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Overview
It’s difficult to take a step back and ask life’s biggest questions, such as where did we come from? Why is the universe made this way?
Fortunately, some of the world’s most intelligent people have spent their lives asking these questions and are willing to share what they’ve learned with us.
In his last book, Stephen Hawking tackles the biggest questions about the universe. He also explores social issues and how they relate to our solar system. One of those topics is water on other planets, which he believes could be a place for life. His final theory involves an ambitious project that would change space travel forever.
Big Idea #1: Forces govern our universe – but a divine creator probably isn’t among them.
What are we here for? Where did we come from? Why do things operate in this way?
Science and religion both offer answers to fundamental questions, but they come to radically different conclusions. Science argues that humans are simply animals, while religion says we have a purpose in life. It’s no wonder people view them as conflicting creeds.
Humans have always had a desire to understand the universe around them. They looked for answers and explanations of natural phenomena, which led to religion as an answer. However, now that we have more scientific understanding of our world, we can explain it using the laws of nature.
When you play tennis, the ball always ends up where it’s supposed to be. There are variables that affect how fast or hard the ball is hit, but these natural laws predict exactly where the ball will end up.
The laws of physics are universal. They apply to everything in the universe, from tennis balls to planets and stars. The laws also can’t be broken: even God would have to obey them if He existed.
There might be a way to reconcile modern science with the idea of God. This involves defining God as these fundamental laws of nature rather than a conscious being who created them. Einstein referred to this as “God”.
Some people may not like this explanation because they are used to thinking of God as a human-like sentient being. However, when you look at how vast the universe is in comparison to humans and how small we are, it’s unlikely that there is a divine creator.
So if the current theories about how the universe was created are wrong, what is the actual explanation?
Big Idea #2: We can’t logically ask the question “What came before the Big Bang?”
The Big Bang is a widely accepted scientific theory that explains how the universe came to be. It began with an infinitely dense point, which then rapidly expanded in just nanoseconds. The expansion continues today and has grown into what we see now as our universe.
In fact, the discovery that our universe is expanding helped develop the Big Bang theory. It was uncovered by a scientist named Edwin Hubble. In 1929, Hubble carefully analyzed light from distant galaxies and discovered they were moving away from one another at an accelerated rate. Based on their speeds we know these galaxies were close together about 10 to 15 billion years ago. Perhaps so close that everything occupied the same point in space – a singularity? Evidence supporting such a theory first appeared in 1965 with the discovery of faint background microwaves in space which are likely leftover radiation from an initial “bang” but what came before it? The answer involves Einstein and his revolutionary discovery that time and space aren’t separate entities but interwoven into a fabric called space-time -the stage on which all things exist including massive objects like black holes which can warp this fabric so violently time itself stops!
