Table of Contents
1 The Poetry of Reality 1
A rose makes us aware that nothing and nobody stands alone.
The more we know about how things in the universe relate to each other, the more mysterious the world seems to us.
2 A Marble in the Cosmos 11
The earth rises over the moon and we see the universe as it is being born. Much greater spaces are concealed behind the visible cosmos.
Reality is quite different from how it seems to us.
3 Riding on a Ray of Light 27
A young man wonders what light is, and his reflections on light explain the world to him. Time and space are revealed. But when Albert Einstein dies, light is still a mystery.
4 The World Spirit Fails 45
A hurricane sweeps across Germany, a storm no one saw coming.
Reasons why the world is unpredictable, and praise for the creative universe.
5 A Crime Story 67
A villainous gang is raiding apartments in London and New York.
Although the burglars were not able to arrange things with each other, their raids are perfectly coordinated.
Investigator Glock is looking for a secret plan, but cannot find one. His conclusion: All the places in the world are, in reality, one place.
6 Is the World Real? 97
A hammer hits a thumb. But the hammer, like all matter, consists of emptiness.
How can nothingness hurt like that? And then-does the nothingness exist at all?
7 "Who Ordered That?" 115
We live in a shadow world. No matter where we look, there is twenty times more than appears to us. More of what? We have no idea. But without dark energy, without dark matter, we couldn't exist.
8 How Time Passes 135
A greying beard makes you wonder why the past can never come back. We experience the passing of time because we are not omniscient.
The universe is growing older, as well.
9 Beyond the Horizon 155
The night is dark because the world had a beginning.
Since then the universe has been expanding.
Space is bigger than we can imagine.
Thoughts on being amazed.
10 Why We Exist 175
In each of us one of the most astonishing characteristics of the universe appears: Intelligent life is not only possible but even probable.
How can anyone maintain, therefore, that we are meaningless?
Notes 197
Acknowledgments 223
About the Author 230
