A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing

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A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing

by Lawrence M. Krauss, Richard Dawkins (Goodreads Author) (Afterword)

3.93 of 5 stars 3.93 · rating details · 4,304 ratings · 355 reviews

“WHERE DID THE UNIVERSE COME FROM? WHAT WAS THERE BEFORE IT? WHAT WILL THE FUTURE BRING? AND FINALLY, WHY IS THERE SOMETHING RATHER THAN NOTHING?” Lawrence Krauss’s provocative answers to these and other timeless questions in a wildly popular lecture now on YouTube have attracted almost a million viewers. The last of these questions in particular has been at the center of...more “WHERE DID THE UNIVERSE COME FROM? WHAT WAS THERE BEFORE IT? WHAT WILL THE FUTURE BRING? AND FINALLY, WHY IS THERE SOMETHING RATHER THAN NOTHING?” Lawrence Krauss’s provocative answers to these and other timeless questions in a wildly popular lecture now on YouTube have attracted almost a million viewers. The last of these questions in particular has been at the center of religious and philosophical debates about the existence of God, and it’s the supposed counterargument to anyone who questions the need for God. As Krauss argues, scientists have, however, historically focused on other, more pressing issues—such as figuring out how the universe actually functions, which can ultimately help us to improve the quality of our lives.

Now, in a cosmological story that rivets as it enlightens, pioneering theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss explains the groundbreaking new scientific advances that turn the most basic philosophical questions on their heads. One of the few prominent scientists today to have actively crossed the chasm between science and popular culture, Krauss reveals that modern science is addressing the question of why there is something rather than nothing, with surprising and fascinating results. The staggeringly beautiful experimental observations and mind-bending new theories are all described accessibly in A Universe from Nothing, and they suggest that not only can something arise from nothing, something will always arise from nothing.

With his characteristic wry humor and wonderfully clear explanations, Krauss takes us back to the beginning of the beginning, presenting the most recent evidence for how our universe evolved—and the implications for how it’s going to end. It will provoke, challenge, and delight readers as it looks at the most basic underpinnings of existence in a whole new way. And this knowledge that our universe will be quite different in the future from today has profound implications and directly affects how we live in the present. As Richard Dawkins has described it: This could potentially be the most important scientific book with implications for supernaturalism since Darwin.

A fascinating antidote to outmoded philosophical and religious thinking, A Universe from Nothing is a provocative, game-changing entry into the debate about the existence of God and everything that exists. “Forget Jesus,” Krauss has argued, “the stars died so you could be born.”(less)

Hardcover, 204 pages

Published January 10th 2012 by Atria Books

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Feb 12, 2013 Riku Sayuj rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Manjunath Muddaraju

Krauss has managed to draw an almost perfect normal curve (Bell Curve) with this book as far as engagement and content is concerned.

The Start of the Curve

It starts slow by promising us a full whirlwind historic tour from Galileo to CMBR and beyond and takes its own sweet time getting to even Einstein and then dwells on the most known aspects of modern science as if no one has heard of all that before.

The Rise

Then as I was contemplating postponing the book for some future date, Krauss suddenly...more

55 likes · like · see review

Feb 11, 2012 Manny rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: People interested in Big Questions

Shelves: science, science-fiction, history-and-biography, well-i-think-its-funny

Point/Counterpoint

A Nice Brief Account Of The Inflation/Ω/Dark Energy Thread

Krauss, who was personally involved in some of the work and knows all the key actors, does a fine job of summarising progress in cosmology over the last fifteen years. The most significant development, needless to say, has been the discovery of Dark Energy. Krauss presents the background and shows why it wasn't quite as unexpected as has often been made out; he was one of the few people to have predicted it, though it so...more

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Aug 10, 2012 Carlo rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, philosophy, astronomy, physics

2.5 Stars

The idea of a an Unmoved Mover or better still a First Cause is fascinating. Just to think that everything has a cause(s) which itself has a cause(s) takes one to a journey backward which we may well be ill equipped to take. This book didn't do much in that domain however, but it rather explained our recent understanding of the cosmos and how from "nothingness" (though with quantum fluctuation which makes the whole idea of Krauss' "nothingness" problematic) a whole universe can come int...more

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Jan 07, 2013 Ronald rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Like poetry, an abstruse scientific work need not be fully comprehended to enjoy it. This somewhat arcane audio book, well read by its author, theoretical physicist & cosmologist Larry Krauss, sheds just enough familiar photons to guide the layman through the maze of dark matter, quantum fluctuation, event horizons, and The Singularity.

I was especially keen on Dr. Krauss's discussion of the philosophical implications of evidenced-based findings about the expanding universe... no gods requir...more

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Aug 02, 2012 Clif Hostetler rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science

This book pauses with sufficient frequency during its romp through science from particle physics to astrophysics to take pokes at theistic religion to make it clear that the author's intention is to cast a shot across the bow of "God of the gaps" thinking which seeks refuge in the question, "Why there is something rather than nothing." The author explains that phenomenal progress has been made in the past century that has brought us to the cusp of operationally addressing questions regarding ori...more This book pauses with sufficient frequency during its romp through science from particle physics to astrophysics to take pokes at theistic religion to make it clear that the author's intention is to cast a shot across the bow of "God of the gaps" thinking which seeks refuge in the question, "Why there is something rather than nothing." The author explains that phenomenal progress has been made in the past century that has brought us to the cusp of operationally addressing questions regarding origin, current condition and ultimate fate of our cosmos.

The book describes how in the process of pursuing these questions the very meaning of these questions has evolved along with our understanding of the universe. The recent findings that the dominate part (99%) of the universe is made up of material we can't see (i.e. dark energy and dark matter) has changed our distinction between something and nothing. After sighting examples from quantum physics and astrophysics that show; (1) particles appearing from nothing, and that (2) empty space is not "nothing" (it's a quantum field), the author proceeds to show that "nothing" is an unstable condition thus "something" was inevitable.

As with most recent physics, these explanations are not all that easy to comprehend, and beyond my ability to accurately summarize in a book review such as this. If you're interested to pursuing this subject further I recommend this YouTube Link that provides a 50 minute lecture by the author that generally covers the first ten chapters of this book. The final four chapters explores a variety of possible concepts of the universe and/or multiverses.

I was fascinated to learn how controversial and uncertain the definition of "nothing" was. For scientists empty space--what formerly could have passed for nothing--now has a new dynamic that dominates the current evolution of the cosmos. Some contentious theologians on the other hand have insisted that their concept of "nothing" is more profound than anything that a scientist might understand to be "nothing." They insist that a "nothing" that contains the potential for "something" can't be truly "nothing." The author counters that a "nothing" which contains the potential of creation is no less worthy than the theist's God who has the potential to create. My own observation is that a "nothing" with no God exudes nothingness more completely than a "nothing" than includes the existence of God.

"We have discovered that all signs suggest a universe that could and plausibly did arise from a deeper nothing--involving that absence of space itself--and which may one day return to nothing via processes that may not only be comprehensible but also processes that do not require any external control or direction. In this sense, science...does not make it impossible to believe in God, but rather makes it possible to not believe in God. Without science, everything is a miracle. With science, there remains the possibility that nothing is. Religious belief in this case becomes less and less necessary, and also less and less relevant. ... I believe that if we are to be intellectually honest, we must make an informed choice, informed by fact, not by revelation."

The following are my own musings, not necessarily from the book:
I think the author is needlessly critical of supersymmetric string theory. He admits that it is a mathematical model that rationalizes the relationships between subatomic particles using 10 dimensions, but he says it has never explained or predicted anything in particle physics. Well, maybe so, but I foresee a possibility that a version of string theory may end up providing the best possible model for dark energy and dark matter. Dark energy is apparently everywhere in our universe including under our noses. Since we can't see it I propose that it may have something to do with those seven unseen dimensions. And perhaps the dark matter may consist of strings with no vibration. (I suspect some readers will laugh at my thoughts. I don't care. Thinking up crazy ideas is fun.)

The following are two concepts that were new to me and that I learned from this book:

1. Faster than the speed of light?
If space expands at an ever increasing rate, it is possible for objects to move away from each other faster than the speed of light without violation of the theory of relativity. This is because the speed of light applies to speed through space, not space itself which has no limit on how fast it can expand. (i.e. Space does not obey the law of space-time.) If space itself expands at an increasing rate, eventually the expansion will exceed the speed of light and consequently light from the most distance stars will not be visible. This will lead to a condition in two trillion years when all stars that are not included within our local super cluster of constellations will not be visible to earth-like observers in our constellation. (It won't be earthlings doing the observing because our sun will burn out long before then.) This condition will erase all observable evidence of the big bang.

2. Changing ratio of dark energy to dark matter
The ratio of dark energy to dark matter has been changing as the universe expands. Early in the history of the universe the constant quantity of dark matter was more concentrated within the smaller universe and thus it was the dominate constituent. Dark energy is different in that it remains at the same concentration throughout the expanding universe and thus in the distant future will be the dominate constituent as dark matter becomes diluted by the expanded size of the universe. We currently live at a unique time in the history of the universe when both dark energy and dark matter are measurable. The author described this as a special time in history because it is the only time when we would be able to tell how special it is.

Wikipedia.com has articles on dark energy and dark matter for those interested in reading more.
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Mar 20, 2012 Jorge rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: science

If you like my review please don't hesitate to like my amazon review too. I appreciate it...it's a wonderful book.

A Universe from Nothing by Lawrence M. Krauss

“A Universe from Nothing" is the fascinating book about how are universe came from nothing. Using the latest in scientific knowledge, his expertise and the innate ability to explain very complex topics in accessible manner earns this book five stars. Lawrence Krauss takes us on an exciting voyage of discovery that helps us understand the u...more

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Apr 02, 2013 Diana rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

I really enjoyed this book for a couple of reasons:

1) Krauss is one of those rare personalities that excel both in science (his successes are well documented) and teaching and by teaching I mean in a seductive (a word Krauss has used and you'll see how his language in the book can be seductive and almost flirty at times), entertaining way. This is something the world desperately needs as we seem to have slipped back as a society (even in places once much more rational like the United States) th...more I really enjoyed this book for a couple of reasons:

1) Krauss is one of those rare personalities that excel both in science (his successes are well documented) and teaching and by teaching I mean in a seductive (a word Krauss has used and you'll see how his language in the book can be seductive and almost flirty at times), entertaining way. This is something the world desperately needs as we seem to have slipped back as a society (even in places once much more rational like the United States) that believes the strangest non substantiated things. Our society really needs better fundamental science education. As I've heard Krauss say, a couple hundred years ago, you'd be considered illiterate if you did not know something about natural philosophy....how illiterate many are not knowing about fundamental science and by extension mechanisms of critical thinking and the scientific method.

2) The content, with a little work, can be easily grasped. Since it is devoid of math (because the math to describe the concepts in this book and the math that proves and makes predictable the content in this book requires a lot of training) it is accessible, especially if you are the sort of person that can grasp somewhat abstract concepts.

If you want to become more literate regarding how the universe began, how it will end and what is cutting edge in physics today, I highly recommend this book. If you are intellectually lazy - go ahead and read it anyway - you shouldn't be intellectually lazy. I'm saying this to shame you because we don't have time for lazy brains anymore.

I find it odd that people have criticized this book because it is anti religion. I was waiting for malicious statements and found none. Krauss simply presents what evidence has shown us: that it is less probable that a god is responsible for such things given that it is at least plausible that a universe can come from nothing albeit sometimes he makes a little joke at the expense of those who make ignorant statements. Maybe I'm just more tolerant and also enjoy the witty jokes.

Perhaps I am also in the minority for not seeing the cold death of the universe as terrible (though in the 90s when scientists were measuring the universe directly I did morbidly root for a big crunch)....I think this is perhaps because a lifetime of existential angst over my own mortality has hardened me to the mortality of the earth, solar system and by extension galaxies & universe I live in. Krauss titles this chapter "Our Miserable Future" because almost worse than our universe's cold death as space/time expands & galaxy clusters move away, intelligent beings will be less able to know the universe's true nature. More specifically, in the far future, physicists on other worlds (should they exist), will make inaccurate conclusions about the universe (as accurate as human conclusions 100 years ago). No more microwave background radiation to measure, no more evidence of the big bang. Oh well, too bad suckers! :) We're lucky to live when we live but maybe if we were smarter a bit earlier we would have been lucky then too.

Go ahead, treat your brain to this book - nothing is unstable :)

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Apr 02, 2012 Duff rated it 4 of 5 stars

As a non-scientist, I found many moments of "oh, that is what I didn't quite understand" from previous reading in physics and cosmology. That said, there were also times when I simply did not quite understand the complexities that Krauss was explicating. It was a book that I was sad to finish...really liked it. He takes us on a clear, guided journey around the issues of "nothing"...that which we cannot see in the universe, but through the laws of physics and math is actually measurable, in a the...more

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Apr 19, 2013 Ian Fraser rated it 4 of 5 stars

This link gives a good overview of the subjects covered:
http://newbooksinbrief.com/2012/01/28...
Humourous, elegant, with a definite awe-factor, and thought-provoking, most of the science not too hard to grasp if you have an ability and determination to grasp abstract concepts, and an open mind free of hubris. Carl Sagan would have liked this book, ditto Richard Feynman, who, along with Charles Darwin, are science heroes of mine. Poetic and poignant as well, for example:
"The amazing thing is tha...more

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Mar 23, 2013 Христо Блажев rated it 4 of 5 stars

Вселена от нищото, която сами трябва да изпълним със смисъл: http://knigolandia.info/book-review/v...

…започнах да се занимавам с космология,
защото исках да съм първият узнал какъв ще бъде краят на вселената.
Лорънс М. Краус

Малка книга, сбрала много – цяла една вселена, почти със сигурност възникнала от нищото, една флуктуация, случайност, която по законите на физиката не е случайна – а предопределена и всъщност неизбежна.

Идва ми да кажа, че на вселената най-подхожда да каже: “Не съм оттук и съ...more Вселена от нищото, която сами трябва да изпълним със смисъл: http://knigolandia.info/book-review/v...

…започнах да се занимавам с космология,
защото исках да съм първият узнал какъв ще бъде краят на вселената.
Лорънс М. Краус

Малка книга, сбрала много – цяла една вселена, почти със сигурност възникнала от нищото, една флуктуация, случайност, която по законите на физиката не е случайна – а предопределена и всъщност неизбежна.

Идва ми да кажа, че на вселената най-подхожда да каже: “Не съм оттук и съм за малко.” Но реално това е от книгите, за която лично аз ще напиша малко неща, защото не ми е пораснала толкова гагата – във “Вселена от нищото” Лорънс М. Краус достатъчно ясно се заравя в щекотливия въпрос за произхода на вселената и заема ясна атеистична и рационална позиция, чрез която пределно разбираемо обяснява защо няма нужда от бог в търсенията ни за основите на съществуването ни:

Вселената е такава, каквато е, независимо дали това ни харесва, или не. Съществуването или несъществуването на създател не зависи от желанието ни. Свят без Бог или замисъл може да изглежда суров или безсмислен, но това само по себе си не налага съществуването на изначален творец.
http://knigolandia.info/book-review/v...(less)

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Mar 03, 2013 J.P. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 05, 2013 Simcha Wood rated it 3 of 5 stars

Lawrence Krauss's A Universe from Nothing appears to have been done a serious disservice by the author, the editor, or both in that what would otherwise be a decent enough (though not particularly groundbreaking) work of popular science has been press-ganged into the tired ranks of writings on the God Wars. While I haven't yet read a book from either side of this debate that adds anything really worthwhile to a discussion which is largely sophmoric and whose actors seem to spend most of their ti...more Lawrence Krauss's A Universe from Nothing appears to have been done a serious disservice by the author, the editor, or both in that what would otherwise be a decent enough (though not particularly groundbreaking) work of popular science has been press-ganged into the tired ranks of writings on the God Wars. While I haven't yet read a book from either side of this debate that adds anything really worthwhile to a discussion which is largely sophmoric and whose actors seem to spend most of their time stumbling over one anothers' metaphors, this book is particularly disappointing in that it is built around the kernel of a much more promising work that really shouldn't have deigned to stoop to the silliness exhibited by both the New Athiests and their detractors.

Krauss, like all good writers of popular science, has an infectuous enthusiasm for his field of knowledge. He also has a fairly good eye for compelling detail and an ability to take very complex concepts and present them in a manner that is lucid and accessible to those of us without advanced degrees in physics. That said, there is nothing in this book that will be particularly new to the avid reader of popular science. Even the title theme (a universe rising up from "nothing") was covered, though in somewhat less interesting detail, in Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow's The Grand Design. And like that work, this present book suffers from the author's attempts to wade into the waters of philosophy and metaphysics, in which he quickly finds himself out of his depths.

The book's subtitle (Why There is Something Rather than Nothing) is a bit misleading, in that this question is not actually addressed by the book. Or, it is addressed, but only through a bit of semantic sleight-of-hand, by which Krauss sets his own terms for what he means when he uses the word "nothingness" and then goes on to explain not only how something can come from "nothing" but how it could well be that something must come from "nothing." All of which is quite interesting in its own right. Unfortunately, Krauss tries to pass this off as equivalent to the metaphysical question as to why their is something rather than nothing (to be honest, it is difficult to tell if Krauss is being disengenuous here or simply sloppy in his thinking). With regard to Krauss's concepts of "nothingness," one can't help but recall one of the best-known lines from The Princess Bride: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

In short, A Universe from Nothing would likely have been a better, more focused book had it contented itself with being a work of popular science exploring some of the more fascinating things that physicists are discovering about the emergence and ultimate fate of our universe. That it attempts to also situate itself in the growing canon of popular books on atheism feels like a tacked-on marketing ploy. And such a ploy is the only thing that can explain the unfortunate inclusion of the Afterword by Richard Dawkins, which is so obsequious and hyperbolic in its barely-pubescent fanboy glee that I am not sure who should be more embarrassed - Dawkins for having written it, or Krauss for making himself look like a self-congratulatory schmuck by allowing it to appear in his book.(less)

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Jan 19, 2013 Vincent Russo rated it 4 of 5 stars

One of the constant counters I receive from debates between myself and the faithful when discussing religion is their propensity to think that something arising out of nothing is absurd without the intervention of a creator. This spontaneous and perhaps counter intuitive notion when posed to a species that evolved to gauge the speed of an approaching predator is of course seemingly absurd on the surface. As it happens of course, there are scientifically verifiable and plausible causes for the sp...more

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Jan 09, 2013 Steve rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science, non-fiction

This is Lawerence Krauss's attempt at denying the existence of a deity through explaining the current state of physics and cosmology. It follows (with much more detail) his RDF foundation lecture which was up until recently on YouTube (and which I enjoyed immensely).

The current state of physics parts of the book are quite informative and bring thing almost up to date - I can't pretend I understand all of it (to paraphrase Richard Feynman "If you think you understand it, then you don't understand...more This is Lawerence Krauss's attempt at denying the existence of a deity through explaining the current state of physics and cosmology. It follows (with much more detail) his RDF foundation lecture which was up until recently on YouTube (and which I enjoyed immensely).

The current state of physics parts of the book are quite informative and bring thing almost up to date - I can't pretend I understand all of it (to paraphrase Richard Feynman "If you think you understand it, then you don't understand it") however it has cleared up a few questions that I was only vaguely aware had been resolved -such as 'does our universe have an open, closed, or flat topology' and 'Why does the cosmic microwave background radiation appear lumpy' - both of which are answered here (and in this spoiler (view spoiler)).

Of course it is very difficult to explain very bizarre ideas, such as those that arise from modern physics and cosmology to dim witted person-sized earth-dweller such as myself - and especially to do this without any mathematics and I credit Krauss for this and for the fact that I did actually increase my knowledge of the universe through reading it. The difficulty is the constant references to the G-Word, which are completely unnecessary in my view. Anyone reading this book is unlikely to need to be convinced of the existence or otherwise of a first cause, and frankly the sheer beauty of the ideas, if understood, is highly unlikely persuade you either way - after all the 'first cause' in the case of the universe is still unknown, and will probably never be entirely provable anyway.

The idea of 'something from nothing' is also fascinating and is an interesting idea. Suffice to say, if the theorists are right here (and they think they are!) then it is possible that the universe just popped into existence of it's own accord. And I guess if it happened once...

One annoying thing however is that, in my copy least, the figures used to illuminate the text seemed to be sequenced badly and lacked captions. This made it difficult to identify which figures related to which chunks of text! (less)

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Dec 21, 2012 Bryan Higgs rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: cosmology, physics, physics-cosmology, science

I should preface this review with the statement that I am relatively familiar with the material in this book, having done some fairly extensive reading on the subject -- I have a doctorate in Particle Physics, although left the subject immediately after gaining my doctorate; I started reading on the subject of "Physics I missed since" after I retired.

I had hopes for this book, and indeed found it very readable for most of its content. However, towards the end it changed into rather a polemic aga...more

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Dec 08, 2012 Miles rated it 2 of 5 stars

Pretty thin, frequently screedy. Although I would not describe myself as a believer, I was nevertheless irritated by how facile and smug his frequent digs at believers in a "prime mover," "first cause," God, etc., were. If the history of science teaches us anything, it is that the current state of theoretical physics will one day look as antiquated as Newtonian physics does post-Einstein, or Aristotelian cosmology does post-Copernicus. When discussing the current state of our scientific knowledg...more

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Vidur Kapur Obviously we'll have to wait and see when it comes to the future state of physics, but the Standard Model of particle physics doesn't look like it's g...more
Mar 31, 2013 04:28am

Miles Vidur wrote,

"Obviously we'll have to wait and see when it comes to the future state of physics, but the Standard Model of particle physics doesn't loo

...more
updated Mar 31, 2013 05:41am

Dec 02, 2012 James Kane rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Originally published just under a year ago, Lawrence Krauss' A Universe from Nothing: Why There is Something Rather than Nothing (2012) grapples with one of the oldest and most complex questions confronting scientists, philosophers and theologians everywhere: is it possible for something to come from nothing? Drawing on key developments in modern physics, several of which are indebted to his own research and published scholarship, Krauss argues and demonstrates that, contrary to common belief, o...more Originally published just under a year ago, Lawrence Krauss' A Universe from Nothing: Why There is Something Rather than Nothing (2012) grapples with one of the oldest and most complex questions confronting scientists, philosophers and theologians everywhere: is it possible for something to come from nothing? Drawing on key developments in modern physics, several of which are indebted to his own research and published scholarship, Krauss argues and demonstrates that, contrary to common belief, our universe can have emerged literally from nothing 13.72 billion years ago without violating any time-honoured notions of what is logical or physically possible. Although this argument fascinates and offers an important corrective to one of the longest-standing tenets of human intellectual history (i.e. that nothing can come from nothing, so to speak), the book for the most part constitutes a rehash of a scientific adventure story that has been covered numerous times in works by various other science writers. To be fair to Krauss, the retelling of this narrative is virtually inevitable, since explaining and promoting radical new ideas in this field requires a summary of the most important research that has gone before. While authors like Brian Greene and Stephen Hawking manage to structure "the story so far" effectively and recount its key developments in an engaging way, Krauss often lacks clarity in his writing, failing at times to explain certain crucial concepts or to show non-specialist readers exactly how one discovery led to another.

The main point of the book is a significant, even revolutionary one. (Though I should point out here that Krauss is by no means the first scientist to mention the idea in a work aimed at a wider audience, even if he may be the first to make it the focus of a whole book.) Cosmologists still have a huge amount of work to do in order to clarify exactly how the universe began, but for the first time in human history we have reached a point where it is not only plausible but legitimate to envisage an origin scenario where matter came into existence out of the unstable, unpredictable quantum energy of empty space. In stressing this point, A Universe from Nothing has the potential to make a real and (crucially) accessible contribution to general understanding of the enormous, truly ancient world we live in. This is exactly what a "popular science" book should do. Unfortunately, in addition to championing an intriguing recent theory about the origins of existence, Krauss explicitly adopts a stance throughout which reduces the purpose of the book to something more akin to that of an anti-religious polemic.

Now, just like Krauss, I'm also happy to admit "in the interests of full disclosure ... that I am not sympathetic to the conviction that creation requires a creator, which is at the basis of all the world's religions" (p. xi). I'm also happy to admit that I was brought up Catholic and went to church until well into my early teens, and that I had stopped believing in "God", as such, by the time I left school, though I can't claim to be able to single out any particular point where I self-consciously renounced my faith. Despite that, however, studying the history of a whole range of different people whose entire socio-cultural and even political framework was (and in some cases still is) inextricably bound up with their religious beliefs has made me intensely wary of the whole "science v. religion" debate simply because the latter has played such a fundamental role in both the collective and individual human experience. While science may be defined as truth obtained through reason and religion as truth received through revelation, the fact remains that both of them, essentially, are based on ideas - and there can be no going forward unless people in opposing camps are willing to give each other's ideas genuine consideration. In The Coming of the Third Reich (2005), the brilliant first volume of his three-part study of the rise and fall of the Nazi Party, English historian Richard Evans argues that the only way to understand how Hitler's party could have gained control of Germany and wreaked havoc on Europe is to take Nazi ideas seriously, no matter how distasteful that may be. Theologians and scientists, I would argue (probably from a very biased perspective, but that can't be helped), could follow the historian's advice here and adopt the same approach.

The exchange and serious discussion of ideas is one of the most profitable and most enjoyable things about being human, especially in an age where we know so much more about the world than we have ever known before. Krauss outlines some truly amazing and oddly beautiful ideas in this book. It is sad, then, that he detracts from the lustre of the ideas themselves by making frequent and thinly veiled denigrating remarks about religious conceptions of the origins of the universe. The content of A Universe from Nothing is endlessly intriguing, but the way in which Krauss forces it into the sardonic straitjacket of his anti-religious message mars the book even more than its other defects. A typically smug and caustic afterword by Richard Dawkins only makes things worse. Dawkins calls this book "the knockout blow" against religious ideas about the beginning, finishing the work begun by Darwin's roundhouse kick to "supernaturalism" on behalf of biology and the flurry of strikes landed by numerous scientists in between. Although Krauss has proved that it is no longer necessary to explain the universe through the agency of a creator, he does note, at least, that there is still much that we don't know, and perhaps won't ever know, about how everything came into existence all those billions of years ago. Dawkins' crowing pugilistic imagery on the other hand suggests that he himself has not read the book all that closely after all, or indeed grasped one of the most important lacunae in the ongoing debate between scientists and theologians. Dawkins can claim all he likes that theology lies bruised and bleeding on the floor while science pumps its fists in the air and basks in the adulation of a cheering crowd of onlookers, but the only certain truth right now is that the fight has only just begun.

(Note: Being a grumpy, old-fashioned devotee of physical books, I didn't actually read the ebook - this edition was the only one I could find that has the same cover as my paperback.)(less)

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Sep 21, 2012 Matthew Lippart rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science

In the interest of full disclosure- I am a huge science geek, but it's been a while since I've read any good science books. This one is great. In attempting to answer the question of why or universe looks, acts, and occasionally smells the way it does, the reader is given a tour through physics, quantum mechanics, relativity theory, string theory, and many more gobs of awesome science stuff. This is the kind of book I would love to see take hold in public schools in the states. It seems we as a...more

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Sep 20, 2012 Jimm Wetherbee rated it 3 of 5 stars

Lawrence Krauss has put together a fine introduction to the current state cosmology that is marred only by a provocatively metaphysical title to which exposition attempts to hew. Authors often lose control of their titles, and Krauss may have argued that subtitle should have read “How there is something rather than nothing,” or even better “How there is something in addition to nothing,” (which would surely be more consistent), but, really it is the metaphysics of “nothing” in the title that mak...more

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Sep 14, 2012 Jonny99 rated it 3 of 5 stars

A book that might just claim we don't exist. Gone are the heady days pre-Galileo Galilei when man (chauvinistic term intended)ruled his massive flat planet from the very center of the small universe while the subservient sun and other stars rotated around him. How the mighty have fallen in the intervening 500 years. Krauss reviews the latest cosmology which largely concludes if you added up all the something in the universe it would amount to no more than a rounding error. However, it turns out...more

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Aug 05, 2012 Ryan Smedberg rated it 4 of 5 stars

As of recent a new class of scientific literature has been published, bringing forth questions which stretch the very imagination of the human mind. I suspect that Krauss' polarizing, and as usual, controversial words on the unsuspected nature of "nothing" will become highly referenced and brought into question within this new era of public science. Not far from Krauss' chalkboard are ideas questioning the existence of free will, self identity, time, and the configuration of reality as we percei...more

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Jul 27, 2012 Minyoung Lee rated it 4 of 5 stars

Before I say anything, I was "into" nothingness before nothingness was cool.

I guess I had a lot of fun, toying with existence, albeit, my version of the existence of nothingness was more philosophical and poetic musings rather than math and quantum physics. It's rather interesting that both the author and I sort of came to the same conclusion, that we are merely trying to figure out how and why the world is as it is, and that there is something rather than nothing because we wouldn't be existing...more Before I say anything, I was "into" nothingness before nothingness was cool.

I guess I had a lot of fun, toying with existence, albeit, my version of the existence of nothingness was more philosophical and poetic musings rather than math and quantum physics. It's rather interesting that both the author and I sort of came to the same conclusion, that we are merely trying to figure out how and why the world is as it is, and that there is something rather than nothing because we wouldn't be existing to think about nothing if there was nothing.

The thought that nothing is unstable, nothingness has energy, and the methodology the author steps us through to get us through was very new and entertaining. I was fascinated by the idea that being in existence meant that one was made up of energy, though it is probably common knowledge in the theoretical physics world. I guess it is definitely worthwhile to step out of one's comfort zone in thought processes once in a while.

Admittedly, though the author does do an excellent job "dumbing down" some of the concepts he was going through, most of the material does require a lot of hardcore mathematical thought, especially if you have not been trained in quantum physics or chemistry. I was straining to recall all my physical chemistry and quantum mechanics from my college years to get a grasp of the concepts the author was trying to portray. Honestly, I am unsure whether a reader with absolutely no exposure to these concepts would follow through half the material in this book. Granted, I probably only got a minute fraction of the theory he was trying to explain through myself, but at least previous exposure helped me persevere through the math without freaking out and shutting the book half way.

I am nevertheless bemused on why the author is so negative towards the concept of a Christian God as the creator of the universe. He slams a lot of the Bible Belt educators trying to add Intelligent Design and/or Biblical creation in part of science curriculums, which even as a devout Christian myself, I agree that all that is utter nonsense. Yet personally, I experience absolutely no conflict with the proof and acceptance of the Big Bang Theory or the theory of evolution with my Christian religious beliefs. In fact, I have a hard time understanding why people have to think it is one way or another. Perhaps I am one of those naive, hardheaded uneducated individuals trying to find meaning in coincidence that the author is trying to enlighten. But in essence, there is really no use in fighting over things that are not logical. The author's universe is undiscovered and full of surprises, and so is the God in which I put my faith. There is no way to know whether either of us found the true law that governs the entire scope of being or whether we found rules and laws that explain the environment and current existence surrounding us. So why fight about it, and just get along? Isn't the correspondence of ideas fun and time consuming enough anyways?(less)

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Jul 26, 2012 John rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science

I’ve been a fan of Lawrence Krauss for several years. He’s a dynamic, entertaining science communicator and a very bright guy. As I write this, his You Tube video on the subject of this book (A Universe from Nothing) has 1.5 million hits. That’s not as many hits of course as stupid cat videos, but I find it encouraging. I saw Lawrence at The Amazing Meeting a couple of weeks ago in Los Vegas and he gave a great talk. His writing is accessible to non-technical people and since I always enjoy essa...more

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Jul 25, 2012 Christopher marked it as to-read

This book's title asks what I think is the most profound question askable: WHY IS THERE SOMETHING INSTEAD OF NOTHING????? If this question doesn't trainwreck your brain, you don't understand the question or you don't have a brain. I really want to know why there's stuff. And if I ever get to reading this book, I fully expect to be disappointed, because Krauss is a scientist, not a philosopher (just to be clear, I'd probably be disappointed by a philosopher's book on this subject, too, although i...more

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Jul 05, 2012 Blarg added it

This book was unexpectedly disappointing. As a non-scientist who reads extensively about cosmology, particle physics, and quantum mechanics, I wasn’t surprised that the author spent the first 142 pages of his book rehashing what we know so far about the formation and evolution of our universe and its component structures. Some of the information is quite recent, and I expected the foundational knowledge to be important to understanding the argument and evidence that would presumably follow.

Unfor...more

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Jun 12, 2012 Matt Jackson rated it 3 of 5 stars

If you're looking for the latest in cosmological theories concerning the origins of the universe look no further. Krauss is one of the hot tickets in his field per his successful youtube video that gave birth to this book. The goal of the book is two-fold, first to give an accessible entree' to laymen of where the latest scientific theories sit concerning the origins of the universe and how they arrived there. Second, Krauss would like to deliver as much of a deathblow to religion as possible. T...more If you're looking for the latest in cosmological theories concerning the origins of the universe look no further. Krauss is one of the hot tickets in his field per his successful youtube video that gave birth to this book. The goal of the book is two-fold, first to give an accessible entree' to laymen of where the latest scientific theories sit concerning the origins of the universe and how they arrived there. Second, Krauss would like to deliver as much of a deathblow to religion as possible. These are not his exact words but his aim is clear and he expresses it so when appropriate in the book. As such the book is a mixed bag but worth a read for the curious.

Krauss does a wonderful job laying the foundation for how scientists arrived where they are and the evidence that supports the "flat universe" theory, which apparently we live in, but perhaps it was not always flat per the latter chapters. Admittedly he sometimes lost me in the jargon, but I powered through and ultimately I did understand the big pictures he was painting, even if I was foggy with some of the details. Truth be told though this is probably not for everyone.

As far as Krauss' second motive well, I'm still going to church lets just say that. In one of the final chapters of the book Krauss' admits that science will never be able to prove that there is no God, only that God is not a necessity. This statement really gets at the heart of it I think. After teaching a class on apologetics and spending some time with the New Atheist's young gun, he is right, one cannot definitively prove or disprove the existence of God. So in Krauss' mind the idea is to explain everything to the point where there is no more "gaps" for the God of the Gaps that so many people call on. They are not there yet and probably will never be because at this point, and you can see when the shift takes place in the book, they are moving from testable hypothesis to just talking theory and once you just start talking well, it's just as easy to talk about God as it is to talk about multiverses. As far as necessity...people need a lot more than explanations.

All in all it was worth my time and I'll continue to listen to these guys because I truly respect their work. (less)

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Jun 03, 2012 Himanshu rated it 4 of 5 stars

First he ties all the religions together and and sends them for a toss, pitted against science in his characteristic humour. No need for God lovers to go cross as his wry humour doesnt even leave some scientific theories off it's range; sent string theorists off to a holiday !!
Then he starts to talk about various facts and past and current experiments which are adding to and modifying the info that we have about our Universe or MultiVerse, what ever it may be !!!
Admits to the fact that this Uni...more

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May 30, 2012 Joyce rated it 3 of 5 stars

Well, I read it.

For someone who hasn't taken a physics course since high school (the dim, dark past!) I thought just making it through was quite the achievement. I was looking forward to it since my book group chose it as the May selection. Sadly, after the first few pages I knew I was in over my head. I ploughed onward, though, and I suppose I did get something out of it.

I feel cheered that physicists have made such enormous advances in understanding our universe and its origins. It's truly fa...more

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May 10, 2012 Tom rated it 4 of 5 stars

This a fascinating book that leaves me pondering it now several days after I finished reading it. The author, a noted cosmologist, posits that our universe was created 13.72 billion years ago out of....
nothing! Sounds crazy, but the case he makes is backed by some of the latest discoveries in the always changing field of cosmology.

My main difficulty with this book is that it is directed toward a general audience, but the author presumes the reader will be more conversant with the mathematics un...more

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Apr 15, 2012 Boris Limpopo rated it 4 of 5 stars

Krauss, Lawrence M. (2012). A Universe from Nothing. New York: Free Press. 2012. ISBN 9781451624458. Pagine 226. 9,99 €

Non è la prima volta che provo a leggere un libro di cosmologia: il tema non mi appassiona, ma mi dico che è dovere di una persona colta (come aspiro a diventare) cercare di capire i progressi della scienza e della conoscenza anche in campi diversi da quelli che mi sono congeniali.

Questa filosofia mi ha spesso portato ad aperture di nuovi orizzonti, ad avventure del pensiero e a...more

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About Lawrence M. Krauss

Foundation Professor at Arizona State University in the School of Earth and Space Exploration and the Physics Department, and Director of the Origins Initiative. Author of several bestselling books, including The Physics of Star Trek.

More about Lawrence M. Krauss...

Books by Lawrence M. Krauss

Quantum Man: Richard Feynman's Life in Science

Beyond Star Trek: From Alien Invasions to the End of Time

Atom: An Odyssey from the Big Bang to Life on Earth...and Beyond

Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions, from Plato to String Theory and Beyond

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“The amazing thing is that every atom in your body came from a star that exploded. And, the atoms in your left hand probably came from a different star than your right hand. It really is the most poetic thing I know about physics: You are all stardust. You couldn’t be here if stars hadn’t exploded, because the elements - the carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, iron, all the things that matter for evolution - weren’t created at the beginning of time. They were created in the nuclear furnaces of stars, and the only way they could get into your body is if those stars were kind enough to explode. So, forget Jesus. The stars died so that you could be here today.” — 26 people liked it

“If we wish to draw philosophical conclusions about our own existence, our significance, and the significance of the universe itself, our conclusions should be based on empirical knowledge. A truly open mind means forcing our imaginations to conform to the evidence of reality, and not vice versa, whether or not we like the implications.” — 21 people liked it

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