The next major step in millimetre astronomy, and one of the highest-priority items in radio astronomy today, is a large millimetre array with a collecting area 2 of up to 10 000 m . A project of this scale will almost certainly require inter national collaboration, at least within Europe, and possibly with other major partners elsewhere. In order to establish a focal point for this project within Europe, a study has been undertaken by the Institut de Radio Astronomie Mil Ii met rique (IRAM), the European Southern Observatory (ESO), The Onsala Space Observatory (OSO), and The Netherlands Foundation for Research in Astronomy (NFRA). In the context of this project, a workshop attended by some 100 participants was held at ESO Garching on December 11-13, 1995 to discuss the scientific advances such an array will make possible. Throughout the three days of the workshop the strong enthusiasm for the concept of a large millimetre array in the southern hemisphere (the Large South ern Array, or LSA) was obvious, and it became clear that such a facility would have a profound impact on almost all areas of observational astrophysics. It was particularly clear that, since their main science drivers (cosmology, and the origins of galaxies, stars and planets) are the same, and their angular resolutions and sensitivities similar, the LSA and the VLT would strongly complement each other.

This book follows the evolutionary trail all the way from the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago to conscious life today. It is an accessible introductory book written for the interested layperson anyone interested in the big picture coming from modern science. It covers a wide range of topics including the origin and evolution of our universe, the nature and origin of life, the evolution of life including questions of birth and death, the evolution of cognition, the nature of consciousness, the possibility of extraterrestrial life and the future of the universe. The book is written in a narrative style, as these topics are all parts of a single story. It concludes with a discussion on the nature and future of science.