauss intends why to be asked in a scientific sense, he mentions in the preface that people have interpreted it in the metaphysical sense, which brings the book into the religious realm. Krauss, an anti-theist2, does not shy away from letting his thoughts on religion known, and for me, these parts felt out of place. Note that this is not because I’m religious, it just felt like in a book about beautiful physics, religion or religion bashing is unnecessary. But, as he most likely encounters religious objections to his work on a regular basis, it’s understandable why he’s taken the stance he has.
As a physics book, it requires close reading, but anyone can read it. The book takes incredibly complex ideas and makes them understandable. While I had to reread some paragraphs to get at what Krauss was saying, I still consider the material accessible. As much information as packed into this book, it would be wrong to assume that we can pick everything up on the first read. A book like this requires rereading to get all we can from it. I had to focus on the text, and Krauss’s writing style made that easy. I do not remember any math or equations beyond simple concepts, but as an engineer who deals with math day in, day out, I wouldn’t remember numbers or equations unless they stood out. In other words, this book is safe for the math-phobic.
As the book builds towards the finish, it switches mode from a physics to a philosophy book. Now, this may seem like a slight against the book. It isn’t. Dr. Krauss uses his setup in the earlier portions to extrapolate ideas. That’s what makes this a philosophy book. He postulates theories that we may never know if they’re correct or as wrong as an earth-centric universe. But using evidence based science as his foundation is what separates his theories from mere guesses. This is science as philosophy – or philosophy as science – in the best sense. Instead of “I think therefore I am” philosophy, Krauss gives us “I think therefore my neurons are firing.” Often, the public doesn’t get the philosophic bits of physics or other sciences, and that’s sad. The conjecture, the extrapolating from our current understanding about the larger world is what makes science so intriguing. Too often, physics is removed from the sublime. It is seen as simply math or equations. In A Universe from Nothing, Lawrence Krauss elevates cosmology from the merely mechanical into something beautiful.
1. Dinosaurs produced eggs. Chickens are descended from dinosaurs. Thus, eggs preceded chickens. Thanks biology.
2. He makes this claim in an interview in the back of the paperback edition of the book. He isn’t anti-God. He is anti-religion. This distinction fails to be understood by many, many people. While God may be divine, a quick look at the institutions that supposedly worship the creator show many, many failings.