Before the Big Bang

One of the world's most celebrated cosmologists presents her breakthrough explanation of our origins in the multiverse. 'Fascinating' ROGER PENROSE, Nobel laureate 'What if our universe is but an infinitesimal fragment of reality? What would this "multiverse" be like? There is no better guide to the bizarre, and sometimes paradoxical, cosmic super-realm than Laura Mersini-Houghton' Paul Davies, author of What's Eating the Universe? In recent years, Laura Mersini-Houghton's ground-breaking theory, spectacularly vindicated with observational evidence, has turned the multiverse from philosophical speculation to one of the most compelling and credible explanations of our universe's origins. In Before the Big Bang , she interweaves the story of how she arrived at this theory with her journey from communist Albania, where she was born and brought up, to the West, showing how her unconventional path helped her to challenge orthodoxies and become one of the most courageous thinkers on the world stage of theoretical physics. 'A riveting tour of the cosmos from the one of the brightest minds in astrophysics' Washington Post 'A fascinating and unusual hybrid of pop science and memoir' 5*, Stephen Poole, Daily Telegraph 'One of the world's most renowned cosmologists offers insights into the majestic world of the quantum multiverse' Stephon Alexander, author of Fear of a Black Universe *A DAILY TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022*

One of the world's most celebrated cosmologists presents her breakthrough explanation of our origins in the multiverse. 'Fascinating' ROGER PENROSE, Nobel laureate 'What if our universe is but an infinitesimal fragment of reality? What would this "multiverse" be like? There is no better guide to the bizarre, and sometimes paradoxical, cosmic super-realm than Laura Mersini-Houghton' Paul Davies, author of What's Eating the Universe? In recent years, Laura Mersini-Houghton's ground-breaking theory, spectacularly vindicated with observational evidence, has turned the multiverse from philosophical speculation to one of the most compelling and credible explanations of our universe's origins. In Before the Big Bang , she interweaves the story of how she arrived at this theory with her journey from communist Albania, where she was born and brought up, to the West, showing how her unconventional path helped her to challenge orthodoxies and become one of the most courageous thinkers on the world stage of theoretical physics. 'A riveting tour of the cosmos from the one of the brightest minds in astrophysics' Washington Post 'A fascinating and unusual hybrid of pop science and memoir' 5*, Stephen Poole, Daily Telegraph 'One of the world's most renowned cosmologists offers insights into the majestic world of the quantum multiverse' Stephon Alexander, author of Fear of a Black Universe *A DAILY TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022*

"A riveting tour of the cosmos from one of the brightest minds in astrophysics." -- The Washington Post A revolutionary new account of our universe's creation--and a breathtaking exploration of the landscape from which we sprang--from one of the world's most celebrated cosmologists What came before the Big Bang, and what exists outside of the universe it created? Until recently, scientists could only guess at what lay past the edge of space-time. However, as pioneering theoretical physicist Laura Mersini-Houghton explains, new scientific tools are now giving us the ability to peer beyond the limits of our universe and to test our theories about what is there. And what we are finding is upending everything we thought we knew about the cosmos and our place in it. Mersini-Houghton is no stranger to boundaries--or to pushing through them. As a child growing up in Communist Albania, she discovered a universe beyond her walled-off world through the study of math and science, and through music. As a female cosmologist in a male-dominated field, she transcended the limits that society and her profession tried to place on her. And as a trailblazing researcher, she helped to revolutionize the study of our universe by revealing that, far from living in a cosmic Albania, with a world that ends at its borders, we are part of a larger family of universes--a multiverse--that holds wonders we are only beginning to unlock. Mersini-Houghton's groundbreaking research suggests that we sit in a quantum landscape whose peaks and valleys hide a multitude of other universes, and even hold the secret to the origins of existence itself. Recent evidence has revealed the signatures of such sibling universes in our own night sky, confirming Mersini-Houghton's theoretical work and offering humbling evidence that our universe is just one member of an unending cosmic family. The incredible scientific saga of one woman's mind-expanding journey through the multiverse, Before the Big Bang will reshape our understanding of humanity's place in the unfathomable vastness of the cosmos.

"A riveting tour of the cosmos from one of the brightest minds in astrophysics." -- The Washington Post A revolutionary new account of our universe's creation--and a breathtaking exploration of the landscape from which we sprang--from one of the world's most celebrated cosmologists What came before the Big Bang, and what exists outside of the universe it created? Until recently, scientists could only guess at what lay past the edge of space-time. However, as pioneering theoretical physicist Laura Mersini-Houghton explains, new scientific tools are now giving us the ability to peer beyond the limits of our universe and to test our theories about what is there. And what we are finding is upending everything we thought we knew about the cosmos and our place in it. Mersini-Houghton is no stranger to boundaries--or to pushing through them. As a child growing up in Communist Albania, she discovered a universe beyond her walled-off world through the study of math and science, and through music. As a female cosmologist in a male-dominated field, she transcended the limits that society and her profession tried to place on her. And as a trailblazing researcher, she helped to revolutionize the study of our universe by revealing that, far from living in a cosmic Albania, with a world that ends at its borders, we are part of a larger family of universes--a multiverse--that holds wonders we are only beginning to unlock. Mersini-Houghton's groundbreaking research suggests that we sit in a quantum landscape whose peaks and valleys hide a multitude of other universes, and even hold the secret to the origins of existence itself. Recent evidence has revealed the signatures of such sibling universes in our own night sky, confirming Mersini-Houghton's theoretical work and offering humbling evidence that our universe is just one member of an unending cosmic family. The incredible scientific saga of one woman's mind-expanding journey through the multiverse, Before the Big Bang will reshape our understanding of humanity's place in the unfathomable vastness of the cosmos.