Before the Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe and What Lies Beyond
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- Author：Laura Mersini-Houghton
- ISBN：1328557111
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Summary
A revolutionary new account of our universe’s creation—and a breathtaking exploration of the landscape from which we sprang—from one of the world’s most celebrated cosmologists
What came before the Big Bang， and what exists outside of the universe it created？ Until recently， scientists could only guess at what lay past the edge of spacetime。 However， as pioneering theoretical physicist Laura Mersini-Houghton explains， new scientific tools are now giving us the ability to peer beyond the limits of our universe and to test our theories about what is there。 Her groundbreaking research suggests that we sit in a quantum landscape whose peaks and valleys hide a multitude of other universes， and whose topography holds the secret to the origins of existence itself。 Recent evidence has revealed the signatures of one such sibling universe in our own night sky， confirming Mersini-Houghton’s theoretical work and offering humbling proof that our universe is just one member of an unending cosmic family。
A mind-expanding journey through the multiverse， Before the Big Bang will reshape our understanding of humanity’s place in the unfathomable vastness of the cosmos。
What came before the Big Bang， and what exists outside of the universe it created？ Until recently， scientists could only guess at what lay past the edge of spacetime。 However， as pioneering theoretical physicist Laura Mersini-Houghton explains， new scientific tools are now giving us the ability to peer beyond the limits of our universe and to test our theories about what is there。 Her groundbreaking research suggests that we sit in a quantum landscape whose peaks and valleys hide a multitude of other universes， and whose topography holds the secret to the origins of existence itself。 Recent evidence has revealed the signatures of one such sibling universe in our own night sky， confirming Mersini-Houghton’s theoretical work and offering humbling proof that our universe is just one member of an unending cosmic family。
A mind-expanding journey through the multiverse， Before the Big Bang will reshape our understanding of humanity’s place in the unfathomable vastness of the cosmos。
Reviews
Tim Nowotny
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An awesome book。 Not hard to read but so， so interesting and fresh
Ron Nurmi
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This was not the book I thought when I began reading， but it turned out to be better。 Professor Mersini-Houghton tells a story of how she came to believe in the multiverse university。 You don't need to understand math to follow the story of how she and others delved into the depth of quantum physics and explained the origins of our universe and even the time before its existence。This is a book to be read and enjoyed。 This was not the book I thought when I began reading， but it turned out to be better。 Professor Mersini-Houghton tells a story of how she came to believe in the multiverse university。 You don't need to understand math to follow the story of how she and others delved into the depth of quantum physics and explained the origins of our universe and even the time before its existence。This is a book to be read and enjoyed。 。。。more
Sharon Reamer
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I can't comment on the physics as I'm not smart enough。 But the book's premise was not really touched on to any great extent。 Only the evidence for a multiverse was presented。 Whether it is eternal or not is only roughly alluded to through discussion of other of Mersini-Houghton's colleagues investigations。 One problem I had was the author's （rather casual） assertion in the epilogue that it took 3。8 billion years for life to emerge on Earth。 No。 The oldest microbial fossils date to somewhere bet I can't comment on the physics as I'm not smart enough。 But the book's premise was not really touched on to any great extent。 Only the evidence for a multiverse was presented。 Whether it is eternal or not is only roughly alluded to through discussion of other of Mersini-Houghton's colleagues investigations。 One problem I had was the author's （rather casual） assertion in the epilogue that it took 3。8 billion years for life to emerge on Earth。 No。 The oldest microbial fossils date to somewhere between 3。5 to 3。8 billion years， very early in our planet's 4。56 b。y。 history。 But maybe it was just an editorial faux pas？ Otherwise， the error detracts from the credibility of the narrative。I did enjoy her autobiographical departures。 。。。more
Jerry Pogan
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An extraordinarily good book。 Laura Mersini-Houghton brilliantly detailed her incredible quest for an explanation to the origins of the universe and， in doing so， how she may have even found evidence left over from before the birth of the universe。 She first began the book with a brief story of her own beginning and her life in Albania under the harsh repressive dictatorship and how she was able to pursue her academic career after the fall of that Communist government。 This alone was a fascinati An extraordinarily good book。 Laura Mersini-Houghton brilliantly detailed her incredible quest for an explanation to the origins of the universe and， in doing so， how she may have even found evidence left over from before the birth of the universe。 She first began the book with a brief story of her own beginning and her life in Albania under the harsh repressive dictatorship and how she was able to pursue her academic career after the fall of that Communist government。 This alone was a fascinating story。 She then explained how she began her research with thought experiments on multiple universes as opposed to a single universe。 She began with Penrose's study that determined that the odds for the existence of our single universe are practically zero and so set out to prove multiple universes。 In her thought process， a phrase came to her， Quantum mechanics on the landscape of string theory， and this set her in motion。 She realized that at its earliest moment， our universe was about a few Planck lengths， which justified applying quantum theory to the whole universe。 （Now let me say right up front， this is way above my head but I do think I caught the gist of what she was saying） She then explained the enormous challenge she went through in mathematics to calculate the incredibly complex landscape and unfathomable number of universes possible。 An interesting thing she found in her studies was that she determined there are a wide range of habitable universes possible and ours is actually borderline。 After all of her research she realized that she would need to provide some proof for her conclusions。 The solution that struck her was that she could rewind the creation back to its quantum landscape roots， to when our wave-universe was entangled with others and possibly find remnants in our sky。 She calculated the effect of quantum entanglement on our universe to find out if any traces were left behind。 From her calculations she predicted several anomalies and so far six have been verified through observations。 This was an absolutely fascinating book and what made it even better was Mersini-Houghton's ability to write it in a very accessible way that allowed even someone as clueless as myself to understand it。 。。。more
Philemon -
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The author tells a gripping story of her research leading to development， with two other physicists， of a theory of the universe's origins based on quantum mechanics and string theory。 The story， while fairly technical， is animated by her passion for discovery。 It's also at times watered down -- though some will find it interesting -- by side-narratives of her early life in Albania。Her theory， called Quantum Landscape Multiverse， is an offshoot of Hugh Everett's Many Worlds theory， perhaps the l The author tells a gripping story of her research leading to development， with two other physicists， of a theory of the universe's origins based on quantum mechanics and string theory。 The story， while fairly technical， is animated by her passion for discovery。 It's also at times watered down -- though some will find it interesting -- by side-narratives of her early life in Albania。Her theory， called Quantum Landscape Multiverse， is an offshoot of Hugh Everett's Many Worlds theory， perhaps the leading current multiverse theory。 The main difference is that Everett's theory assumes that all of a quantum waveform's decoherences are equally likely; whereas Mersini-Houghton's theory bases a given universe's likelihood of being created on energy potentials from the "landscape" of all possible string theory solutions that can effectively render string's canonical eleven dimensions into four-dimensional spacetime。 It's an ingenious theory， one that raises the question， why bring such a gnarly human construct as string theory into it？ Doing so seems inelegant， somewhat off-puttingly anthropocentric for a general theory of universe creation。Regardless of technical questions or criticisms one might make， this is a spirited， information-packed， entertaining read。 。。。more
Marrysparkle
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UNBELIEVEABLY GOOD！！！！ THANK YOU PROF。 MERSINI FOR YOUR INCREDIBLE RESEARCH！！！
Dhurata Sinani
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It is a fascinating book written by a genius。 The first part is powerfully evocative – a vivid description of the important events that shaped the author’s life and made her who she is。 In the second part， she brings us her ground-breaking theory unfolding revolutionary ideas about the origin of our universe from the multiverse。 I am not a physicist， however， through careful reading I can feel Laura’s enthusiasm and sincere intention to write this book not only for a group of scientists but also It is a fascinating book written by a genius。 The first part is powerfully evocative – a vivid description of the important events that shaped the author’s life and made her who she is。 In the second part， she brings us her ground-breaking theory unfolding revolutionary ideas about the origin of our universe from the multiverse。 I am not a physicist， however， through careful reading I can feel Laura’s enthusiasm and sincere intention to write this book not only for a group of scientists but also for a broader public。 Avoiding dry writing， Laura knows how to use short stories， metaphors， even humour to communicate with common people， pique their curiosity and educate them about science and the origin of our universe in particular。 It is a complex theory very clearly explained。 Very impressive！ 。。。more
Gary
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In my never-ending effort to avoid grade inflation in my ratings， I struggle not awarding 4 stars because I did enjoy this work。 The science is very intriguing as are the personal stories， even if the connection between the two is sometimes stretched。 （I’ve got a little knowledge of Albania as being the lesser-known bad boy of the Eastern bloc， so I enjoyed reading her experiences。） But I just can’t get there and must settle on 3 stars， which on my scale is still solid and enjoyable， just not gr In my never-ending effort to avoid grade inflation in my ratings， I struggle not awarding 4 stars because I did enjoy this work。 The science is very intriguing as are the personal stories， even if the connection between the two is sometimes stretched。 （I’ve got a little knowledge of Albania as being the lesser-known bad boy of the Eastern bloc， so I enjoyed reading her experiences。） But I just can’t get there and must settle on 3 stars， which on my scale is still solid and enjoyable， just not great。Quantum anything is， to misquote Einstein， spooky even up close。 I am fascinated by it and don’t truly understand it beyond the basic concepts。 Quantum uncertainty， wave-particle dualism， probabilities， that all works for me。 How specific particles become entangled （and how we can know this） and pretty much everything surrounding Q-bits and quantum computing （not the topic of this book， but you get it…） mystify me， and though I’m no physicist， I am a technologist so I’d like to think I could grasp the computing aspect…alas。Mersini-Houghton’s basic premise， that quantum fluctuations led to the creation of multiverses， is intriguing， though it seems to straddle the edge of provable science and thought experiments。 That’s not a game stopper by any means; thought experiments have changed the world many times （recall that relativity wasn’t proven for quite a while） and much of cosmology defies the ability to observe physical proof。 Tantalizingly， she does claim that proof， but the science that she holds as proof leaves me frustratingly unsatisfied。 Variations in the cosmic background radiation may indeed be the signatures of her postulated quantum multiverse births， but missing （or perhaps just missed by me） are some of the logical explanations of why she knew where these were supposed to appear。 What would make them appear in one part of the sky versus another？ She confidently states that she knew where they would be， but I just couldn’t see the how， which injected significant skepticism。In any work like this there is far more science than can be packed into a couple hundred pages （less when subtracting the interesting personal history bits） so inevitably you can’t explain everything， and in many areas M-H does explain concepts and does it well。 But some basic concepts and premises are left out; case in point， early on she refers to universes as potentially closed， open， or flat， and provides diagrams that reasonably explain this concept， then leaps to the statement that our universe is flat。 This might be basic for some， but it didn’t really mesh in my head with relativistic curvature of space-time and so on， so I wasn’t sure how she leapt to this without further explanation。 This is probably ignorance on my part （see “I’m no physicist”） but this and certain other statements of fact without explanation led me further from understanding the argument she set out to make。And in the end， of course， as noted in other reviews， there really is no discussion of what happened before the big bang （or for that matter， if there are multiverses， where are they， if “where” can be a question you can even ask）。 Yes， blame the publisher / publicist / agent / whoever， but this doesn’t negate the thought-provoking enjoyment of the work。Would I recommend this？ Yes， as she puts forth an intriguing new （to me at least） connection between quantum theory and the Big Bang and certainly does advance one’s understanding of the quantum world， even if not optimally。 It’s worth the investment in time to devour。** Disclosure: I received an advance copy in a Goodreads giveaway。 A review was encouraged but not required。 These circumstances did not impact the content of my review。 。。。more
Kat
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Cosmos and its science is something that has always been abstract to me。 Add to it physics and I´m telling you， I am lost like a little child in a shopping mall。 I've chosen this book because I don´t want to be this child anymore。 Did it help？ I´d rather not answer。。。I really like the personal part， where we follow the author from her childhood in communist Albany to her adult life as a scientist in USA。 I can see a potential for a separate novel， based on the author's life。 Cosmos and its science is something that has always been abstract to me。 Add to it physics and I´m telling you， I am lost like a little child in a shopping mall。 I've chosen this book because I don´t want to be this child anymore。 Did it help？ I´d rather not answer。。。I really like the personal part， where we follow the author from her childhood in communist Albany to her adult life as a scientist in USA。 I can see a potential for a separate novel， based on the author's life。 。。。more
Janalyn Prude
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This is part memoir impart theoretical physics。 She tells a story and then leads into why that made her think of… Only not every story lead to the main point and none of it was commentary all before the big bang。 She believes in multi-verses and I can’t say I am smart enough to disagree with her。 I just wish the personal stories would have been complete thoughts and stories and her theories more expound on。 Having said that I love learning about peoples life in other countries and her stories of This is part memoir impart theoretical physics。 She tells a story and then leads into why that made her think of… Only not every story lead to the main point and none of it was commentary all before the big bang。 She believes in multi-verses and I can’t say I am smart enough to disagree with her。 I just wish the personal stories would have been complete thoughts and stories and her theories more expound on。 Having said that I love learning about peoples life in other countries and her stories of childhood in Albania really fed that desire。 If I am being asked if I would recommend this book… Definitely。 As most of physics is theoretical and this is just another theory。 I was given this book by neck Alley and I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any errors as I am blind and dictate my review but all opinions are definitely my own。 。。。more
Simms
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An interesting deep dive into the latest in cosmology， at least from the perspective of physicist Laura Mersini-Houghton， with a strong emphasis on multiverse theory。 Mersini-Houghton has claimed to have demonstrated mathematically that we live in a multiverse， and provides some interesting evidence to that end （relying on quantum and string theory and certain observations of the cosmic microwave background）， but as always when you get into quantum physics it remains a little opaque to me。 The b An interesting deep dive into the latest in cosmology， at least from the perspective of physicist Laura Mersini-Houghton， with a strong emphasis on multiverse theory。 Mersini-Houghton has claimed to have demonstrated mathematically that we live in a multiverse， and provides some interesting evidence to that end （relying on quantum and string theory and certain observations of the cosmic microwave background）， but as always when you get into quantum physics it remains a little opaque to me。 The book is really about 70% physics， 30% memoir， relating her childhood and education in Communist-dominated Albania before emigrating to the United States。 The memoir-y parts are interesting， largely serving to explain why she was drawn to ideas outside the current mainstream。 They do sometimes waver in importance， though -- one moment stands out when she begins a section talking about how she'd spend every weekend at a bookstore she liked， reading everything except physics， because physics was for weeknights; physics such as [。。。。 begins discussing some physics idea]。 I kept waiting for the bookstore anecdote to circle back around and be relevant to her understanding of that idea， but it never happened。 Odd。I do want to spend a moment discussing the title， which I suspect was a "suggestion" by the publisher to grab eyeballs， since the vast majority of the book is spent discussing the state of the singularity at the moment of the Big Bang and what happened immediately after， and seems entirely unconcerned with what happened "before" that （if such a concept can even be meaningful）。 The one bit of discussion of a possible "before" comes not from Mersini-Houghton's own work but from a colleague， and I bring it up primarily because it's probably the most arresting and exciting idea in the whole book， at least to me。 Consider the initial singularity that became our universe as a constant high-energy region of uniform space， infinitely compressed; as the universe expands and entropy increases， the universe will eventually become a massive expanse of uniform， low-energy space -- the famed "heat death of the universe。" The book points out that， mathematically， this is no different than the uniform high-energy region， just on a vastly different scale， setting up the idea that the "heat-dead" universe could serve as a singularity preceding a subsequent Big Bang for a new universe， orders of magnitude larger。 Thus it posits not only a quantum， parallel multiverse， but a multiverse of sequential universes on and on forever。 I find that concept enchanting。Thanks to NetGalley and Mariner Books for the ARC。 。。。more
J Earl
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Before the Big Bang by Laura Mersini-Houghton is one of those science books that offers a nice bit of detail yet is quite accessible to most readers。I found the early portions where she combines her personal story with the foundational cosmology needed to understand what her research responds to very effective。 I think it offered the basics for anyone who hasn't taken any coursework or read very much while keeping the fact that these scientific theories and ideas come from human beings and not d Before the Big Bang by Laura Mersini-Houghton is one of those science books that offers a nice bit of detail yet is quite accessible to most readers。I found the early portions where she combines her personal story with the foundational cosmology needed to understand what her research responds to very effective。 I think it offered the basics for anyone who hasn't taken any coursework or read very much while keeping the fact that these scientific theories and ideas come from human beings and not dropped from the sky。There are still some who doubt the multiverse theory （theories） even while the evidence stacks up in its favor。 Then there are the lay people who "know" it is wrong because， well， maybe they still hold that the Earth is the center， since that is what being so certain of something in spite of evidence is like。 Questioning is good， doubting is good， but dismissing when you aren't even capable of doing anything than repeating quotes from those who searched and questioned， well， what was that Gump quote？ Oh well。I enjoyed the narrative aspect of the book as much as the actual science。 I did， however， have to pull out some notebooks and refresh my memory on a few things。 If you've never taken a course， don't worry， that was more about me wanting to grasp a couple small things I was unsure of and wasn't about being able to understand what Mersini-Houghton was explaining。 I particularly liked her use of different analogies to make ideas more easily understood。I would recommend this to anyone with even a casual interest in cosmology and quantum physics。 If you have a background in the field you will find a lot to enjoy but if you have just an amateur interest from other reading， this will add to your understanding。 Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley。 。。。more
Venky
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Thomas Samuel Kuhn is arguably the most influential scientific philosopher to have lived in the twentieth century。 Kuhn upended received wisdom permeating scientific thinking by introducing the notion of a paradigm shift。 According to him， the progress of scientific thought is a perpetual revolution， a revolt even， driven by the unrelenting force of paradigms。 Science initially progresses on entrenched assumptions that is the prerogative of a particular scientific community。 A slight shift takes Thomas Samuel Kuhn is arguably the most influential scientific philosopher to have lived in the twentieth century。 Kuhn upended received wisdom permeating scientific thinking by introducing the notion of a paradigm shift。 According to him， the progress of scientific thought is a perpetual revolution， a revolt even， driven by the unrelenting force of paradigms。 Science initially progresses on entrenched assumptions that is the prerogative of a particular scientific community。 A slight shift takes place when one/few intrepid mind/s detect an ‘anomaly’ in the rooted assumptions。 This anomaly then assumes momentum and soon becomes a dogmatic assumption itself till such time it is in turn uprooted by a courageous anomaly。 This process continues in perpetuity。A commonly accepted paradigm in the astronomy is the Big Bang Theory and the origin of the universe。 Scientists have believed， and continue to believe that the universe originated from a singularity that began expanding with the Big Bang。 If there was to be an absence of this singularity –the Big Bang may never have happened。 This paradigm was almost accepted as the universal truth。 Until along came a brilliant brain that thrived on cigarettes， classical music and cosmology – not necessarily in that order。Laura Mersini-Houghton never considered any challenge to be insurmountable， let alone one that stemmed from cosmology。 No stranger to setbacks， her initial upbringing in the persecutorial communist regime in Albania， was nothing short of an existential crisis。 The daughter of a Professor of Econometrics （who was repeatedly exiled for his knowledge – an invitation from Oxford University to discuss a new algorithm devised by him being one reason for a lengthy bout of banishment） and an employee at the Albanian League of Writers & Artists， Laura was influenced both personally and professionally by her astute parents。Goaded by a set of ever encouraging parents， Laura became the first Albanian to get a Fulbright scholarship and found herself making a long and lonely journey that had as its destination， the University of Maryland。 After completing her M。Sc。， she headed to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to pursue her Ph。D。 in theoretical physics。 Her main motivation to choose theoretical/quantum physics was a gnawing problem which seemed totally bereft of solutions。 British mathematical physicist and Nobel Laureate Roger Penrose in collaboration with one of the greatest ever cosmologists， Stephen Hawking had birthed what was popularly known as the singularity theorem。 This theorem implied that scientists could never explore the actual moment of the Universe’s creation because absolutely nothing existed before creation。For her dissertation， Laura could either opt to do research toeing the conventional line or she could attempt to buck the traditional trend。 However， bucking the trend could have disastrous consequences as the unfortunate experience of the mercurial theoretical physicist Hugh Everett III illustrated。 In 1957， Everett defended his dissertation titled ‘On the foundations of Quantum Mechanics’ at Princeton and received his PhD。 However， Everett’s brilliant thesis contradicted the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum physics， one of whose pioneers Niels Bohr happened to be the mentor of Everett’s PhD advisor， John Archibald Wheeler。 Later， in 1959， Wheeler invited Everett to meet Niels Bohr。 The meeting， however， was an unmitigated disaster。 Everett’s ‘relative-state theory’， now known as the ‘many worlds theory’， was rejected by Bohr， and subsequently， the entire Physics community。 Everett himself described the meeting as “hell。” Wheeler then withdrew from Everett’s theory personally， not wanting his name associated with it， and even publicly denounced it after Everett’s death。Laura knew the consequences of being ‘bold’。 But the girl who watched many of her friends climb the walls of various embassies in Tirana to seek asylum abroad， but stood resolute in her resolve to complete her education was built to last。 For her dissertation， she presented the theory of the origin of the universe from the multiverse， and made a series of predictions， including The Giant Void， that was able to test her theory。 A sudden burst of epiphany assailed Laura while she was sipping coffee in a café。 Immediately she wrote down the edifice constituting her flash of thinking: ‘Quantum mechanism on the landscape of String Theory’。 The rest as the cliché goes， was indeed history。In an epochal study， undertaken in tandem with Rich Holman of Carnegie Mellon University， Laura discovered that infant universes that started at very high energies were the most likely universes to be produced out of a quantum landscape。 Thrillingly， the origins of the universe could be calculated and derived！ Her predictions were successfully tested by the Planck satellite experiment。When Laura’s father became eligible as the top ranked student in his class for a scholarship to study in Moscow， the medal of honour was snatched away just as it was about to be placed around his neck， by an influential member of the Albanian Communist Party who had some grouse with the student’s family and their libertarian values。 That regret never left Nexhat Mersini。 However， his heart would have filled with unbridled filial pride to see his beloved daughter progress from stealthily & surreptitiously poring over banned Western literature at the library of Albanian League of Writers and Artists， to sitting next to Roger Penrose in a Turkish restaurant that was just about to close for the night and hold forth on the principles of cosmology deep after midnight！The autobiography of this stellar Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill， might just be a paradigm waiting to be embraced， adulated， supplemented or even supplanted by another intrepid mind in future， another Laura Messini perhaps！（Before the Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe and What Lies Beyond by Laura Mersini-Houghton is published by Mariner Books and will be available for sale beginning 19th July 2022。 Thank you Net Galley for the Advance Reviewer Copy）。 。。。more
Manny
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That classic xkcd string theory post （updated version）* Uh， wait a minute。。。 if string theory is correct， then as Len Susskind says there are many ways to compactify 11-dimensional space and we'll have a landscape containing a vast number of possible instantiations of string theory， right？ Probably around， I don't know， maybe 10⁶⁰⁰ of them？ Now let's think about what happens at the beginning of the universe when it's still at the Planck scale， its dynamics will be determined by the Wheeler-DeWit That classic xkcd string theory post （updated version）* Uh， wait a minute。。。 if string theory is correct， then as Len Susskind says there are many ways to compactify 11-dimensional space and we'll have a landscape containing a vast number of possible instantiations of string theory， right？ Probably around， I don't know， maybe 10⁶⁰⁰ of them？ Now let's think about what happens at the beginning of the universe when it's still at the Planck scale， its dynamics will be determined by the Wheeler-DeWitt equation and you'll have waveform protouniverses wandering across the landscape。 Some of them will settle down into local minima and start inflation processes to create macroscopic universes， won't they？ But which ones？ Hm， hm。。。 need to calculate here。。。 some of those condensed matter methods will come in handy。。。 looks like the high-energy ones！ That's interesting， as good old Roger Penrose keeps saying it's always been a bit hard to understand why our own universe started off in this apparently very unlikely state！ The explanation in terms of the Anthropic Principle just isn't very convincing， is it？ And。。。 hold on， of course you're going to have quantum interactions between all those different alternatives before they decohere， won't you？ Is it possible that that could produce observable effects in our own universe？ Well， I suppose it might， but they'll obviously be so faint that you'll never be able to see them with today's technology， probably you'll have to wait a few centuries if it's possible at all。。。 anyway， let's do another calculation。。。 wait， I don't believe it， this predicts a massive void that should be easily visible in the CBR。。。 a few more things too。。。 let me just call the satellite guys and see if they found anything like that。。。 incredible！ They did！！ Five-sigma result！！！ I should write a book about this and get famous。。。 what？ You say Laura Mersini-Houghton already has？ How come no one told me？ Damn， scooped again。___________________________But seriously。。。 I would very much like to thank the author， who not only sent me an advance copy of the book but took time out of her insanely busy schedule to point me to background reading and correct some of my misconceptions about her work。 Here are my revised thoughts。 （view spoiler）[Alas， it seems I was a little too optimistic。 According to the author， this work doesn't yet provide a strong experimental test of string theory。 It is indeed the case that she and her colleagues developed a theory which starts with the string theory "Landscape"， uses it to model the evolution of the very early universe， and makes verifiable empirical predictions。 It is also the case that some of those predictions have now been verified to a high level of statistical significance。However （at least if I am understanding this correctly） the problem is that a fairly broad class of theories would make similar predictions。 The important thing is that the landscape of possible vacua is sufficiently disordered。 The string theory landscape has this property， but other theories could have it too。 So the data does provide good empirical support for the claim that， at some very stage in the universe's evolution， there were multiple quantum-entangled universes， but it doesn't provide good support for the claim that the string theory landscape exists。 Of course， even the first part of this is already quite a lot。The key publications for the book are the following papers， all freely available from arXiv:- [hep-th/0511102] Why the Universe Started from a Low Entropy State- [hep-th/0611223] Cosmological Avatars of the Landscape I: Bracketing the SUSY Breaking Scale- [hep-th/0612142] Cosmological Avatars of the Landscape II: CMB and LSS SignaturesThey are far from being an easy read， and there were large parts of them that I found totally incomprehensible。 A great deal of advanced physics is presupposed。 But some of it made good sense， in particular the passages at the end of the third paper that talk about empirical verification。 It seems that there are a lot of angles here， and （again， if I understand correctly）， many of them have not yet been thoroughly investigated。If you're into fundamental physics and cosmology， this is real edge-of-your-seat stuff。 （hide spoiler）]["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]> 。。。more
Frank
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