The End of Everything: (Astrophysically Speaking)
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- Create Date：2021-06-26 08:51:03
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Katie Mack
- ISBN：0141989580
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Summary
You're going to die。 The Earth will， one day， be toast。 So too， our Sun will eventually shine its last。 But what's next？
The End of Everything is a unique exploration of the destruction of the cosmos。 Drawing on cutting edge technology and theory， as well as hot-off-the-presses results from the most powerful telescopes and particle colliders， astrophysicist Katie Mack describes how small tweaks to our incomplete understanding of reality can result in starkly different futures。 Our universe could collapse in upon itself， or rip itself apart， or even - in the next five minutes - succumb to an inescapable expanding bubble of doom。
This fascinating， witty story of cosmic escapism examines a beautiful but unfamiliar physics landscape while sharing the excitement a leading astrophysicist feels when thinking about the universe and our place in it。 Amid stellar explosions and bouncing universes， Mack shows that even though we puny humans have no chance of changing how it all ends， we can at least begin to understand it。
The End of Everything is a unique exploration of the destruction of the cosmos。 Drawing on cutting edge technology and theory， as well as hot-off-the-presses results from the most powerful telescopes and particle colliders， astrophysicist Katie Mack describes how small tweaks to our incomplete understanding of reality can result in starkly different futures。 Our universe could collapse in upon itself， or rip itself apart， or even - in the next five minutes - succumb to an inescapable expanding bubble of doom。
This fascinating， witty story of cosmic escapism examines a beautiful but unfamiliar physics landscape while sharing the excitement a leading astrophysicist feels when thinking about the universe and our place in it。 Amid stellar explosions and bouncing universes， Mack shows that even though we puny humans have no chance of changing how it all ends， we can at least begin to understand it。
Reviews
Arun Jeevaraj
，
One of the best books I read this year， thanks a lot for the author Katie Mack for writing the intricacies of physics and esoteric concepts in a simple to understand words and with a hint of fun wrapped tortillas of wisdom。 It brings you closer to some of the latest trends in physics and explains about how the universe started， will continue to and how it will end。 This is a definite recommended and must read book。
Anthony
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I have read better Astrophysics books。 This book also didn’t meet my expectation as to explaining the different possible endings and instead seemed to focus more on various intricacies of general relativity and quantum physics。 （Which I find and found fascinating） I just wanted more about end of world theories and less of everything else。 All in all it was an ok book on a hard subject matter。 I can’t really promote this book or recommend to anyone I know because of the difficult subject matter。 I have read better Astrophysics books。 This book also didn’t meet my expectation as to explaining the different possible endings and instead seemed to focus more on various intricacies of general relativity and quantum physics。 （Which I find and found fascinating） I just wanted more about end of world theories and less of everything else。 All in all it was an ok book on a hard subject matter。 I can’t really promote this book or recommend to anyone I know because of the difficult subject matter。 However， even if they were into the subject matter， I would recommend other books that relate to the subject long before recommending this one。 Though I do believe this book has potential to be interesting conversation starter with a very select few。 。。。more
Potato
，
I wish I could say I enjoyed this but it got too technical for my little brain。 Great writing though， it's like listening to someone 10x smarter than me and just enjoying their geekiness although only really comprehending a tenth of what she says。 I wish I could say I enjoyed this but it got too technical for my little brain。 Great writing though， it's like listening to someone 10x smarter than me and just enjoying their geekiness although only really comprehending a tenth of what she says。 。。。more
Kristina
，
If you’re at all interested in learning how the universe will end， and the topic won’t make you squeamish or depressed， may I point you to Katie Mack’s The End of Everything （Astrophysically Speaking）？ Mack is a theoretical astrophysicist who is quite taken with the question of: how will it all end？ After giving readers an introduction to her credentials and explaining her interest in this apocalyptic question， Mack supplies readers with a basic overview of cosmology， the study of the universe。 If you’re at all interested in learning how the universe will end， and the topic won’t make you squeamish or depressed， may I point you to Katie Mack’s The End of Everything （Astrophysically Speaking）？ Mack is a theoretical astrophysicist who is quite taken with the question of: how will it all end？ After giving readers an introduction to her credentials and explaining her interest in this apocalyptic question， Mack supplies readers with a basic overview of cosmology， the study of the universe。 Researching the end of the universe also has a specific category: cosmic eschatology， a somewhat neglected field。 After introducing us to our doom， Mackie has a refresher course on the Big Bang。 I found this probably one of the most interesting （and intellectually accessible） chapters for me。 After bringing us up to date on the universe， Mackie dives into detail about the different ways the universe will end: the Big Crunch， Heat Death， the Big Rip， Vacuum Decay and Bounce。 The Big Crunch is essentially the idea that the expansion of the universe will eventually stop and reverse course until all the matter in the universe collides together， gets really hot and burns up until nothing is left。 Heat Death is basically the lack of heat， but not heat as in warmth。 Mackie means: The name “Heat Death” might sound like a misnomer for a state of the cosmos that is colder and darker than anything else in the history of creation。 But in this case， the term “heat” is a technical physics term， not meaning “warmth，” but rather “disordered motion of particles or energy。” And it’s not the death of heat， but a death by heat。 It’s the disorder in particular that kills us…entropy （90）。 If the universe is governed by dark energy in the form of a cosmological constant， then the future holds darkness， isolation， emptiness and decay。 As you can see， this chapter introduces readers to the cosmological constant and dark energy， a real pain in the ass for basically all universe/space-related scientists: “dark energy ruins everything” （85）。 At some point in all this， my brain begins to falter at grasping these concepts because to really understand a lot of this， you need to be able to do the math。 And I can’t do the math。 As Mackie says on page 95 when trying to explain something about black holes and the Second Law of Thermodynamics: “I can’t really get into it without a massive amount of math and a level of physics exposition that would probably require weekly lectures for two or three semesters…but I wanted to assure you that despite the inadequacy of the popular analogy the full calculation doesmake sense if you do it all rigorously， using general relativity and quantum field theory。” Wow。 Well， okay， I’ll take your word for it because my brain is not equipped to do physics at this level。 And the chapters about the Big Rip and Vacuum Decay are fuzzy for me because by this point， my brain is tired。 I don’t even remember how the Bounce is going to kill us all （although， by this time we’re probably dead anyway because of the sun expanding in a red giant and all that drama）。 Although this book has been （supposedly） written for the layperson to understand， it’s for a layperson who is somewhat acquainted with physics and remembers the particulars of electrons and gang。 Says Mackie under a subheading called “A Quantum Heap” in the Big Rip chapter: “The first thing you need to know is that most of the subatomic particles you know and love—electrons， protons， neutrons， neutrinos， quarks—are fermions， which， in this context， means they are fiercely independent， in a particle physics kind of way。 Specifically， they obey the Pauli exclusion principle， which says that they won’t abide being in the same place and the same energy state at the same time （121）。 Subatomic particles I know and love？ I think she’s confused me with Sheldon Cooper， the theoretical physicist of The Big Bang Theory。 Most of my familiarity with these subatomic particles comes from watching reruns of TBBT， a show I used to love until it got unbearable to watch。 But when reading this book， I would come across familiar Sheldon terminology and exclaim， “ah ha！ That’s what Sheldon was talking about！” Of course， I still have only the fuzziest idea of what Mackie （and Sheldon） are so excited about， but at least I’m trying。 The End of Everything （Astrophysically Speaking） is definitely worth putting in the brain power to read。 If you’ve had some high school or college level physics， or just like to dabble in physics and the related math for fun， then you’ll love this book。 As long as you don’t get too upset by the idea that eventually， no matter how， the universe will end and any trace of humanity will be gone。 I personally can’t get too bothered by that because I will be gone long before any of these things happen （well， except maybe for vacuum decay; apparently a quantum bubble of death can open up at any time and if you happen to be near it， you’ll go first。 Don’t worry， it’ll be nearly instantaneous and painless）。 If your talents are not in the mathematical and physics field， you may want to read the chapters slowly， take the time to （maybe） comprehend some of what you’ve read before moving on。 I was okay （for the most part） until the Big Rip。 I think that’s a good description of what happened in my skull。 。。。more
Elliott Braiker
，
A wild ride from start to end I think is the only proper way to describe this book。 Mack has a way of making the inevitable seem not so daunting and scary。 She guides us through the ways that the universe could end with cleverness and wit。 It got a little hard to understand at times but overall it was quite an engaging， albeit a little terrifying， read。
Fiona
，
Katie Mack really has a gift for explaining incredibly high level concepts。 Did I understand what she was talking about half the time？ Definitely not， but sometimes it is enough to read about tiny black holes and think “huh， that would be wild。” Also love that she and Hozier cite each other in their respective works， that’s real cross-media friendship。
Kevin
，
Review in ProgressThings I learned from this book:-'Infernoverse'， coined by the author。-Poincaré recurrence theorem， the length of time elapsed until the recurrence。-de Sitter space， a maximally symmetric Lorentzian manifold。@AstroKatie Review in ProgressThings I learned from this book:-'Infernoverse'， coined by the author。-Poincaré recurrence theorem， the length of time elapsed until the recurrence。-de Sitter space， a maximally symmetric Lorentzian manifold。@AstroKatie 。。。more
Kirsten Pearson
，
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 This books sounds like it’d be depressing， but if you’re like me and the concept of existential threats are fascinating， you’ll love the way Katie Mack makes these complex concepts understandable to the average person。 Several things that blew my mind and shifted the way that I think about things:Black holes evaporate Gravity is so weak that we overcome the gravitational force of the planet with each and every movement。 Space time might not matter？！The end， if it comes swiftly won’t be felt by a This books sounds like it’d be depressing， but if you’re like me and the concept of existential threats are fascinating， you’ll love the way Katie Mack makes these complex concepts understandable to the average person。 Several things that blew my mind and shifted the way that I think about things:Black holes evaporate Gravity is so weak that we overcome the gravitational force of the planet with each and every movement。 Space time might not matter？！The end， if it comes swiftly won’t be felt by anyone because it happens too quickly and if it takes eons won’t be felt by anyone because our star will have long engulfed our atmosphere and humans will no longer be around to feel anything。 *mindblown*For someone with anxiety， you’d think that existential questions and thinking would be something to avoid， but there is something comforting in knowing that the universe is much larger and more complex than the problems I face everyday。 At least to me。 。。。more
Wendy （bardsblond）
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An absolutely fascinating book by Katie Mack about how the universe will end。 Mack walks us through a handful of hypotheses describing the cosmological end of the universe and honestly， I found this book riveting。 I love science books that are accessible。 I took university level physics and math but have no science degree and I found this book very accessible。 Further， just conceptualizing the end of the universe is an interesting experiment。 I highly recommend this book。
Meg Pontecorvo
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A truly exceptional book: Mack succeeds in explaining difficult， yet fascinating， cosmological theories。 Although she mentions equations， her explanations don't depend on them （rare for a physicist）。 Instead， she is a master translator of high physics into English; she constructs the chapters， and the book itself， to move into increasingly complicated territory， creating comprehensible （and logically clear） links between data and its theoretical extrapolation to survey what is known about the na A truly exceptional book: Mack succeeds in explaining difficult， yet fascinating， cosmological theories。 Although she mentions equations， her explanations don't depend on them （rare for a physicist）。 Instead， she is a master translator of high physics into English; she constructs the chapters， and the book itself， to move into increasingly complicated territory， creating comprehensible （and logically clear） links between data and its theoretical extrapolation to survey what is known about the nature of the universe， and what possibilities exist for its ending。 Throughout， Mack crafts wonderful metaphors to get the concepts across （and also delightful footnotes）， revels in astrophysical weirdness， paces her chapters （and even her discrete discussions of heady theories） to create suspense， and punctuates her prose with timely references to science fiction。 The End of Everything is a book I checked out from the library， but now plan to purchase--it's that good！ 。。。more
Colleen
，
I loved it and wrote a brief plug here:https://booklifebycolleen。blogspot。co。。。 I loved it and wrote a brief plug here:https://booklifebycolleen。blogspot。co。。。 。。。more
Rachel
，
If you love science， especially cosmology or physics， you’ll love geeking out with this great book by Dr。 Katie Mack。 I never thought the end of universe could be funny， but she writes with humor and wit as she explains five possible scenarios。 It’s technical but not overwhelming。 I truly enjoyed it and felt smarter for having read it。
Jovany Agathe
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The End of Everything by Katie Mack。 The theoretical physicist explains the five most likely endings for our expanding universe， hopefully an unimaginably long time from now。 It’s witty， clear and upbeat。
Ulvi
，
If I was fluent in cosmology it would have been a five star read， so the deducted star is me not the book。 It was a very interesting book on the subject matter that is fascinating for me but of which I didn’t know much about。 I did appreciate that the author tried to lighten the mood with jokes or her personal observations。 Recommended to all who find universe interesting。
Kalle Wescott
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I read /The End of Everything （Astrophysically Speaking）/， by Katie Mack:https://www。nytimes。com/2020/08/04/bo。。。The book is fantastic， with Katie Mack making complicated quantum mechanics and cosmological concepts approachable to the layperson （me）。Highly recommended！ I read /The End of Everything （Astrophysically Speaking）/， by Katie Mack:https://www。nytimes。com/2020/08/04/bo。。。The book is fantastic， with Katie Mack making complicated quantum mechanics and cosmological concepts approachable to the layperson （me）。Highly recommended！ 。。。more
Lisa
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Corny （but cool research）
Andrew Motel
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One of the best science books I've read recently。 Clearly written， funny， engaging， but never oversimplifies or talks down to the reader。 One of the best science books I've read recently。 Clearly written， funny， engaging， but never oversimplifies or talks down to the reader。 。。。more
mv
，
it's the journey！！ it's the journey！！ 。。。more
Brian Staveley
，
One of the delights of having a not-excellent memory is that I can read seemingly endless books about physics/astronomy and although most of these books are forced， by the nature of their ambitions， to go over familiar territory （relativity， the big bang， quantum theory， etc）， I've always more or less forgotten the nitty-gritty details every time I pick one up， and so I'm always amazed by how strange our universe is。 Mack's book is no exception--we get the basic primer on this stuff once again。 One of the delights of having a not-excellent memory is that I can read seemingly endless books about physics/astronomy and although most of these books are forced， by the nature of their ambitions， to go over familiar territory （relativity， the big bang， quantum theory， etc）， I've always more or less forgotten the nitty-gritty details every time I pick one up， and so I'm always amazed by how strange our universe is。 Mack's book is no exception--we get the basic primer on this stuff once again。 Two things， however， set it apart。 First， she has a direct， lively writing style that sets the book above some of its peers。 Second， she manages to keep her focus on the goal--the discussion of the possible ends of the universe--even when she'd reviewing for dummies like me。 The fact that the book is also relatively short also doesn't hurt。 PhD students in the field （and maybe some undergrads？） probably won't find anything new or surprising here， but I--a writer of epic fantasy--found it a delightful tour through the far past， the distant future， and the baffling strangeness of the cosmos。 。。。more
Michael Tkach
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WE ARE ALL DOOMED AND NOTHING MATTERS。 That may be， but Katie Mack eases you so gently into the destruction of the universe that by the end， you are almost disappointed that you wont witness any of it。 Cleverly written， very concise and easy to follow for the armchair cosmologists out there。
Heather
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I've followed Katie Mack on Twitter since my earliest days on the app and I've loved the way she communicates complex science in tweets。 This book is really the extension of that。 I've have spent years trying to understand complex topics in physics only to shake my head and walk away， but Mack managed to get me there！ She outlines 5 incredibly complex hypotheses for how the universe will end， and I have a pretty good sense of each one at this point （none of which I even knew about prior to openi I've followed Katie Mack on Twitter since my earliest days on the app and I've loved the way she communicates complex science in tweets。 This book is really the extension of that。 I've have spent years trying to understand complex topics in physics only to shake my head and walk away， but Mack managed to get me there！ She outlines 5 incredibly complex hypotheses for how the universe will end， and I have a pretty good sense of each one at this point （none of which I even knew about prior to opening the book - I like to keep my existential crises to a minimum）。 I also just loved the tone she used - a lot of pop culture references， breaking the 4th wall， and sarcasm。I will also add: this is the 4th science non-fiction book I've read this year written by a woman and every single one of them has been phenomenal。 。。。more
Jennifer
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Katie Mack is a great science communicator。 I follow her on Twitter and found this book to be an enjoyable （that sounds odd to say it was enjoyable to contemplate the end of the universe） read。
Danielle C。
，
Wonderful wonderful book about the end of the universe by a real live astrophysicist。 While objectively depressing， the light hearted tone and the authors voice which comes through just so strongly （screaming at how COOL this all is） makes this a upbeat read。 Heavy in theory but it’s all broken down in easy to understand chunks。 I couldn’t shake a pervasive sense of wonder and gratefulness at all these scientists working so hard to understand something so far beyond us。 It’s a huge bonus that yo Wonderful wonderful book about the end of the universe by a real live astrophysicist。 While objectively depressing， the light hearted tone and the authors voice which comes through just so strongly （screaming at how COOL this all is） makes this a upbeat read。 Heavy in theory but it’s all broken down in easy to understand chunks。 I couldn’t shake a pervasive sense of wonder and gratefulness at all these scientists working so hard to understand something so far beyond us。 It’s a huge bonus that you feel smarter after reading this。 。。。more
Kate
，
engaging and super enjoyable。 I like Mack's chill， familiar style and her enthusiasm。 I wish there had been a little more of the science stuff （like。。。。。 on a pop science level， lmao） because I would love for Mack to teach me about quantum field theory， actually。 （note: if you want more info on basically any of the science mentioned in this book check out brian greene's 'The Fabric of the Cosmos'） engaging and super enjoyable。 I like Mack's chill， familiar style and her enthusiasm。 I wish there had been a little more of the science stuff （like。。。。。 on a pop science level， lmao） because I would love for Mack to teach me about quantum field theory， actually。 （note: if you want more info on basically any of the science mentioned in this book check out brian greene's 'The Fabric of the Cosmos'） 。。。more
Gaby Chapman
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What begins must eventually end。 In the latest astrophysics lingo。
Norah S。
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I probably would have given this 5 stars if it hadn't been so depressing。 I probably would have given this 5 stars if it hadn't been so depressing。 。。。more
Jess
，
Katie Mack covers challenging （like， actually hard to understand） material with great humor， clean organization， and a conversational tone。 Not on her or the book， but I did not always feel like she was 100% pulling me along （my brain just breaks at the whole space time maybe isn't real idea） but she gave it a valiant effort。 Someday， perhaps， I will get it。 Maybe if I did the math。The truly great thing about this book is that I felt like I learned something - I walk away from the book getting t Katie Mack covers challenging （like， actually hard to understand） material with great humor， clean organization， and a conversational tone。 Not on her or the book， but I did not always feel like she was 100% pulling me along （my brain just breaks at the whole space time maybe isn't real idea） but she gave it a valiant effort。 Someday， perhaps， I will get it。 Maybe if I did the math。The truly great thing about this book is that I felt like I learned something - I walk away from the book getting that we EARTH will end in fiery death but the END OF EVERYTHING is a little bit up in the air because we don't really know why our fundamental models of physics work and teeny tiny changes in assumed constants actually do matter。 。。。more
Kris
，
I liked this book， but not as much as I wanted to like it。 Mack did try to make it accessible。 The footnotes were often humorous or lighthearted。 But， it was astrophysics and even if I enjoyed a section， at the end of the chapter， I had trouble wrapping your mind around what I had read。 Recognize this May be more about my comprehension than the book， but it was just an okay read。
Wendelle
，
discusses the gamut of possible eschatological scenarios （big crunch， eternal expansion， big rip，vacuum decay， cyclical bounce） with infectious enthusiasm， top-shelf knowledge of the science， incorporation of latest results， and illustrative explanations
Brian Goulart
，