The Grand Design

The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow is a quick read. Only eight chapters - 166 pages in the hardcover edition. I actually checked it out as an E-book from our local library and read it on my phone - technology marches on.

The book touches on the various models developed to describe the universe, including Newton's laws, quantum theory, the photoelectric effect, string theory and the all-encompassing M-theory.

The conclusion that has gotten them the most press (and hatred) is that God is not a prerequisite for our universe (or any other). One significant statement is that all the matter and energy in the universe, when summed up taking into account not just the absolute values but the signs (positive and negative) come out to zero. It's reasonable to believe that a universe that sums to nothing could come from nothing. It's also a conclusion that I had already come to based on my own admittedly limited understanding of some of the current theories.

While they do touch on alternate histories as well as well as deterministic models of progress through time, they stop short of delving into the philosophical implications of multiple universes.

If we could objectively view our 11-dimensioned space-time (and don't worry - only 4 of the dimensions are worth worrying about) we could see everything that we ever were and everything that we will be. To see everything we could have been or could be we'd have to extend our view to multiple universes. The consideration of time as just another dimension that is no more or less special than the others, the existence of a huge but finite number of alternative universes in which an individual would populate (at least enough to be recognized as the same person) makes an afterlife redundant.

I would have thought that they chose not to expound on all the implications due to the prospect of various religious zealots marching on their castle with pitchforks and torches except that they had already eliminated gods and miracles quite specifically in the book. So perhaps they didn't pursue further because they thought the implications would be as obvious to everyone as it is to them. That, I'm afraid, is giving the general population far too much credit.

You don't need to be a physicist or astronomer to read and reasonably understand this book. Recommended to anyone whose head won't explode at contradictions to religion - on second thought, recommended to anyone.