What is life? Where do we come from and how did we evolve? What is the universe and how was it formed? What is the nature of the material world? How does it work? 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.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780198826002
Number of pages: 432
Weight: 712 g
Dimensions: 235 x 156 x 21 mm
Jim Baggot has impressive mastery, not just of the physics and chemistry, but also of the other sciences that play roles in this story. The story this book tells is compelling, well written, and satisfying. - Richard A. Richards, The Quarterly Review of Biology
Jim Baggott's Origins... recount[s] the greatest story ever told: the evolution of the Universe since the Big Bang. This rich crossdisciplinary tale reminds us that astronomy, physics, chemistry, geoscience, biology and neuro science are interconnected. Baggott takes the reader on a linear, 13.8-billion-year journey. His ... treatment abounds with excellent visuals. At its best, Origins reminds me of Richard Holmes's marvellous The Age of Wonder ... Sweeping scope and detailed description ... [Baggott] reminds us that big questions remain in this most wonderful scientific adventure. - Michael S. Turner, Nature
Origins should be on everyone's bookshelves, whether or not they are a devotee of popular science. - Mark Greener, Fortean Times
Origins is so clearly written, so engaging, so thought-provoking, that it wouldn't surprise me if it inspires a new generation to take up science. - Mark Greener, Fortean Times
this guided tour through space, mass, time and energy is spectacular - Saga
an impressive scientific tour-de-force, and a book which is perhaps itself a unique creation - Chemistry & Industry
this book is a real tour de force ... it is exceptionally well informed and well written - Network Review
The collective mind of humanity has made extraordinary progress in its quest to understand how the current richness of the physical world has emerged, and Baggott with his characteristic lucidity and erudition, has provided an enthralling account of this wonderful and still unfolding intellectual journey. - Peter Atkins
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