"Steinhardt and Turok, two architects of modern cosmology, have written an accessible and engaging account of their exciting new theory of cosmic origins. Should their approach someday be confirmed, it would result in a major upheaval to our understanding of how everything space, time. and matter came to be."

--BRIAN GREENE. AUTHOR OF THE ELEGANT UNIVERSE AND THE FABRIC OF THE COSMOS

The Big Bang theory widely regarded as the leading explanation for the origin of the universe posits that space and time sprang into being about 14 billion years ago in a hot. expanding fireball of nearly infinite density. Over the last three decades the theory has been repeatedly revised to address such issues as how galaxies and stars first formed and why the expansion of the universe is speeding up today. Furthermore. an explanation has yet to be found for what caused the Big Bang in the first place.

In Endless Universe. Pau J. Steinhardt and Neil Turok. both distinguished theoretical physicists, present a bold new cosmology. Steinhardt and Turok "contend that what we think of as the moment of creation was simply part of an infinite cycle of titanic collisions between our universe and a parallel world" (Discover). They recount the remarkable developments in astronomy, particle physics, and superstring theory that form the basis for their groundbreaking "Cyclic Universe" theory. According to this theory, the Big Bang was not the beginning of time but the bridge to a past filled with endlessly repeating cycles of evolution, each accompanied by the creation of new matter and the formation of new galaxies, stars, and planets.

Endless Universe provides answers to longstanding problems with the Big Bang model. while offering a provocative new view of both the past and the future of the cosmos. It is a "theory that could solve the cosmic mystery" (USA Today).

acknowledgments 

preface  

chapter one:  2001 

chapter two:  Act Two 

chapter three: Two Tales of One Universe 

chapter four:  From Particles to the Cosmos 

chapter five:  Inflation and the Tale of Two Cosmologists 

chapter six:  From Strings to Ekpyrosis 

chapter seven: A Cyclic Model of the Universe 

chapter eight: The Last Question 

chapter nine:  Seeing Is Believing 

chapter ten:  Inflationary Multiverse or Cyclic Universe 

chapter eleven: Back to the Future 

glossary 

suggestions for further reading 

index