A Universe from Nothing, by Lawrence Krauss: Krauss is a theoretical physicist and atheist who discusses how the underlying laws of nature as expressed in quantum mechanics and general relativity support the overwhelmingly strong probability that "something", in this case, the universe, literally came from nothing. His discussion includes a detailed examination of the inflationary period that occurred just after the Big Bang, the role that quantum fluctuations played in the creation of radiation and matter, and the counter intuitive notion that even the emptiest of nothings contain not only energy but complex reactions of nearly infinitesimally short duration that nonetheless directly contribute to the creation of matter. He, also, discusses alternate theories, the most interesting of which entails the notion of a "multiverse," an entity that might contain an infinite number of universes, of which we just happen to live in one of the very lucky ones that by fortunate happenstance provided all the necessary conditions for creating and sustaining life. Finally, he gives God a thorough trouncing. I was able to grasp the general shape of his arguments, but I can make no claims to understanding most of the science that he was talking about. Difficult though the book is at times, I still found it quite fascinating.
Side comment: Krauss and most theoretical physicists in general really don't like the idea of a multiverse, and you can see why. Physicists prefer chasing the Holy Grail of a single unified theory of the very big and the very small that explains everything elegantly. The multiverse is like a cheap cosmic trick to them. But it seems like a rather cool solution to me. I haven't kept track but there seems like there are dozens of variables, such as the amount of helium in the universe, that if any of these factors were just a little off by the very tiniest of margins, life could not exist in this universe. In other words, the universe is fine-tuned for our existence beyond belief, beyond all rational likelihood, beyond even the wildest science-fiction type speculations. Physicists search to explain why: the multiverse looks at these massive uses of brain power and says: "Dudes, dudes, stop thinking so hard. There are a trillion gazillion universes out there that are totally barren or are endless fields of radiation or contain **** you never dreamed of. However,
you, you incredibly lucky basterds, just happen to live in one of the very few universes in which all the necessary elements line up perfectly for life. There is no unified theory necessary--blind, random chance of an order that you can't even imagine is all that's going on here." I kind of like that idea.
