Disturbing the Universe

Can we explain how the universe began without invoking God? Certainly, answers the noted cosmologist Lawrence M. Krauss in A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing, because, bizarre as it sounds, “nothingness” contains energy. Near the beginning of time (approximately 13.72 billion years ago), through a process of rapid expansion, this energy of empty space was converted into the energy of something—particles and radiation.

The modern scientific creation story goes like this: Within a second or so after the Big Bang, the building blocks of atoms emerged—protons, neutrons, and electrons. By the end of three minutes, protons and neutrons joined, forming the first atomic nuclei. But roughly 300,000 years passed before things cooled down enough for electrons to combine with these nuclei to create full-fledged atoms. Over the next billion years, giant clouds of such primordial atoms coalesced to form stars and galaxies. Deep within these stars, nuclear reactions gave birth to heavier elements such as carbon and iron. When the stars grew old, they exploded, spewing these elements into the universe. Eventually this matter was recycled into solar systems such as ours.