A theoretical physicist takes readers on an awe-inspiring journey-found in "no other book" (Science)-to discover how the universe generates everything from nothing at all: "If you want to know what's really going on in the realms of relativity and particle physics, read this book" (Sean Carroll, author of The Biggest Ideas in the Universe).

"At this very moment, we are moving through space at 130 miles per second, and yet we don't notice at all. Nothing slips and falls off the kitchen table as the Earth spins, and our bodies aren't catapulted against random buildings and trees by the planet orbiting the Sun. We, and everything around us, move at the same rate, so we simply don't notice the force that propels us through space. Nor do we notice the strangest fact of all: that we and everything around us ripple through the universe like whitecaps on the ocean, emerging from the cosmic backdrop and yet moving through it as though the backdrop wasn't even there. ... In [this book], theoretical physicist Matthew J. Strassler explains how our lives--every day and every moment-- are shaped by the core tenants of physics that make up the universe"--