Proposes many of the scientific hypothesis into the nature and evolution of our universe in a way that is understandable and excited me for the future of cosmology and all the exciting discoveries to be made!

Brian Cox reunites with Jeff Forshaw (The Quantum Universe) for this cracking journey through the universe and the exploration and discoveries that we have made. Presented in a very attractive format, with some brilliant illustrations and vignettes, they explain scientific concepts in an elegant and easy to understand fashion. With nine accessible chapters, 'The Story Of The Universe'; 'How Old Are Things'; 'Weighing The Earth'; 'The Distance To The Stars'; 'Einstein's Theory Of Gravity'; 'The Big Bang'; 'Weighing The Universe'; 'What Happened Before The Big Bang' & 'Our Place', it's as useful and interesting to the layman as the expert and it's a superb piece of popular science writing and cements Cox's status as this generations go to science guy.

Much is currently made of divisions within society. The authors however present a telling account of how science can explain the one story that unites all of humanity – the origins of the universe. It is a compelling tale that celebrates human curiosity, the power of observation and empiricism dating back to the ancients, through Newton and Cavendish to Einstein and Feynman. This is a narrative that emphasises the need to empirically measure in order to verify observation – the very essence of the scientific method. Whether it is the isochron method, the use of parallax, Cepheid variables, Type 1A supernovae or the Tully- Fischer method much discussion revolves around the empirical tools of the scientific pursuit. There is a wonderful continuity to the ideas explored with, for example, an initial discussion relating to the dating of ripples in the North Atlantic Ridge progressing logically to the origins and meaning of ripples in the Cosmic Microwave Background.This is cutting edge popular science, making salient reference to the most recent discoveries such as that of the Higgs Boson, quantum field theory and gravitational waves. The final chapter offers a fascinating existential thought experiment which seeks neither to disparage nor encourage religious beliefs but requires the reader to reflect upon the unique nature of our universe and existence. In a fractured world this is an uplifting and accessible book which seeks to unite us all in the joy of understanding which has the power to connect us with the world and universe.