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A Universe from Nothing
Why There is Something Rather than Nothing
Krauss describes the new scientific theories and observations that demonstrate how the universe could have spontaneously arisen from nothing. He makes the case that this is not only plausible, but inevitable. Krauss presents evidence to show how the universe began and evolved, and theorizes about its ultimate end.
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Anyone who wants to understand the origins of the universe
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Anyone who wants to understand the scientific counter-argument to the divine creator (God) explanation
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Anyone who wants to understand where the universe came from, why it is the way it is, and what will happen to it in the future
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Anyone who wants to understand the past century’s major developments in cosmology
Lawrence M. Krauss is a cosmologist and theoretical physicist who has written a number of bestselling popular science books. He is best known for his commitment to the public understanding of science and for his contributions to cosmology, particularly regarding the ideas of dark matter and dark energy.
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A Universe from Nothing
Why There is Something Rather than Nothing
- Read in 15 minutes
- Audio & text available
- Contains 9 key ideas
Synopsis
Krauss describes the new scientific theories and observations that demonstrate how the universe could have spontaneously arisen from nothing. He makes the case that this is not only plausible, but inevitable. Krauss presents evidence to show how the universe began and evolved, and theorizes about its ultimate end.
Key idea 1 of 9
Scientific evidence confirms that the universe is expanding, and that this expansion is accelerating.
Until fairly recently, the universe was thought of as static and eternal, with our galaxy at its center. This perception changed when the physicist George Lemaitre demonstrated that Einstein’s theory of general relativity predicted a non-static universe, one that is expanding. This idea seemed so outrageous that Einstein himself famously objected and said, “Your math is correct, but your physics is abominable.” As with all good science, Lemaitre’s theory was proven by subsequent empirical observation.
The evidence came from the American astronomer Vesto Slipher’s observation of exceptionally bright stars in distant galaxies, or, more precisely, the color of light they emit. Slipher knew that light waves from a source moving away from an observer will be stretched (known as the Doppler effect) and will therefore appear redder, because red is at the long-wavelength end of the spectrum. This same effect can be observed when an ambulance drives away from you: the sound waves its siren emits are stretched, making them sound lower in pitch.
By observing and measuring the reddening (‘red-shift’) of distant stars, Slipher inferred that most of the objects in other galaxies are moving away from us, proving that the universe is indeed expanding, as Lemaitre’s theory predicted.
Another breakthrough in understanding the nature of this expansion came in 1929 when Edwin Hubble demonstrated that the further away a galaxy is from us, the faster it is receding. This discovery, known as ‘Hubble’s Law,’ implies that not only is the universe expanding uniformly but that expansion is accelerating, and therefore some force must be propelling it.
Scientific evidence confirms that the universe is expanding, and that this expansion is accelerating.
Key ideas in this title
- Scientific evidence confirms that the universe is expanding, and that this expansion is accelerating.
- Scientific evidence confirms that the universe originated in the Big Bang 14 billion years ago.
- Scientific observation confirms the universe is flat: its expansion will slow down gradually.
- Empty space is not empty: it is dominated by invisible dark energy and dark matter.
- Even supposedly empty space is full of spontaneously generated virtual particles annihilating each other.
- The universe likely began as a tiny region of empty space that inflated rapidly.
- One day the universe will have expanded so much that we will perceive nothing but our own galaxy.
- Science tailors its theories to observation, while theology tries to make the universe conform to preconceived beliefs.
- Final summary
