Ever since I read Charles Seife s excellent book Zero: A Biography of a Dangerous Idea I have been excited to read whichever book he might publish next. I finally got my change with Alpha & Omega: The Search for the Beginning and End of the Universe . The title tells us exactly what the book is about: The Search for the Beginning and End of the Universe. In this book Seife informs us about what scientists know about how the universe began, and what they think they know about how the universe will one day end. Charles Seife has a rare talent for taking extremely complex and difficult scientific concepts and explaining them in a way that those concepts are understandable to a lay-reader.

Charles Seife examines what the accepted scientific view of the beginning of the universe was, and he shows how that view has evolved over time until scientists had more data to give a clearer picture of the origins of the universe. Seife also tells us how scientists have figured out how the universe is likely to end. He tells us what scientists know, and more importantly, how they know it. This is very important because it shows the advances made in scientific knowledge as well as because of the fact that it explains the knowledge on a more basic level that makes sense. The theories become more real and less of an alien concept to someone like me who does not have a depth of knowledge in science.

Even though Seife went to great lengths to explain the science in the simplest language possible without losing the depth of the information presented, some of it still went over my head a bit. Seife s volume can be best used as a primer and as introduction to the topic. He has a smooth writing style that makes the book very easy to read even with the difficult concepts presented. This is another excellent book by Charles Seife and I would recommend it to anyone interested in the scientific explanations for the origins of the universe.