How did the universe grow from a tiny fireball to its present size? Where did life on earth come from? How do planets form? How will it end? . . . And how do we even know all this anyway? John Gribbin, one of Britain's most popular writers about science and the people who made it happen, has decided to create a biography of the greatest subject of all- the universe itself, from beginning to end (and beyond). From the Big Bang 14 billion years ago, the formation of stars and galaxies and the first stirrings of life, to the latest thinking on dark matter and a theory of everything - and beyond to the future possibility of a Big Crunch or a Big Rip - this is the life history of the entire world around us. 'Deeply evocative . . . a whistle-stop tour . . . the very model of lucidity and succinctness' Independent 'As clear an account of current thinking on the subject as we are likely to get' Daily Telegraph 'Its conclusions are earth-shattering' Sunday Herald 'One of Britain's best and most prolific science writers' Sunday Telegraph