One of the world's most celebrated cosmologists presents her breakthrough explanation of our origins in the multiverse. In recent years, Laura Mersini-Houghton's ground-breaking theory, spectacularly vindicated with observational evidence, has turned the multiverse from philosophical speculation to one of the most compelling and credible explanations of our universe's origins. In Before the Big Bang, she interweaves the story of how she arrived at this theory with her journey from communist Albania, where she was born and brought up, to the West, showing how her unconventional path helped her to challenge orthodoxies and become one of the most courageous thinkers on the world stage of theoretical physics.

Beyond the Big Bang presents a new cutting-edge theory from a pioneering scientist about the origins of our universe. Professor Laura Mersini-Houghton takes the reader through a brief history of ideas about the universe from ancient Greece to the latest frontiers of theory and observation, in which the author has been a leading participant, to bring us to her theory that our universe is not just one isolated phenomenon, but one of many, part of what she calls "the multiverse". Blending the personal with the theoretical, the book will explain in layman's terms Mersini-Houghton's theory of the origin of our universe and how she came to it. If Mersini-Houghton is proved to be right, the Big Bang theory will be just one other discredited theory and her new theories about the multiverse will represent a paradigm shift as significant as the Copernican Revolution that upended the Ptolemaic model of the heavens, which described the cosmos as having the Earth as the centre of the universe. Beyond the Big Bang completes the story of the before and after the Big Bang by addressing key questions about the origin of the universe and what was there before.

**A DAILY TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022** One of the world's most celebrated cosmologists presents her breakthrough explanation of our origins in the multiverse. In recent years, Laura Mersini-Houghton's ground-breaking theory, spectacularly vindicated with observational evidence, has turned the multiverse from philosophical speculation to one of the most compelling and credible explanations of our universe's origins. In Before the Big Bang, she interweaves the story of how she arrived at this theory with her journey from communist Albania, where she was born and brought up, to the West, showing how her unconventional path helped her to challenge orthodoxies and become one of the most courageous thinkers on the world stage of theoretical physics. 'Fascinating' Roger Penrose, Nobel laureate, and author of The Road to Reality 'There is no better guide to the bizarre, and sometimes paradoxical, cosmic super-realm than Laura Mersini-Houghton' Paul Davies, author of What's Eating the Universe? 'A fascinating and unusual hybrid of pop science and memoir' 5*, Stephen Poole, Daily Telegraph 'From one of the world's most renowned cosmologists ... a fascinating read' Stephon Alexander, author of Fear of a Black Universe

The concept of time has fascinated humanity throughout recorded history, and it remains one of the biggest mysteries in science and philosophy. Time is clearly one of the fundamental building blocks of the universe and thus a deeper understanding of nature at a fundamental level also demands a comprehension of time. Furthermore, the origins of the universe are closely intertwined with the puzzle of time: Did time emerge at the Big Bang? Why does the arrow of time 'conspire' with the order of the initial state of the universe? This book addresses many of the most important questions about time: What is time, and is it fundamental or emergent? Why is there such an arrow of time, closely related to the initial state of the universe, and why do the cosmic, thermodynamic and other arrows agree? These issues are discussed here by leading experts, and each offers a new perspective on the debate. Their contributions delve into the most difficult research topic in physics, also describing the latest cutting edge research on the subject. The book also offers readers a comparison between the different outlooks of philosophy, physics and cosmology on the puzzle of time. This volume is intended to be useful for research purposes, but most chapters are also accessible to a more general audience of scientifically educated readers looking for deeper insights.

"...The Multiversal book series is equally unique, providing book-length extensions of the lectures with enough additional depth for those who truly want to explore these fields, while also providing the kind of clarity that is appropriate for interested lay people to grasp the general principles involved." - Lawrence M. Krauss Cosmic Update Covers: A novel approach to uncover the dark faces of the Standard Model of cosmology. The possibility that Dark Energy and Dark Matter are manifestations of the inhomogeneous geometry of our Universe. On the history of cosmological model building and the general architecture of cosmological modes. Illustrations on the Large Scale Structure of the Universe. A new perspective on the classical static Einstein Cosmos. Global properties of World Models including their Topology. The Arrow of Time in a Universe with a Positive Cosmological Constant. Exploring the consequences of a fundamental Cosmological Constant for our Universe. Exploring why the current observed acceleration of the Universe may not be its final destiny. Demonstrating that nature forbids the existence of a pure Cosmological Constant. Our current understanding of the long term (in time scales that greatly exceed the current age of the Universe) future of the Universe. The long term fate and eventual destruction of the astrophysical objects that populate the universe -- including clusters, galaxies, stars, planets, and black holes. The material is presented in a layperson-friendly language followed by addition technical sections that explain the basic equations and principles. This feature is very attractive to readers who want to learn more about the theories involved beyond the basic description. "Multiversal Journeys (TM) is a trademark of Farzad Nekoogar and Multiversal Journeys, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization."

The concept of time has fascinated humanity throughout recorded history, and it remains one of the biggest mysteries in science and philosophy. Time is clearly one of the fundamental building blocks of the universe and thus a deeper understanding of nature at a fundamental level also demands a comprehension of time. Furthermore, the origins of the universe are closely intertwined with the puzzle of time: Did time emerge at the Big Bang? Why does the arrow of time 'conspire' with the order of the initial state of the universe?

This book addressesmany ofthe most important questions about time: What is time, and is it fundamental or emergent? Why is there such an arrow of time, closely related to the initial state of the universe, and why do the cosmic, thermodynamic and other arrows agree? These issues are discussed here by leading experts, and each offers a new perspective on the debate. Their contributions delve into the most difficult research topic in physics, also describing the latest cutting edge research on the subject. The book also offers readers a comparison between the different outlooks of philosophy, physics and cosmology on the puzzle of time.

This volume is intended to be useful for research purposes, but most chapters are also accessible to a more general audience of scientifically educated readers looking for deeper insights.

"

..".The Multiversal book series is equally unique, providing book-length extensions of the lectures with enough additional depth for those who truly want to explore these fields, while also providing thekind of clarity that is appropriate for interested lay people to grasp the general principles involved." - Lawrence M. Krauss

Cosmic Update Covers: A novel approach to uncover the dark faces of the Standard Model of cosmology.The possibility that Dark Energy and Dark Matter are manifestations of the inhomogeneous geometry of our Universe.On the history of cosmological model building and the general architecture of cosmological modes.Illustrations on the Large Scale Structure of the Universe.A new perspective on the classical static Einstein Cosmos.Global properties of World Models including their Topology.The Arrow of Time in a Universe with a Positive Cosmological Constant.Exploring the consequences of a fundamental Cosmological Constant for our Universe. Exploring why the current observed acceleration of the Universe may not be its final destiny.Demonstrating that nature forbids the existence of a pure Cosmological Constant.Our current understanding of the long term (in time scales that greatly exceed the current age of the Universe) future of the Universe.The long term fate and eventual destruction of the astrophysical objects that populate the universe --including clusters, galaxies, stars, planets, and black holes.

The material is presented in a layperson-friendly language followed by addition technical sections that explain the basic equations and principles. This feature is very attractive to readers who want to learn more about the theories involved beyond the basic description.

"Multiversal Journeys is a trademark of Farzad Nekoogar and Multiversal Journeys, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization.""