Genesis: The Story of How Everything Began

A breakout bestseller in Italy, Genesis is a short, humanistic tour of the origins of the universe, Earth, and life—drawing on the latest discoveries in physics to explain the seven most significant moments in the creation of the cosmos

Curiosity and wonderment about the origins of the universe are at the heart of our experience of the world. From Hesiod's Chaos to today's mind-bending theories of the multiverse, we have been consumed by the relentless pursuit of one awe-inspiring question: What exactly happened during those first moments of creation?

Guido Tonelli, an acclaimed particle physicist and a central figure in the discovery of the Higgs boson (the "God particle"), reveals the extraordinary story of our genesis—from the origins of the universe to the creation of spacetime, matter, and stars, and ultimately to the birth of human language and its power to describe the world. Evoking the seven days of biblical creation, Tonelli takes us on a brisk, lively tour of the evolution of our cosmos, and considers the incredible challenges scientists face in exploring its mysteries. A breakout bestseller in Italy, Genesis both explains the fundamental physics of our universe and marvels at the profound wonder of our existence.