BEFORE THE BIG BANG

An enthusiastic exploration of the early universe.

Mersini-Houghton, a professor of theoretical physics and cosmology, was born in Albania. She witnessed its 1991 revolution as a university student and became the first in her nation to win a Fulbright scholarship to study the natural sciences in the U.S. Fascinated by both mathematics and physics, she took up cosmology, the study of the universe, concentrating on events before its birth. There is no shortage of books exploring this subject, and this is a solid addition to the literature. As the author explains, roughly 14 billion years ago, everything slammed together, and the universe went through an accelerated expansion. While there is evidence (the cosmic microwave background radiation) for such an explosion in the distant past, problems remain. Our cosmos is surprisingly homogenous. Around 1980, physicists proposed the idea of cosmic inflation, a spectacular expansion an instant after the Big Bang. By the 2000s, string theory offered tantalizing solutions that were also replete with difficulties and complications. It seemed to predict not one but a landscape of potential big bangs, an idea in ill-repute because no test could detect them. Intrigued, the author considered the matter and found a solution that combines quantum theory with gravitational theory (both long accepted) and string theory (still under debate), producing a testable concept that required innumerable worlds: a multiverse. Mersini-Houghton’s long explanation of her concept will be heavy going for those unfamiliar with physics, and she does not deny that it remains controversial, but the possibilities suggested by her research are undeniably intriguing.

A well-informed cosmology lesson for dedicated readers.