Gravitational waves may help us answer the biggest question of all | Simon Jenkins

Humanity’s biggest question has always been: ‘How did it all start?’ Proving Albert Einstein’s hypothesis means we are edging ever closer to the answer

So what? I heard on the radio on Thursday that scientists had discovered gravitational waves and were thus closer to the dawn of time. I was walking past a newsstand shouting of a Syrian massacre and an NHS meltdown. A beggar asked me for a few pence. What really mattered?

We can understand cancer cures and Alzheimer’s breakthroughs. We can cope...