AUTHOR’S NOTE

IN THIS BOOK, I try to connect our progress towards discovering the physical basis of reality with our own character as human beings.

This is not an academic text. I describe some of physics’ biggest ideas and how they were discovered, but I make no serious attempt to provide a balanced history or to properly apportion credit. Instead, I use my personal experience as a common thread, along with accounts of people, times, and places that seem special to me. The personalities are interesting, but I use them mainly as illustrations of what is possible and of how much more capable we are than we realize. I am not a philosopher, historian, or an art or literary critic, but I draw on each of these subjects to illustrate the circumstances and the consequences of our deepening knowledge. This is a vast subject, and I apologize for my limited perspective and for my many arbitrary choices.

My goal is to celebrate our ability to understand the universe, to recognize it as something that can draw us together, and to contemplate what it might mean for our future.

I have benefitted from the insights and mentorship of wonderful colleagues, too numerous to mention. I have been equally inspired by many non-scientists, people who through their lives exemplify what it means to be human. Our science and our humanity are two sides of the same coin. Together, they are the means for us to live up to the opportunity of our existence.