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Until the End of Time

Until the End of Time

Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe

Summary

From the world-renowned physicist and bestselling author of The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos, a captivating exploration of deep time and humanity's search for purpose

In both time and space, the cosmos is astoundingly vast, and yet is governed by simple, elegant, universal mathematical laws.

On this cosmic timeline, our human era is spectacular but fleeting. Someday, we know, we will all die. And, we know, so too will the universe itself.

Until the End of Time is Brian Greene's breathtaking new exploration of the cosmos and our quest to understand it. Greene takes us on a journey across time, from our most refined understanding of the universe's beginning, to the closest science can take us to the very end. He explores how life and mind emerged from the initial chaos, and how our minds, in coming to understand their own impermanence, seek in different ways to give meaning to experience: in story, myth, religion, creative expression, science, the quest for truth, and our longing for the timeless, or eternal. Through a series of nested stories that explain distinct but interwoven layers of reality-from the quantum mechanics to consciousness to black holes-Greene provides us with a clearer sense of how we came to be, a finer picture of where we are now, and a firmer understanding of where we are headed.

Yet all this understanding, which arose with the emergence of life, will dissolve with its conclusion. Which leaves us with one realization: during our brief moment in the sun, we are tasked with the charge of finding our own meaning.

Let us embark.

Reviews

  • A cracking read...Greene serves up plenty of revelatory detail... If you want to know how everything got here and where it's going, read this book.
    Stephen Bleach, Sunday Times

About the author

Brian Greene

Brian Greene is a professor of physics and mathematics and director of Columbia University's Center for Theoretical Physics, and is renowned for his groundbreaking discoveries in superstring theory. His bestselling books include The Elegant Universe, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction, and The Fabric of the Cosmos.
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