Battle of the Big Bang

The New Tales of Our Cosmic Origins

Niayesh Afshordi, Phil Halper

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Hardback

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English

University of Chicago Press
29 May 2025

Impact of science & technology on society; Cosmology & the universe; Astrophysics

A thrilling exploration of competing cosmological origin stories, comparing new scientific ideas that upend our very notions of space, time, and reality.

By most popular accounts, the universe started with a bang some 13.8 billion years ago. But what happened before the Big Bang? And how do we know it happened at all? Here prominent cosmologist Niayesh Afshordi and science communicator Phil Halper offer a tour of the peculiar possibilities: bouncing and cyclic universes, time loops, creations from nothing, multiverses, black hole births, string theories, and holograms. Along the way, they offer both a call for new physics and a riveting story of scientific debate.

Incorporating insights from Afshordi's cutting-edge research and Halper's original interviews with scientists like Stephen Hawking, Roger Penrose, and Alan Guth, Battle of the Big Bang compares these models for the origin of our origins, showing each theory's strengths and weaknesses and explaining new attempts to test these notions. Battle of the Big Bang is a tale of rivalries and intrigue, of clashes of ideas that have raged from Greek antiquity to the present day over whether the universe is eternal or had a beginning, whether it is unique or one of many. But most of all, Afshordi and Halper show that this search is filled with wonder, discovery, and community—all essential for remembering a forgotten cosmic past.

By: Niayesh Afshordi, Phil Halper
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 33mm
Weight: 680g
ISBN: 9780226830476
ISBN 10: 0226830470
Pages: 360
Publication Date: 29 May 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Niayesh Afshordi is professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Waterloo and associate faculty at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Ontario, Canada. He has contributed to Scientific American and was a consultant to PBS’s NOVA, and his work has been featured in numerous popular media outlets, such as the covers of Scientific American and Science, as well as in The Guardian and The New York Times. Phil Halper is a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and a science popularizer. He is the creator of the popular YouTube series Before the Big Bang. His astronomy images have been featured in major media outlets including The Washington Post, the BBC, and The Guardian, and he has published several papers in peer-reviewed journals. He lives in London.

Reviews for Battle of the Big Bang: The New Tales of Our Cosmic Origins

“A captivating read. In many books, early universe cosmology is presented as established. Afshordi and Halper show nothing could be further from the truth!” -- Robert Brandenberger, McGill University