A thrilling biography of the universe, as seen through the lens of today’s most cutting-edge scientific thinking. Here’s the book that explains the universe.

You Are Here is an exhilarating journey that shows the cosmos as it has never been seen before. From the smallest parts of matter to the largest structures in the universe, Christopher Potter traces the life of the universe from theories of its conception to theories of its eventual fate. Along this heart-stopping voyage from quarks to galaxies, he writes entertainingly about the history and philosophy of science. With wisdom and wonder, Potter traverses the cosmos from its formation to its eventual end – while exploring everything in between.

Some questions You Are Here sets out to answer:
• What is this ‘everything’ that has evolved from nothing? And what do we mean by everything?
• What stuff is ‘nothing’ made out of?
• If the universe contains everything there is then what is it contained in?
• Where are we in the universe?
• Is there room for God in a material universe?
• How scared should we be?
• What fate awaits the universe?

Science actually has answers to these questions, and in You Are Here, Potter will explain them to you.

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“A popular science masterpiece…It's a book that encompasses relativity theory, quantum theory, evolutionary theory, the mind-boggling nature of antimatter, that reflects on the big bang, and wonders about the nature of being and the destiny of our species. It is, I think, one of the best popular science books I have ever read. It fully lives up to the hype generated by the pre-publication reviews and by Stephen Fry's blurb on the dustjacket: ‘A wonderful, miraculous book: the whole universe bottled for your delight.’”
— The Guardian

“Erudite, elegant and thoughtfully constructed…This is all wonderful stuff, the most thoughtful pop science book of the last few years and, along with Richard Dawkins's fine compendium, The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing, the most useful to the layman.”
— The Sunday Times

“For many years, I've secretly longed for someone to take me by the hand and walk me through time and space — someone who would marvel with me at every strange thing we encountered and pepper his scientific discourse with lines of poetry. This is what Christopher Potter has done.”
— Dava Sobel

“A marvelously capacious book that will attract serious readers everywhere.”
— Booklist (starred review)

“A well-executed, consistently readable layperson’s exposition of the state of scientific knowledge…Drawing on everyday experience to put the most esoteric phenomena in perspective, he makes his subject clear without dumbing it down. This is one of the best short surveys of science and its history in recent years.”
— Kirkus (starred review)

“This clear and smoothly written look at the mind-boggling history of everything is both informative and provocative.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)

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1 Orientation
2 26 Degrees of Separation
3 Measure for Measure
4 It’s Not About You
5 Going Through the Motions
6 The Other Way Out
7 Light on the Matter
8 Something and Nothing
9 Hail the Birth of Stars
10 Homing In
11 Beginning the Begats
12 In and Out of Africa
13 We Are There

Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Index

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Christopher Potter is the former publisher and managing director of 4th Estate. He has a Masters in the History and Philosophy of Science from the University of London, and has written for the Sunday Times, The Independent, and The Standard. He lives in London and New York City.

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