Frequently Asked Questions about the Universe

lt;b>Daniel Whiteson is a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Irvine, and a fellow of the American Physical Society. He earned his PhD in physics from the University of California, Berkeley, and is an active researcher, using the Large Hadron Collider at CERN to search for exotic new particles.

Jorge Cham is the cartoonist behind the popular online comic Piled Higher and Deeper (aka PHD Comics). He holds a PhD in robotics from Stanford University and is a former instructor and research associate at Caltech.

Together they are the coauthors of We Have No Idea, cohosts of the podcast Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe, and creators of the PBS animated series Elinor Wonders Why.

A Frequently Asked Introduction

Everyone has questions

It's an inherent part of being human. As a species, we may not agree on much: politics, favorite sports team, best place to get a taco at twelve a.m. But one thing brings us all together: a need to know. We all wonder, and deep down we all have the same questions.

Why can't I travel back in time? Is there another version of me out there? Where did the universe come from? How long are humans going to be around? And who eats tacos at twelve a.m. anyway?

Fortunately, we have answers.

Science has made incredible progress over the last few hundred years, and there's a lot we can say about some very fundamental questions about the universe. There are, of course, still huge mysteries (see our previous book, We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe), but for our species, things in the understanding-the-universe department seem to be going in the right direction. So much so that we felt it was time that somebody compiled a list of easy-to-read, cartoon-laden answers to some of humanity's most frequently asked questions.

In this book, we'll explore answers to some of the deepest and most existential questions that people can ask about themselves, the planet, and the nature of reality itself. Have you ever wondered why aliens haven't visited us (assuming they haven't)? Or whether you are truly unique, or just a preprogrammed simulation in some alien video game? Do you stay up at night, wondering if life after death is possible? In your hands are answers to all of these questions.

Each chapter covers a frequently asked question, hopefully revealing in the process some mind-blowing truth about our amazing universe. Think of this book as a primer for your next cocktail party, or as a quick, fascinating read while you sit on the toilet (thankfully, we made each chapter fairly short).

You might wonder what makes us qualified to answer these questions. Rest assured that we have that utmost of qualifications to be authorities on a given topic: we have a podcast.

In our humbly titled, twice-weekly audio program, Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe, we cover topics ranging from microwaves to intergalactic phenomena to hypothetical fundamental particles.

But it's answering questions from listeners that really inspired us to write this book. For us, that's one of the most exciting parts of having a podcast. Nothing brightens our day more than opening our in-box and reading a thoughtful question from a curious listener.

And questions we definitely get! The question askers vary in age (nine to ninety-nine), occupation, and location. You might be surprised at the amazing questions that a nine-year-old from Devonshire can have about the observable universe.

It seems that asking questions and the desire to know is in our hearts. Many would say that wondering about the nature of our cosmos and our place in it is one of the joys of being alive. Of course, it might be frustrating to not know the answers right away, or to only end up with more questions (as in some of the answers in this book), but there's power in just asking the questions.

You see, asking questions supposes that it's possible to find the answers, which we believe is an act of hope. What could be more hopeful than believing that the universe and all its wondrous mysteries can one day be unraveled and understood?

So join us as we plug into the collective curiosity of your fellow humans and take a dive into the questions that frequently stump them. The answers will sometimes be surprising, and they might challenge your view of the universe. Other times the answers will be agonizingly incomplete because they push up against the edge of human knowledge.